Affiliated Tribal Nations

Many people have a special connection to the pipestone quarries.

N. Barber

"The Great Spirit told all nations to meet there in peace, and all nations hid
the war-club and the tomahawk."
_{-Mandan Warrior to George Catlin}

The pipestone quarries have been a sacred gathering place for American Indian peoples across North America since ancient times. The pipestone found and quarried here is used in carving pipes for prayer and ceremony.

While many tribes have special connections to this place, Pipestone National Monument engages in formal government-to-government consultations with 23 affiliated tribal nations based on their historic connections to the quarry, pre-dating the establishment of the Monument. This collaborative process significantly informs management decisions and actions. Tribal sovereignty, rooted in the U.S. Constitution and other Federal law, is at the heart of the government-to-government consultation process. You can learn more about government-to-government consultation from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Consulting nations at Pipestone include:

• Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
• Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
• Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe
• Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes
• Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska
• Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
• Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
• Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
• Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation
• Oglala Lakota Nation
• Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
• Otoe-Missouria Tribe
• Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
• Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma
• Prairie Island Indian Community
• Rosebud Sioux Tribe
• Santee Sioux Tribe
• Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
• Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation
• Spirit Lake Dakota Tribe
• Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
• Upper Sioux Indian Community
• Yankton Sioux Tribe