ABSTRACT
The institutionalization of ethnic difference by the colonial administration on Pine Ridge Reservation became a lasting characteristic of Pine Ridge Reservation social organization. The fact that the issue of Lakota versus ieska figured so large in the traditional government forums is a clue to the existence of persistent ethnic differences on the reservation, differences linked to history and structure. While the notion that people use their ethnic identity to negotiate social life is surely useful, many Oglalas would take issue with his presumption of the Lakota as “economic man.” The intra-ethnic split was in place, a product of the changing economy on the northern plains. The collapse of the hide trade attendant the slaughter of the buffalo put pressure on Oglalas, and on their relatives who had been associated with the trade. Divisions between mixed blood and full blood Oglalas on Pine Ridge Reservation reflect that colonial legacy.
