DAKOTAS, a family of tribes of Indians in North America, lying between the Rocky mountains and the Mississippi, with one tribe and perhaps others to the eastward. Their language has been regarded as approaching the Mongolian more than any other American language. According to their traditions, they came eastward from the shores of the Pacific and encountered the Algonquins near the Mississippi, where the mass of them were held in check. One tribe, the Hochungara, called by the Algonquins Winnebagook (men from the fetid or salt water), pushed through the Algonquins to the shores of Lake Michigan. The Quapaws, called by the Algonquins Alkansas or Arkansas, settled on the Ohio, but were driven by the Illinois down the Mississippi to the region that now bears their name. The other tribes of the family are the Hoha, called by the Algonquins Assiniboin or Stone Sioux, from the rocky nature of their country; the Dakotas proper, called by the Algonquins and French Nadowesioux (whence our word Sioux); the Missouris, Omahas, Poncas, lowas, Osages, Kansas, Ottoes, Hidatsa or Minnetarees, and Upsarokas or Crows. The Indians of this family in the United States in 1872 were estimated at 59,377; while those in the British possessions numbered at least 1,000.