The Dakota or Sioux people may well be the best known of all the nations which first lived in North America. Tribal members gave themselves the name Dakota, meaning friends. Their Minnesota neighbors called them by a long name meaning enemy. French traders in the 1600s took the last part of the name and wrote it down as Sioux. Since then, they have been known by both names. In the late 1600s many Dakota people lived in the northern forests and along the Upper Mississippi. By the late 1700s, all Dakota had moved from their original forest homes in northern Minnesota. The tribe formed three big divisions: Eastern Dakota, comprised of four Santee bands, migrated to southern Minnesota; Middle Dakota, comprised of two bands (Yankton and Yanktonai), moved to southern North Dakota and southern South Dakota; and Western Dakota, comprised of seven Teton bands, migrated as far west as the current states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Because the three big Dakota divisions had made their homes in different kinds of country, their lifestyles changed. The booklet describes the lifestyles of each, including their housing, clothing, family life, child rearing practices, and other cultural traditions. (AH)