Did the Sioux Indians live in buffalohide teepes?

Answer 1

Not all Sioux did, and not all Sioux were Plains dwellers. They have a tradition that the whole Sioux people originally lived in Minnesota, near Mille Lacs and towards the Mississippi; they first encountered European explorers in eastern Minnesota. This would make them "village Indians", living in semi-permanent longhouse villages, raising crops, making pottery and fishing, as well as hunting on foot in their local areas.

They were forced westwards by Ojibwas armed with French guns obtained in trade (at that time the Sioux had no guns) and by 1700 they inhabited the Mississippi valley and westwards into South Dakota. Only the western bands obtained horses, quickly becoming nomadic buffalo-hunters; the eastern bands remained "village Indians" living in longhouses and growing crops.

The Sioux were effectively three divisions and 7 different tribes who developed slightly different dialects of the same language. The eastern became known as Dakotas, the middle division Nakotas and the western division Lakotas; the western bands have also been called Teton Sioux, from their word meaning "Plains dwellers".

Only the western and middle divisions generally lived in buffalo hide tipis. The Nakotas (also called Yanktons) are also known to have used earth lodges like those of the Mandans and could be called "marginally Plains" in terms of their culture.