The rise and fall of the Lakota Empire - Pekka Hämäläinen

Trace the rise and fall of the Lakota Empire which, at their height, were the most dominant power in the American West.

--

In 1776, a powerful empire was born in North America. The Lakotas had reached the Black Hills, the most sacred place and most coveted buffalo hunting grounds in the western plains. Located in what is now South Dakota, control of the Black Hills, or Paha Sapa, marked the tribe as the dominant power in the American West. Pekka Hämäläinen explores the rise and fall of the Lakota Empire.

Lesson by Pekka Hämäläinen, directed by Mohammad Babakoohi & Yijia Cao.

Support Our Non-Profit Mission
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------

Connect With Us
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------

Keep Learning
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jay M, Constantino Victor Delgado, Andrea Galvagni, Andrew Tweddle, Laurel-Ann Rice, Fernando A. Endo, Courtney Marcott, Anna-Alicia Brooks, Mustafa, Helen Lee, pam morgan, sarim haq, Juan Pablo Rodriguez Morales, ANNE FINE, Gerardo Castro, Siddharth Toshniwal, Justice Boehmer, Michel-Ange Hortegat, Enes Kirimi, Amaury BISIAUX BISIAUX, Aravind C V, ND, Samyogita Hardikar, Vanessa Graulich, Vandana Gunwani, LvL042, Abdulmohsin Almadi, Andrew Brodski, John van den Berg, Anandha Krishnan, Geoffrey Bultitude, Mi Mi, Thomas Rothert, Christopher McVay, Izhari Ishak Aksa, Declan Manning, Javier Aldavaz, Ivan Yeung, Jaime Camacho, Irene Au, Роман Валесюк, LunarQueen, Iza, Brian Elieson, Paul, Grayson Garbarino, Oge O, Weronika Falkowska, Stefano Esposito and Nevin Spoljaric.

[JesusMartinez-rrry]

I love seeing the animation of the Lakotas on their horses, galloping throughout the video.

[Confuzledish]

I think a mention that horses were not native to the Americas might have helped give more context to the rise of the Lakota. The reason the Lakota was able to move, and did take over, the west was their ability to adapt to and even thrive (against all odds) in a nomadic lifestyle with the horse.

[thepurplekidx]

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.”

— Marcus Aurelius

[timetraveler]

The animation is so powerful. The blood soaked steps at the end gave me chills. Thank you for your hard-work Ted-ed!

[J_boohoo]

As an indigenous person not from America but from Asia, this felt so eerie, the idea that your people could be taken out and your culture being destroyed feels so wrong, I couldn’t understand the sensations I felt watching this, I felt terrified

[Lanyaa_]

I truly love how ted-ed provides us with the amounts of information they publish

[FalconFastest]

Interesting Fact: Sitting Bull's vision saw that Crazy Horse would defeat General Custer, but it also warned that if the Indians mutilated the American soldiers' bodies, then they would eventually lose their lands to the United States. Crazy Horse's warriors ignored the warning and cut apart their enemies' bodies anyways, skinning and gutting them and leaving them in a gory mess on the battlefield. Not long after, Sitting Bulls vision came true, and the once proud nations were forced onto reservations.

[tentacryl]

“In 1776, a powerful empire was born in North America.”
Me: Oh I think I know who this is…oh.

[rossplendent]

I hate how persistent the myth is that native peoples were primarily disorganized, sparsely populated, , nomadic, hunting villages before the arrival of Europeans. There were some nomadic civilizations, but the predominant lifestyle throughout the Americas was largely agricultural, with large, settled tracts of land containing tens of thousands of people per city. In South America, the cities were even larger. It wasn't until smallpox, guns, and deliberate genocide fractured these populations that they started adapting to circumstances by becoming more nomadic.

[descharted]

The animation feels like an indie videogame cutscene well done.

[LoganOHara]

I would love for you guys to make a Ted Ed short about some of the conquests of Ireland, particularly the Cromwellian Genocide. I feel like the art style and the historical material would make for a fascinating and heartbreaking video.

[kevting]

Pekka Hämäläinen!! I love his book "The Comanche Empire!" It was a huge eye opener on the role of indigenous groups during a time of intense imperial competition between Europeans, the US, and Native Americans.

[leocremonezi]

The problems with the indigenous people are the same throughout ALL the american continent. Here in Brazil the disrespect and killing was the same 😔 The tribes are still fighting for their rights!

[thewestisthebest]

They were brutal to their enemies which is why the Shoshone, Crow, Arikara, and Pawnee fought with the Americans in the Sioux War of 1876

[maleda.]

One of native American About there oppresors says
"They wanted to bury us, but they forget we were seeds."

[Sr.Estroncio]

I love this theme is something that nobody usually talk.

[Pahjx]

I like how the resistance against DAPL is mention at the end. The Lakota are still here!

[adityachk]

Thanks to everyone who funds these and makes it possible to view for free for the public

[ShrimpBarbarian]

The Lakota did not start the Ghost Dance, that was Wovoka, a Paiute man who's movement had spread to the Lakota Nation.

[patrickblanchette]

Thank you for the informative video. I really liked how you showed the Lakota people as a complex group while still pointing out the injustices committed against them.