Articles
Explore every article on the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie — its purpose, history, legal significance, and ongoing relevance.
Toward Understanding and Reconciliation
The history of the Fort Laramie treaties and the broader story of relations between Native nations and the United States include much hardship and…
What Broken Treaties Teach About Law and Promises
The history of treaties between the United States and Native nations is, too often, a history of promises made and promises broken. Reflecting on…
The Lasting Legacy of the Fort Laramie Treaties
The treaties negotiated at Fort Laramie in 1851 and 1868 were among the most significant agreements between the United States and the nations of…
Teaching Treaty History in Schools
How a society teaches its history shapes how its citizens understand the present. For generations, the history of treaties between the United States and…
Land Acknowledgment and Public Memory
In recent years, land acknowledgments have become an increasingly familiar practice at public events, in schools, and in institutions across the United States and…
Community Gathering Traditions of the Plains
Gathering together has always been central to the life of Northern Plains nations. At certain times of year, communities that had spread out came…
The Role of Elders in Plains Communities
In the nations of the Northern Plains, elders hold a place of deep respect and importance. As keepers of knowledge, teachers of values, and…
Lakota and Dakota Language Revitalization Today
Language is at the heart of culture, carrying knowledge, values, and identity in ways that translation cannot fully capture. For the Lakota, Dakota, and…
Oral Tradition and History-Keeping on the Plains
Long before written records came to the Northern Plains, the nations who lived there kept their histories, knowledge, and values through a rich tradition…
The Buffalo and the Plains Economy
The buffalo, more properly called the American bison, stood at the center of life for many Northern Plains nations. Far more than a source…
The Horse and the Transformation of Plains Life
Few developments changed life on the Northern Plains as profoundly as the arrival of the horse. Over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth…
The Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara
The Northern Plains were home to many nations beyond the more widely known Lakota and Cheyenne. Among the peoples associated with the 1851 Treaty…