The Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota people speak the same language in three distinct dialects, and despite those dialect differences, the meaning of their tribal names remains the same: Friendly Ally. Dating back to the earliest recorded history of the Great Plains, these peoples have long existed in their homelands, contributed to the earliest explorers of the region by documenting geographical markers and sharing knowledge of the area, and maintained a dominant presence on the Great Plains. The Sioux nation produced distinguished chiefs and warriors who shaped America and American history, including Standing Buffalo, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, many of whom called South Dakota home. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the ancestral people of the Great Plains experienced many challenges during the expansion of the United States, yet they also carried on warrior traditions through patriotic service in every U.S. conflict, most notably in World War I and World War II, when Sioux and other tribal languages were used on the front lines as indecipherable code that helped the United States win both wars. South Dakota is home to dozens of Sioux Code Talkers, and these tribes continue their ancestral language, culture, and history in their communities and in native dance celebrations known as Powwows. Although South Dakota is known as the ancestral homeland of the Great Sioux Nation, many other tribes also roamed and hunted in different parts of the state, as shown by historical sites and place names throughout South Dakota.