"The U.S. Congress took the Black Hills from the Great Sioux Nation in violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty, just nine years after it was signed in 1868.
In the 20th Century, the federal government’s answer was to offer money: seventeen million for the Black Hills, plus interest, and less than a dollar an acre for 48 million acres of other land lost when the treaty was enacted.
South Dakota tribes said no, and they have continued to say no, even as the interest has accrued and the pot has grown to somewhere close to a billion dollars.
Some tribal members have grown tired of waiting. Two years ago they sued the U.S. Department of Interior, pushing for a plan for distributing the money."
Get the Story:
Individual tribal members not entitled to federal payoff for Black Hills
(South Dakota Public Radio 8/16)
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