Meanings
plural Hunkpapas
- A member of a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe.
1 more example
If I'd kept a woman, he realized, instead of sending 'em back to their fathers' lodges - the Shoshone girl, them two Hunkpapas, the Crow I called Sally, even that Ree that come near talking me to death - if I'd kept one of 'em for more than just a winter, I'd have boys of my own by now to bring in meat.
1950, Dorothy M. Johnson, War Shirt; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 110
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- LakotaHúŋkpapȟa“head of the circle”
- EnglishHunkpapa
From Lakota Húŋkpapȟa (“head of the circle”).
More words from Lakota
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Hunkpapa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hunkpapa
“Hunkpapa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hunkpapa. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hunkpapa,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hunkpapa.
Source: Hunkpapa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.