The Standing Rock Reservation is home to 8,250 Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people of the Oceti Sakowin Nation. It is located in south-central North Dakota and in north-central South Dakota. The reservation is the sixth largest in the United States, with a land area of 3,571 square miles. It comprises all of Sioux County, North Dakota, Corson County, South Dakota, and small tracts of northern Dewey and Ziebach Counties in South Dakota. The tribe has a very rich culture and history, both of which are showcased in this series of photographs of the Standing Rock Reservation and its people.
Donovin Sprague is an author, university instructor, tour guide, musician, artisan, and historian. He teaches American Indian Studies at Black Hills State University in South Dakota. Rylan Sprague is a botanist for the US Forest Service based in Spearfish, South Dakota, in the Black Hills. He has a master's degree from Black Hills State University. Both authors are enrolled Minnicoujou Lakota tribal members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.