U.S. must return land seized in 1877 to Lakota

By Ned Blackhawk

Posted February 28, 2007

 

 

COMMENTARY

 

Today is a sad day in American-Indian -- and American -- history.

 

130 years ago, the federal government broke its own laws and eventually used military force to seize illegally the once vast reservation homelands of Lakota communities known as the Black Hills.

 

This seizure in 1877 violated the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, and deepened one of the most enduring tragedies in American-Indian history. In a single generation, the largest and most powerful American Indian confederacy on the continent confronted deadly attacks on its territory and populace.

 

The assault at the Black Hills culminated in the infamous December 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, where the U.S. military unleashed overwhelming firepower against a band of Lakota along the banks of a creek known as Wounded Knee.

 

Even the staunchest defenders of U.S. military actions recognize the tragic nature of this conflict. And these events remain seared into Lakota history.

 

The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty was a historic achievement for Lakota leaders who, despite a generation of white expansion, negotiated a favorable recognition of Lakota sovereignty over what is now western South Dakota, including the sacred Black Hills.

 

Lakota bands displayed remarkable political and military resolve during the 1860s, particularly through their concentrated attacks along the Bozeman Trail.

 

Weary of war, in 1868 U.S. and Lakota leaders returned to negotiations. The result: a congressionally ratified reservation covering the western half of South Dakota.

 

This "Great Sioux Reservation," with recognized hunting lands in Montana, now became the Lakota's indisputable homeland to be held in trust by the federal government.

 

But the 1874 discovery of gold in the Black Hills ruptured this agreement. It brought illegal occupations of the Sioux Reservation that remain contested to this day. As historian Jeffrey Ostler writes, "Forced to choose between expansion and honor, (President) Grant, not unlike many of his predecessors, sacrificed the latter," opening the reservation to waves of intruders.

 

Many Lakota, in turn, fled their besieged reservation to Montana, defeating the U.S. Cavalry at the Little Big Horn before being forcibly returned to fragments of their reservation.

 

U.S. courts have recognized the illegality of these actions and offered modest payments, but the Lakota nations remained determined to get the Black Hills returned to tribal communities.

 

The conflict continues 130 years later.

 

It may be hard to imagine the federal government "returning" lands to American Indians, but it shouldn't be. Given the remarkable strides made recently by American Indians across the country, American Indians now maintain increased political and economic visibility.

 

The once poorest of the poor are now helping balance legislative budgets, and Indian communities in California, Wisconsin, Washington and elsewhere maintain effective partnerships with state governments.

 

American Indian nations stand poised to gain further autonomy and self-sufficiency, and many justifiably see the Black Hills, particularly the Black Hills National Forest, as mismanaged federal lands. Meanwhile, timber and mining corporations are eyeing the Black Hills for themselves.

 

The Lakota have religious and legally recognized ties to these federal lands, and the U.S. government must act now to rectify its violations. National leaders need to recognize and reverse the failures of the past.

 

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Blackhawk is associate professor of history and American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Write him at Progressive Media Project, 409 East Main St., Madison, WI 53703; or e-mail him through pmproj@progressive.org.