In the past the Western Dakota have been erroneously classified as Nakota, who are located in Montana and across the border in Canada, where they are known as Stoney.

After 1870, the Dakota people began to return to Minnesota, creating the present-day reservations in the state.

Despite ceding their lands, their treaty with the U.S. government allowed them to maintain their traditional role in the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ as the caretakers of the Pipestone Quarry, which is the cultural center of the Sioux people.

They are considered to be the Western Dakota (also called middle Sioux), and have in the past been erroneously classified as Nakota.

Migrations of Ojibwe people from the east in the 17th and 18th centuries, who were armed with muskets supplied by the French and British, pushed the Dakota further into Minnesota and west and southward.

The US gave the name "Dakota Territory" to the northern expanse west of the Mississippi River and up to its headwaters.

[7] [failed verification] After the Dakota War of 1862, the federal government expelled the Santee (who included the Mdewakanton) from Minnesota.

Many were sent to Crow Creek Indian Reservation east of the Missouri River in what is now South Dakota.

In addition, they reside at several Canadian reserves, including Birdtail, Oak Lake, and Whitecap (formerly Moose Woods).