The United States government illegally seized the Black Hillsa mountain range in the US states of South Dakota and Wyomingfrom the Sioux Nation in 1876. The land was pledged to the Sioux Nation in the Treaty of Fort Laramie, but a few years later the United States illegally seized the land and nullified the treaty with the Indian Appropriations Bill of 1876, without the tribe's consent. That bill "denied the Sioux all further appropriation and treaty-guaranteed annuities" until they gave up the Black Hills.Wilkins, David E. (2010). American Indian Sovereignty and the US Supreme Court: The Masking of Justice. University of Texas Press. A Supreme Court case was ruled in favor of the Sioux in 1980. As of 2011, the court's award was worth over $1 billion, but the Sioux have outstanding issues with the ruling and have not collected the funds.

The Sioux tribes eventually managed to purchase a portion, out of the total of disputed land in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, in November 2012 which included the sacred Pe' Sla site. The Pe Sla' site's federal Indian trust status, which was granted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2016, was acknowledged by Pennington County in 2017. In 2016 and 2018, some Cheyenne and Sioux tribes managed to purchase land near the sacred Bear Butte, which serves as a state park.

Background

The Black Hills, the United States' second oldest mountain range,T.D. Griffith and Nyla Griffith, Insiders' Guide to South Dakota's Black Hills & Badlands, 6th, (Globe Pequot, 2011), 3. is long and wide stretching across South Dakota and Wyoming.United States Forest Service. Black Hills National Forest. Online. November 2, 2009. The Black Hills derived its name from the black image that is produced by the "thick forest of pine and spruce trees" that covers the hills and was given the name by the Native Americans belonging to the Lakota (Sioux).South Dakota. Black Hills National Forest. Online. November 2, 2009. The Lakota Sioux settled the area in about 1765 after being pushed out of Wisconsin and Minnesota by European settlers and Chippewa tribes. The tribe quickly adapted to plains-life, with the bison at the center of their culture.

The Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills, was "set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians" ("US v Sioux Nation"). in the Fort Laramie Treaty of April 29, 1868. Those treaties were not upheld by the United States, and the Sioux Nation was eventually forcibly removed. The Supreme Court ruled in 1980 (US v Sioux Nation) that the Sioux Nation never received just compensation for their land, writing "a more ripe and rank case of dishonorable dealings will never, in all probability, be found in our history." The Court concluded that Congress had failed to "makes a good faith effort to give the Indians the full value of the land." The Court ordered "just compensation to the Sioux Nation, and that obligation, including an award of interest, must now, at last, be paid." However, the Sioux Nation refused the monetary award, stating that their goal was return of the land.

The land of the Black Hills has a United States federal government presence where it is home to five national parks: Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Badlands National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park.Black Hills and Bad Lands . National Parks. Online. November 2, 2009. Black Elk Peak, formerly Harney Peak, is the highest summit of the Black Hills at and is located within the of the Black Hills National Forest.United States Forest Service. Black Hills National Forests. Online. November 2, 2009. Black Elk Peak is a Lakota religious landmark and a popular hiking destination.

The presence of Native Americans in the Black Hills is represented by the Crazy Horse Memorial, which is a carved sculpture in the mountains of the martyred Lakota leader, Crazy Horse. The sculpture is designed to symbolize the culture, tradition and living heritage of North American IndiansCrazy Horse Memorial. The Story of the Crazy Horse Memorial . Online. November 2, 2009. although its construction has been controversial within the tribe.

Religion and the Black Hills

The Lakotas, Cheyennes, Arapahos, Kiowas and Kiowa-Apaches believe the land to be sacred.Linea Sundstrom, "Cross-Cultural Transference of the Sacred Geography of the Black Hills," World Archaeology 28, no. 2 (Oct. 1996): 177. Specific locations in and near the Black Hills considered as sacred include Bear Lodge Butte (Devils Tower), Bear Butte, the Racetrack or Red Valley, Buffalo Gap, Craven Canyon, Gillette Prairie, the Hot Springs-Minnekahta area, lnyan Kara Mountain, Black Elk Peak, Black Buttes, White Butte, and Rapid Creek Valley. Most of these places are part of the traditional histories of the tribes, some related to extensive migrations in pre contact times. For the Lakota, the Black Hills were frequently used for the individual vision quests, and through them some people even learned ritual and songs of the Sun Dance.

Their religion holds that traditional religious ceremonies should be held within the Black Hills, though by necessity they are now held inside and outside of the Black Hills. Some outsiders use the latter fact to conclude that the land is not needed to perform the ceremonies.David B. Miller, "Historian's View of S. 705: The Sioux Nation Black Hills Bill," Wíčazo Ša Review 4, no. 1 (Spring. 1988): 56.

The land has significant resources and minerals, which was the primary driver for its seizure in the mid-1800s, and an important factor in why many people oppose its return to the Lakota. Some believe that the Sioux did not willingly choose to inhabit the Black Hills, but were forced on to the land by military conquest of other tribes. If the Black Hills were not originally inhabited by the Sioux, they conclude, the Sioux have no rights to the land. However, the Fort Laramie Treaty between the United States and the Sioux Nation unambiguously recognized their ownership of the land.

