Tiospaye
/tiˈoʃ.pa.jeɪ/noun
A Lakota social unit comprising an extended family and its associated community or band.
Did you know?A tiospaye was more than a household: it functioned as a social, economic, and political community, reflecting the central Lakota principle that identity is fundamentally relational.
Etymological Timeline
Precontact
Lakota
tióšpaye
“An extended family community, band, or closely connected social group.”
18th–19th Century
Lakota
tióšpaye
“A kin-based community that could travel, camp, hunt, and organize collectively.”
19th Century
English
tiospaye
“A Lakota social and kinship unit, recorded in English-language ethnographic and historical writing.”
20th Century
English
tiospaye
“An extended-family or community structure in Lakota society.”
Modern English
English
tiospaye
“A Lakota term used in cultural, educational, academic, and Indigenous-community contexts for an extended family network or community.”