Lakota Nation vs. The United States.

What Do You Know?

By Bruce Maggi, Ph.D.

Here we are in Native American Heritage Month, where we should be celebrating the contributions of the indigenous people of our great nation. Several years ago, I wrote a blog during this celebrated heritage month. I focused on the positive things that have changed within our nation that directly affected First Nations people. I’m not feeling in that same frame of mind this November and want to focus on an issue that few people may be aware of. Last week, I took a flight, and while looking for entertainment, I came across a movie I hadn’t seen before. Its title is “Lakota Nation vs. United States, and it was a great reminder of the political battles that are still ongoing in our nation today.

If you are unaware of this conflict, as most of my students are, there is an ongoing legal battle between the Lakota Nation and the United States. To summarize this issue, I will focus on some critical moments in the case. The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868 pledged that the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills, would be "set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians”.

By the treaty's terms, cession of any part of the reservation required a new treaty executed and signed by at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying the land. Some people may remember this from school, but most will recognize the image of General George Custer exploring the Black Hills and finding gold.  

Of course, this refers to the idea that history books are written by the winners of the war, and they tell the stories they want us to know. But did you know that the U.S. Supreme Court has favored the Lakota Nation? The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. had illegally appropriated the Black Hills and awarded more than $100 million in reparations. The Sioux Nation refused the money (now worth over 2 billion dollars), stating that the land was never for sale. It should also be known that the number of raw materials taken out of the ground in the Black Hills makes the amount offered by the federal government.

It is documented that in gold alone, by 1980, 14 billion dollars were mined for one vein. That doesn’t include all the other material removed from the land.

So, what is the reason for this history lesson? In the movie I watched, the director focused on a point during the George Floyd riots when protests were going on all over the United States, and symbols and statues of oppression were torn down and vandalized. On the lands of the Lakota Nation, protests were going on to remove four former presidents from their sacred land. Living in the South, I didn’t see much of what was happening in this part of the country. The news mainly reported on southern cities such as Richmond and Atlanta. Atlanta was one of the two places I was focusing on due to my knowledge of what could be found outside the city, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

The movie shed light on the fact that then-President Trump decided to visit Mount Rushmore on the fourth of July 2020 amidst these nationwide protests. With all of this going on, neither the President nor his staff asked the people who legally own the lands to do so. No conversations were being made by the federal government with the Lakota people. Still, a large military and law enforcement presence rained down upon the Black Hills. During this time, protests were going on at Mount Rushmore to remove the monument of prominent U.S. figures seen as oppressors. Due to the upcoming presidential visit, protesters who were not damaging or destroying anything were arrested. This action by the President to visit one of these monuments during these nationwide protests seemed to make things even worse. Revisiting this time within the movie brought me back to my visit to Richmond that summer of 2020 to witness what was going on.

Viewing this documentary and seeing the anguish of the people who don’t have control of their federally recognized property makes me wonder how this interaction would have gone if the federal government had been seen as the rightful owner. The number of arrests and evictions would be exponential, and politicians would explain how this was all legal and within their rights. This image makes me feel more pessimistic than in the past November months. This negativity within me believes that the Lakota will never get their land back, no matter what.

By the way, are you aware that the man behind Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum, created another monument before this one? It is found outside of Atlanta, GA, and is known as Stone Mountain Memorial. The largest high relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving, depicts three Confederate figures of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.

The entire carved surface measures three-acres and is larger than a football field and Mount Rushmore.

This was also protested during 2020, but still stands today.

Hopefully, in the future Native American Heritage months, I can write about how we have positive changes for our nation's first people, how they get the credit and respect they deserve, and how we are making changes for the better.

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