Popular culture largely perceives the tragedy at Wounded Knee in 1890 as the end of Native American resistance in the West and for many years historians viewed this event as the end of Indian history altogether The Dawes Act of 1887 and the reservation system dramatically changed daily life and political dynamics particularly for the Oglala Lakotas As Akim D Reinhardt demonstrates in this volume however the twentieth century continued to be politically dynamic Even today as life continues for the Oglalas on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwestern South Dakota politics remain an integral component of the Lakota past and future Reinhardt charts the political history of the Oglala Lakota people from the fifteenth century to the present with this edited collection of primary documents a historical narrative and a contemporary bibliographic essay Throughout the twentieth century residents on Pine Ridge and other reservations confronted resisted and adapted to the continuing effects of U S colonialism During the modern reservation era reservation councils grassroots and national political movements courtroom victories and losses and cultural battles have shaped indigenous populations Both a documentary reader and a Lakota history Welcome to the Oglala Nation is an indispensable volume on Lakota politics