History

First encounters The Arikara arrived by AD 1500, followed by the Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa and Arapaho. The Lakota (also known as Sioux) arrived from Minnesota in the 18th century and drove out the other tribes, who moved west.World Archaeology, Oct., 1996, Vol. 28, No. 2, Sacred Geography (Oct., 1996), pp. 177-189 They claimed the land, which they called Pahá Sápa (Black Mountains). The mountains commonly became known as the Black Hills.

The Lakota did not come across a United States governmental spokesperson until the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 near the Missouri River. The two men refrained from entering the Black Hills because they lacked governmental jurisdiction and feared the deadly consequences of entering sacred land. Moreover, the Teton Sioux first embraced Lewis and Clark with gifts and food and in return, Lewis and Clark notified the Indians that the United States controlled much of the Sioux lands under the newly obtained Louisiana Territory by distributing medals to symbolize peace and American citizenship.

The Lewis and Clark expedition led to the formation of the Missouri and American fur companies in 1808. As a result, the United States regulated trade outside of the Black Hills. To maintain peace, the United States government offered the Sioux full protection from harm and of property as well as gave the Sioux permission to hand over intruders to the United States government for further punishment. The sacredness of the Black Hills kept intruders out until Jedediah Smith's expedition of 15 traders into the Black Hills in 1823.Wind Cave National Park. History of the Black Hills . Online. October 20, 2009.

Origin of the land claim In 1849 the Californian Gold Rush attracted many prospectors, who sometimes encroached on sacred Sioux grounds while headed for the Oregon Trail. As a result, the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851) was formed to establish land rights and maintain peace between travelling miners and the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nations. Under this treaty, the formation of reservations began where pieces of allotted land were distributed to the several tribes.

The treaty recognized the Sioux territory of the Black Hills which were located between the North Platte River and Yellowstone River and obligated the government to pay $50,000 annually. However, a United States military war against Red Cloud proved to be a victory for the Sioux, which resulted in the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). This treaty ultimately protected the Black Hills from white settlement.

The treaty was violated when gold was discovered in Montana in 1874. However, the Sioux did not face intruders until Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer and his army entered the Black Hills in 1874 and publicly announced their discovery of gold. By 1875 the announcement led to the establishment of large mining towns, such as Deadwood, Central City and Lead within the Black Hills.Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center. "Paha Sapa, Black Hills." Online. October 20, 2009. Accordingly, the United States unilaterally imposed the Manypenny Agreement, claimed the land, and officially removed the Black Hills from the Sioux Reservation by passing the Congressional Act of February 28, 1877. (19 Stat., 254)

Land rights and treaties

1851 Fort Laramie Treaty

Congress passed an appropriations bill in February 1851 to allow Commissioner of Indian Affairs Luke Lea to negotiate with the Native Americans living on the Black Hills.Burton, Smith. "Politics and the Crow Indian Land Cessions." Montana: The Magazine of Western History 36, no. 4 (Autumn. 1986), 27. The Fort Laramie Treaty was developed to prevent further harm of the natural resources in the Black Hills that were damaged by miners travelling to California. The treaty also developed boundaries for the Sioux and promoted peace between white settlers and plain Indians. Consequently, the treaty favoured United States expansionism when the Sioux agreed to the development of railroads and trails within their territory.

In contrast, the treaty did prove beneficial to the Sioux nation, where the government agreed to pay the tribe $50,000 each year for 50 years and recognized land rights of the Sioux and their right to self-governance within their boundaries. However, the United States violated the treaty a year later on May 24, 1852, when the United States Senate decreased the payment of $50,000 for fifty years to ten years.Smith Burton, "Politics and the Crow Indian Land Cessions." Montana: The Magazine of Western History 36, no. 4 (Autumn. 1986), p. 28.

1868 Fort Laramie Treaty

On December 21, 1866, a supply train travelling on Bozeman Trail was attacked by Sioux Indians. Later that day, a small force of 80 American soldiers under Captain William J. Fetterman was ambushed and destroyed outside Fort Kearny by 2,000 Sioux warriors led by Red Cloud. The Fetterman Fight was the biggest battle of Red Cloud's War.

Since Red Cloud had vastly superior forces and better logistics in this remote area of Montana, the United States Congress responded on July 20, 1867, by creating the Indian Peace Commission. A peace expedition was led by Lieutenant General William Tecumseh Sherman. While negotiating, Sioux Indian Spotted Tail, representing the Indians of Powder River stated "We object to the Powder River road. The country which we live in is cut up by white men, who drive away all the game. That is the cause of our troubles." General Sherman responded by saying that the government would not close down the trail but would compensate the Indians for any damages travellers may have caused to the land. Red Cloud hesitated to sign the treaty, but eventually agreed to the terms on November 6, 1868.