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The Sweat Lodge

The Sioux word "Inipi" is translated as "sweat lodge" in English. This sweat lodge is an integral part of a purification rite in Sioux religion. Traditionally, this ceremony began at sunrise and included only men, but some modifications have been made among some Sioux in the present. Inside a small, circular, handmade lodge, large rocks are heated. The Sioux pour water over the rocks to create steam, and those participating in the ritual seat themselves around the interior of the lodge while different parts of the ceremony are carried out.

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The Medicine Wheel

The medicine wheel plays an important part in Sioux religion. Its use is reserved to the tribe's medicine man. The wheel's circular shape represents life and death while each spoke of the interior cross represents one of the four cardinal directions. Overall, the wheel makes reference to the unity of the Great Spirit.

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The clothes they wore were made primarily from animal skins. Men wore typical deerskin shirts with leggings and women wore full length dresses with leggings underneath for warmth.

The Sioux enjoyed decorating their clothing with colorful items such as beads, but also used an array of natural items including shells, animal teeth and claws.

To protect their feet they wore moccasins and when they needed to keep especially warm they wore animal hide robes.

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The Sun Dance

The Sun Dance is the most important religious ceremony of all for the Sioux tribe. It involves much more than dancing. The community engages in drumming and singing and prepares themselves for the ritual with fasting and self-torture. The latter preparation method includes numerous body piercings, which are torn from the flesh during the ceremony. All this is done in an effort to obtain spiritual visions. They conduct this ritual over a period of several days in the summer.

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The Sioux Indians believed that seven was a special number, that “mother nature” was the biggest spirit, and that everything in nature was special.  They believed that not using up everything from an animal or plant was bad luck.   This is called Animism and is based on a belief that not only humans have spirits but other things like plants, animals, and rocks also have them too.  This also includes things like thunder storms, earthquakes, and rain.  Animism is just another reason that the Sioux Indians loved nature.

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The Vision Quest

A vision quest is a rite of passage for a young man. Survival alone in the wilderness and reception of a vision are proof that he is ready for the burdens and responsibilities of manhood. When a man returns from this quest, he recounts his vision in public, thus integrating himself and his vision into the community.

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Lacrosse is a form of ancient Sioux (and other Native American) game

Horses were called Medicine Dog, Big Dog, or God Dog.

Sioux Indians were skilled on horses.

When a warrior died the heads and tails of his favorite horses were sometimes placed near him to help him travel in the afterlife.

To toughen warriors and help them develop riding skills the Sioux sometimes played " throwing- them- off- their- horses," where they tried to wrestle each other off their mounts.

When adults gambled they bet their horses and sometimes even their wives.

Famous Sioux people were Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse

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Sioux men acquired status by performing brave deeds in warfare; horses and scalps obtained in a raid were evidence of valour. Sioux women were skilled at porcupine-quill and bead embroidery, favouring geometric designs; they also produced prodigious numbers of processed bison hides during the 19th century, when the trade value of these “buffalo robes” increased dramatically. Community policing was performed by men’s military societies, the most significant duty of which was to oversee the buffalo hunt. Women’s societies generally focused on fertility, healing, and the overall well-being of the group. Other societies focused on ritual dance and shamanism.

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The Sioux lived in the northern Great Plains in lands that are today the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Tribes travelled all over the plains, however, and sometimes ended up in other states for periods of time.

Read more at: http://www.ducksters.com/history/native_american_sioux_nation.php
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