Dahcotah is the proper name of this once powerful tribe of Indians. The
term Sioux is not recognized, except among those who live near the
whites. It is said to have been given by the old French traders, that
the Dahcotahs might not know when they were the subjects of
conversation. The exact meaning of the word has never been ascertained.

Dahcotah means a confederacy. A number of bands live near each other on
terms of friendship, their customs and laws being the same. They mean by
the word Dahcotah what we mean by the confederacy of states in our
union. The tribe is divided into a number of bands, which are subdivided
into villages; every village being governed by its own chief. The honor
of being chief is hereditary, though for cause a chief may be deposed
and another substituted; and the influence the chief possesses depends
much more upon his talents and capacity to govern, than upon mere
hereditary descent. To every village there is also a _war-chief_, and as
to these are ascribed supernatural powers, their influence is
unbounded. Leading every military excursion, the war-chief's command is
absolute with his party.

There are many clans among the Sioux, and these are distinguished from
each other by the different kinds of medicine they use. Each clan takes
a root for its medicine, known only to those initiated into the
mysteries of the clan. The name of this root must be kept a secret. Many
of these roots are entirely destitute of medicinal power. The clans are
governed by a sort of free-masonry system. A Dahcotah would die rather
than divulge the secret of his clan. The clans keep up almost a
perpetual warfare with each other. Each one supposes the other to be
possessed of supernatural powers, by which they can, cause the death of
any individual, though he may live at a great distance. This belief is
the cause of a great deal of bloodshed. When a Dahcotah dies, it is
attributed to some one of another clan, and revenge is sought by the
relatives of the deceased. All their supposed supernatural powers are
invoked to destroy the murderer. They first try the powers of their
sacred medicine, imagining they can cast a fatal spell on the offender;
if this fail, they have recourse to more destructive weapons, and the
axe, knife or gun may be fatally used. After the supposed murderer is
killed, his relations retaliate, and thus successive feuds become
perpetual.

The Dahcotahs, though a reckless, are a generous people, u