SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Sioux Nation Races to Buy Back Sacred Lands
Tribe trying to raise $9 million to buy sacred site in South Dakota's Black Hills
Oct 08, 2012
One hundred and fifty years after the federal government took over their sacred South Dakota land, the Sioux Nation is trying to buy it back.
This summer, a parcel of pristine prairie in South Dakota's Black Hills was put up for sale. The site, called Pe' Sla by members of the Great Sioux Nation, is sacred to the tribe and plays a key role in their creation story. The owners--whose family has controlled the property since 1876--have accepted a $9 million bid by tribal leaders, who are now racing to raise the money before the deadline next month.
The bid has sparked some controversy among tribal members who don't agree with having to pay for something that originally belonged to them. "It's like someone stealing my car and I have to pay to get it back," Tom Poor Bear, the vice president of the Oglala Lakota Tribe in South Dakota, told the New York Times.
In 1868, the Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed Sioux ownership of the Black Hills, the low-lying mountains that abut the Badlands in south western South Dakota. However, after the discovery of gold, the federal government took the land back. Over a century later, the Supreme court declared the exchange "one of the most dishonorable acts in American history," and ordered the government to compensate the tribe for the land. The Sioux have since refused to accept any money, saying that "doing so would have the effect of selling their mountains." Alternately, they've maintained that the Black Hills ought to be returned to tribal authority.
On Friday, the Great Sioux Nation's tribal leaders gathered in Rapid City, SD to in a showing of unity to discuss joint fundraising efforts. An online campaign has already raised almost $400,000.
The Times goes on to report that there are also some mixed feelings about the expense. The Sioux have an unemployment rate of 80%, extreme poverty and a "disproportionate levels of violence, alcoholism and preventable death."
"There are mixed feelings," said Vernon Schmidt, executive director of the Rosebud Sioux's land enterprise department. "Some tribal members are wholeheartedly in support, and other tribal members are not. It's hard to say, 'Tighten your belt,' but we're going to have to do it anyway. There's no dollar amount you can put on a sacred site."
# # #
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
One hundred and fifty years after the federal government took over their sacred South Dakota land, the Sioux Nation is trying to buy it back.
This summer, a parcel of pristine prairie in South Dakota's Black Hills was put up for sale. The site, called Pe' Sla by members of the Great Sioux Nation, is sacred to the tribe and plays a key role in their creation story. The owners--whose family has controlled the property since 1876--have accepted a $9 million bid by tribal leaders, who are now racing to raise the money before the deadline next month.
The bid has sparked some controversy among tribal members who don't agree with having to pay for something that originally belonged to them. "It's like someone stealing my car and I have to pay to get it back," Tom Poor Bear, the vice president of the Oglala Lakota Tribe in South Dakota, told the New York Times.
In 1868, the Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed Sioux ownership of the Black Hills, the low-lying mountains that abut the Badlands in south western South Dakota. However, after the discovery of gold, the federal government took the land back. Over a century later, the Supreme court declared the exchange "one of the most dishonorable acts in American history," and ordered the government to compensate the tribe for the land. The Sioux have since refused to accept any money, saying that "doing so would have the effect of selling their mountains." Alternately, they've maintained that the Black Hills ought to be returned to tribal authority.
On Friday, the Great Sioux Nation's tribal leaders gathered in Rapid City, SD to in a showing of unity to discuss joint fundraising efforts. An online campaign has already raised almost $400,000.
The Times goes on to report that there are also some mixed feelings about the expense. The Sioux have an unemployment rate of 80%, extreme poverty and a "disproportionate levels of violence, alcoholism and preventable death."
"There are mixed feelings," said Vernon Schmidt, executive director of the Rosebud Sioux's land enterprise department. "Some tribal members are wholeheartedly in support, and other tribal members are not. It's hard to say, 'Tighten your belt,' but we're going to have to do it anyway. There's no dollar amount you can put on a sacred site."
# # #
One hundred and fifty years after the federal government took over their sacred South Dakota land, the Sioux Nation is trying to buy it back.
This summer, a parcel of pristine prairie in South Dakota's Black Hills was put up for sale. The site, called Pe' Sla by members of the Great Sioux Nation, is sacred to the tribe and plays a key role in their creation story. The owners--whose family has controlled the property since 1876--have accepted a $9 million bid by tribal leaders, who are now racing to raise the money before the deadline next month.
The bid has sparked some controversy among tribal members who don't agree with having to pay for something that originally belonged to them. "It's like someone stealing my car and I have to pay to get it back," Tom Poor Bear, the vice president of the Oglala Lakota Tribe in South Dakota, told the New York Times.
In 1868, the Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed Sioux ownership of the Black Hills, the low-lying mountains that abut the Badlands in south western South Dakota. However, after the discovery of gold, the federal government took the land back. Over a century later, the Supreme court declared the exchange "one of the most dishonorable acts in American history," and ordered the government to compensate the tribe for the land. The Sioux have since refused to accept any money, saying that "doing so would have the effect of selling their mountains." Alternately, they've maintained that the Black Hills ought to be returned to tribal authority.
On Friday, the Great Sioux Nation's tribal leaders gathered in Rapid City, SD to in a showing of unity to discuss joint fundraising efforts. An online campaign has already raised almost $400,000.
The Times goes on to report that there are also some mixed feelings about the expense. The Sioux have an unemployment rate of 80%, extreme poverty and a "disproportionate levels of violence, alcoholism and preventable death."
"There are mixed feelings," said Vernon Schmidt, executive director of the Rosebud Sioux's land enterprise department. "Some tribal members are wholeheartedly in support, and other tribal members are not. It's hard to say, 'Tighten your belt,' but we're going to have to do it anyway. There's no dollar amount you can put on a sacred site."
# # #
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.