American Indian Culture and Research Journal

One of the objectives of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA) was to provide Indian tribes with a modern system of government. However, the IRA governments differed radically from traditional Native American political systems and were contrary to traditional political culture. This paper suggests a reform of Sioux tribal government that accommodates two essential elements of traditional Sioux political culture: the tiyospaye and consensus decision-making. The revised system would establish proportional representation (PR) on the basis of the tiyospaye. By utilizing PR with a re-legitimized tiyospaye, tribal governments may be able to approximate traditional decision-making processes. While this proposal is generally based on the Sioux tradition, its practical application requires some adaptation to the unique historical political experiences of any modern Sioux tribal government. The tiyospaye is the traditional Sioux social and political unit. Mirsky describes it as an extended bilateral family group with no formal entry or exit procedures. According to Hassrick, the tiyospaye was a small, close-knit hunting group whose leader was generally the patriarchal family head. It was a clannish group, with loyalties directed toward the leader and devotion to kin. Under modern Sioux tribal government, the tiyospaye has become politically nonfunctional, because modern Sioux tribal government instead relies on the representation of communities and districts or on reservationwide election. Since familial responsibility, as found in the tiyospaye, is an important aspect of Sioux culture, the tiyospaye should be included in any effort to reform Sioux tribal government. Representation should be based on the tiyospaye rather than on anything else.