The Spirit Lake Tribe (in Santee Dakota: Mniwakaƞ Oyate, also spelt as Mni Wakan Oyate, formerly known as Devils Lake Sioux Tribe) is a federally recognized tribe based on the Spirit Lake Dakota Reservation located in east-central North Dakota on the southern shores of Devils Lake. It is made up of people of the Pabaksa (Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna), Sisseton (Sisíthuŋwaŋ) and Wahpeton (Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ) bands of the Dakota tribe. Established in 1867 in a treaty between Sisseton-Wahpeton Bands and the United States government, the reservation, at , consists of of land area, primarily in Benson and Eddy counties. Smaller areas extend into Ramsey, Wells and Nelson counties.
According to the tribal enrollment office in 2014, the tribe had 7,256 enrolled members. At the time of the U.S. 2010 census, 3,587 members out of a total of 4,238 people (including non-tribal members) were residing on the reservation. The unemployment rate was 47.3% in 2000. The largest community on the reservation is Fort Totten.
Naming
Their name was originally the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe and its reservation was originally called the Fort Totten Indian Reservation. In the 1970s, the tribe was briefly renamed the Sisseton-Wahpeton of North Dakota, which caused confusion with the Sisseton-Wahpeton of South Dakota, whose reservation also extends into North Dakota. In 1993, the current name of the tribe and reservation was officially adopted.
The name "Devils Lake" is a calque of the Dakota words mni (water) wak’áŋ (literally "pure source", also translated as "spirit" or "sacred"). The Dakota consider it holy because they believe it is the home of the underwater serpent Unktehi. The Dakota name is reflected in the name of the Spirit Lake Tribe and the nearby town of Minnewaukan. European-American settlers misconstrued this name to mean "Bad Spirit Lake", or "Devils Lake". The "bad" referred to the high salinity of the lake, making it unfit to drink, and "spirit" meant the mirages often seen across the water. The Christian concept of the devil is not present in Dakota philosophy.
Environment
The reservation of the tribe is located on the southern shore of Devil's Lake, which has been historically the territory of the Dakota people. The Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Cut-Head bands of Dakotas were relocated to the Spirit Lake Reservation as a result of the 1867 treaty with the United States that established a reservation for Dakotas who had not been forcibly relocated to Crow Creek Reservation in what is now called South Dakota.
Because Devil's Lake is a closed-basin watershed, the reservation has suffered increasingly frequent episodes of flooding since the 1990s. It has lost homes, land and economic opportunities due to the severity of this problem. Tribal chairperson, Myra Pearson, appealed in the 21st century to President Barack Obama and his White House for assistance. Since then tribal representatives have engaged with a multi-agency task force led by Federal Emergency Management Agency officials to develop a recovery plan. It was published in 2010 and includes economic and cultural development goals in addition to strategies to combat the flooding.
Government
Historical
Prior to the reservation era, Dakota tribal societies were without social classes and government was democratic and highly decentralized. An individual's status was based on their ability to serve and perform and leaders existed to serve the will of the people. Fraternal societies played a role in maintaining a government structure known as the council and prior to the reservation era, no single person was in charge of decision-making.
Following the Dakota War of 1862, many long lines of hereditary leadership ceased to exist as several bands of Sisseton and Wahpeton were forced to flee Minnesota into various locations throughout the Dakotas. Other leaders were killed, deposed or replaced by those chosen by the United States government to act as spokesperson. The U.S. government and the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Dakota signed a treaty in 1867 that established the Fort Totten Reservation. The name was later changed to the Devils Lake Sioux Reservation. In 1996, the Spirit Lake Tribe changed the name to a more correct translation of Mni Wakan.