First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The total population is nearly 700,000 people. Under the Employment Equity Act, First Nations are a "designated group", along with women, visible minorities, and persons with physical or mental disabilities. They are not defined as a visible minority under the Act or by the criteria of Statistics Canada.

The term First Nations (most often used in the plural) has come into general use for the indigenous peoples of the Americas located in what is now Canada, except for the Arctic-situated Inuit, and peoples of mixed European-First Nations ancestry called Métis. The singular, commonly used on culturally politicized reserves, is the term First Nations person (when gender-specific, First Nations man or First Nations woman). A more recent trend is for members of various nations to refer to themselves by their tribal or national identity only, e.g., "I'm Haida," or "We're Kwantlens," in recognition of the distinctiveness of First Nations ethnicities.

The Lakota (pronounced [laˈkˣota]; also known as Teton, Titunwan ("prairie dwellers"),Teton Sioux ("snake, or enemy") are an indigenous people of the Great Plains. They are part of a confederation of seven related Sioux tribes,the Oceti Šakowiŋ or seven council fires, and speak Lakota, one of the three major dialects of the Sioux language.

The Lakota are the western-most of the three Sioux-language groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota. The seven bands or "sub-tribes" of the Lakota are:

Notable persons include Tataŋka Iyotake (Sitting Bull) from the Hunkpapa band; and Tašuŋke Witko (Crazy Horse) from the Oglala band, Maȟpiya Luta (Red Cloud), Heȟaka Sapa (Black Elk), Siŋte Gleška (Spotted Tail), Billy Mills and Touch the Clouds from the Oglala band.

Siouan language speakers may have originated in the lower Mississippi River region and then migrated to or originated in the Ohio Valley. They were agriculturalists and may have been part of the Mound Builder civilization during the 9th–12th centuries CE. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Dakota-Lakota-Nakota speakers lived in the upper Mississippi Region in present day Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas. Conflicts with Anishnaabe and Cree peoples pushed the Lakota west onto the Great Plains in the mid- to late-17th century.