Indianz.Com > News > Tim Giago: Sioux Nation refuses payout for stolen land
The Black Hills award approaching 1 billion dollars
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Anyone who watched HBO’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee had to be pretty quick to catch the scroll at the end of the movie about the illegal taking of the Black Hills from the tribes of the Great Sioux Nation. Justice Harry Blackmun in his legal opinion wrote, “A more ripe and rank case of dishonest dealings may never be found in our history.”
The U. S. Supreme Court decreed that the Hills did belong to the Sioux and on July 23, 1980 awarded them $105,994,430.52 for the Black Hills (Docket 74B) and $40,245,807.02 for lands taken east of the Black Hills (Docket 74A).
The scroll at the end of the movie indicated that the award now stood at $600 million and the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota refused to accept it. Well, that figure was wrong and should have been updated. As of today the amount of the awards are $757,465,288.74 for the Black Hills and $105,821,479.16 for the land taken east of the Black Hills.
That brings the total owed to the tribes of the Great Sioux Nation to $863,286,767.90. A nice chunk of cash.
And yet, the poorest of people in all of America refuse to accept one single penny of the award.


Tim Giago is an Oglala Lakota. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the Class of 1991. His book “Children Left Behind, the Dark Legacy of the Indian Missions” is available at: order@clearlightbooks.com. The book won the Bronze Star from the Independent Publishers Awards. He can be reached at najournalist1@gmail.com
Note: Content © Tim Giago
Advertisement
Search
Filed Under
Tags
More Headlines
NAFOA in transition with departure of executive director
A Listening Session on “The ARTIST Act: Updating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act”
Native America Calling: Is Twitter worth the trade-off?
NAFOA opens annual economic development conference in nation’s capital
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hosts listening session for Indian Arts and Crafts Act
SCOTUSblog: A ‘simple’ Indian law case before the U.S. Supreme Court
Chuck Hoskin: Cherokee Nation continues to rebuild its economy
Native America Calling: Robots help teach STEM and Native languages
New York bans use of Native mascots in public schools
National American Indian Housing Council welcomes new executive director
Native America Calling: Tribal cannabis update from New York to Washington State
Fireworks as Secretary Haaland faces Republican critic on Capitol Hill
ICT won’t post on Twitter due to ‘mistrust’ of social media platform
‘It’s really meaningful to me’: Omaha Nation students visit site of former boarding school
Native America Calling: Tribal gun laws
More Headlines
A Listening Session on “The ARTIST Act: Updating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act”
Native America Calling: Is Twitter worth the trade-off?
NAFOA opens annual economic development conference in nation’s capital
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hosts listening session for Indian Arts and Crafts Act
SCOTUSblog: A ‘simple’ Indian law case before the U.S. Supreme Court
Chuck Hoskin: Cherokee Nation continues to rebuild its economy
Native America Calling: Robots help teach STEM and Native languages
New York bans use of Native mascots in public schools
National American Indian Housing Council welcomes new executive director
Native America Calling: Tribal cannabis update from New York to Washington State
Fireworks as Secretary Haaland faces Republican critic on Capitol Hill
ICT won’t post on Twitter due to ‘mistrust’ of social media platform
‘It’s really meaningful to me’: Omaha Nation students visit site of former boarding school
Native America Calling: Tribal gun laws
More Headlines