Pre - 1795 - Trading under way between members of the Sioux tribe and Spanish and French merchants from St. Louis.

Early 1800s - Great Sioux Nation dominates northern Plains an area including most of the Dakotas, northern Nebraska, eastern Wyoming, and southeastern Montana.

United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France. The westward expansion that follows leads to the depletion of the buffalo, an animal central to the Lakota way of life.

Sitting Bull is born near present South Dakota.

Sitting Bull is elected a Sioux leader.

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 establishes the Great Sioux Reservation, encompassing most of present-day South Dakota west of the Missouri River, including the Black Hills (Paha Sapa), an area that has already been part of the sacred geography of the Sioux for generations. When Gold deposits are found in the Black Hills American prospectors flood into the area.

Total war on the buffalo begins Canadian and American authorities develop a campaign to ensure the Sioux are contained on reservations. Hide hunters are sent to slaughter the buffalo living on the plains of North America. It was well known that the Sioux needed buffalo to survive.

War for the Black Hills Sitting Bull assembles a force of Plains Indians and prepares for war against the U.S. Army. Americans continue to invade the territory granted to the Sioux in the Fort Laramie treaty.

June 14 - Sun Dance Ceremony Sitting Bull performs the ritual and foresees a battle with a victory for his people.

June 17 - Battle of the Rosebud Lakota and Cheyenne warriors under Crazy Horse turn back troops commanded by U.S. Army General George Crook.

June 25 - The Battle of Little Bighorn General Custer and the 7th Cavalry attack one of the largest Plains Indian settlements in history. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Gall, lead their men into the battle that becomes one of the greatest victories for the Sioux Nation and one of the greatest fiascos in American military history.

May - Sitting Bull escapes to Canada The U.S. seeks revenge on the Sioux for the Battle of Little Bighorn. Sitting Bull and his followers flee to Canada. Other bands surrender and must live on reservations.

Sitting Bull surrenders Facing starvation in Canada, the chief and his people return to the United States and surrender at Fort Buford, Montana. Sitting Bull goes to Fort Randall in South Dakota for two years as a prisoner of war.

Sitting Bull sent to Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota.

Sitting Bull tours with Buffalo Bill in his Wild West Show.

General Allotment Act passed by U.S. Congress grants 160 acres of reservation land for private use to the heads of native households. The unassigned land is put up for sale to non-native settlers. The result is a 50-per-cent reduction of the Great Sioux Reservation; land previously guaranteed by treaty is whittled down to six smaller reservations.

The Ghost Dance religion sweeps across the Plains reservations. The Native peoples believe it will bring about the return of the buffalo and the former way of life. The U.S. army fear it will lead to another war with Sitting Bull as the leader.

Dec. 15 - Sitting Bull killed Major General Nelson A. Miles orders Sitting Bull's arrest at the Standing Rock Reservation. During a struggle to escape, the Indian Police, acting on behalf of the U.S. government kills Sitting Bull.

Dec. 29 - Battle of Wounded Knee The U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry massacres 250 members of Big Foot's band in South Dakota.

Indian Reorganization Act brings an end to the failed allotment policy. The new legislation returns unsold allotment lands to tribes. Native communities rebuild tribal governments and establish schools on reservations.

Voluntary relocation program established by U.S. Congress is among the shifts in policy said to encourage native people to become self-sufficient and move off reservations. The government begins withdrawing aid.

Wounded Knee II In pursuit of greater self-determination, armed members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seize the village of Wounded Knee, an Indian burial ground that had been transformed into a tourist attraction. After 71 days, the government retakes the area by force.

Supreme Court decision United States Supreme Court orders the federal government to pay about $105-million to eight Sioux tribes for native land in South Dakota that the government had taken illegally in 1877. The tribes refuse the settlement, seeking the return of part of the Black Hills in South Dakota, in addition to the cash payment.

Sioux among the largest Indian groups living in the U.S. About half live on reservations in the northern plains. The other half live in urban areas throughout the United States.