U.S. Senate ratifies Hunkpapa treaty

Background. The Hunkpapa (Lakota: Húŋkpapȟa) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name means 'Head of the Circle,' and the tribe was once represented in European-American records as Honkpapa. Their first appearance in European-American historical records came from a treaty of 1825, which suggests they may have formed as a tribe within the Lakota relatively recently.

Treaty Terms. By signing the 1825 treaty, the Hunkpapa and the United States committed themselves to keep up the "friendship which has heretofore existed." With their x-mark, the chiefs also recognized the supremacy of the United States. The supplied passages do not state the treaty's exact date or place of signing, so those details remain unconfirmed.

Signing Context. It is not certain whether the chiefs really understood the text in the document. The US representatives gave a medal to Little White Bear, who they understood was the principal Hunkpapa chief; they did not realize how decentralized Native American authority was.