Most people have heard of the Battle of Little Bighorn, a.k.a “Custer’s Last Stand.” What they don’t know is how that battle happened as a result of yet another broken treaty between the U.S. government and Native Americans – and how the aftermath of the conflict is still very much alive today.
The American Army fought the Red Cloud War from 1866-68. Red Cloud was a Sioux chief who, allied with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, soundly defeated the American military. As a result, the government signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 establishing the Great Sioux Reservation, which included the Black Hills (located in modern-day South Dakota). The treaty closed the land to all whites – forever. The Black Hills had deep spiritual meaning to the Sioux. They considered the region the sacred center of the world.
The white world took a dim view of the treaty. For a long time, there had been rumors of gold in the Black Hills. The tribes, knowing how crazy gold made the whites, had even once held a council in which it was decided that any member who revealed the presence of gold in the Black Hills to a white would be killed.
However, rumors persisted of Black Hills’ riches, and some risked the tribes’ wrath to sneak into the region and seek gold. Pressure mounted for the American government to open the area for exploration and not let the tribes stop the Inevitable March of Progress. Then in 1873, a financial panic hit the country. People howled for relief; President Ulysses Grant grabbed onto opening up the Black Hills for gold exploration as a financial lifeline that would demonstrate he was taking decisive action. In violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty, troops were sent there in 1874 under George Armstrong Custer to find gold, and find gold they did. Word of the discovery quickly spread, and thousands of people rushed to the Black Hills. By March 1, 1876, there were more than 15,000 whites there.
There was just one problem – that pesky treaty that made all the whites trespassers. In 1875, the government tried to buy the Black Hills and other lands, but the native peoples refused. So the Grant administration sought an excuse to take the lands. Finally, they came up with one. The government ordered all tribes in the area onto reservations by January 31, 1876. Those that didn’t obey would be deemed hostile and dealt with accordingly. The tribes considered this a good joke – asking them to travel many miles in the dead of winter when they were hunkered down against the elements was akin to asking a hibernating bear to jump up and dance the cha-cha – and January 31 came and went quietly.
Thus was launched the Great Sioux War of 1876. On June 25 & 26 the Native Americans scored their greatest victory when they annihilated Custer and over 200 of his men, but ironically, their greatest victory turned out to be their greatest mistake. The army became enraged, and pursued the tribes relentlessly. Within months, the tribes had been either subdued or exiled into Canada. The government then seized the Black Hills, opening them for development.
However, the Sioux never accepted the government’s actions, and decided to fight on another front: court. For years, the matter wound its way through the legal system, eventually winding up in the Supreme Court. In July 1980, the court ruled that the Black Hills had been illegally seized by the government. It ordered that $105 million be paid to the Sioux as restitution.
There was just one problem: The tribes didn’t want money, they wanted the land returned. They refused to accept the payout, and they continue to do so today. With interest, the money pot has now swelled to $1.3 billion.
There is growing pressure on the Sioux to take the money. Many live in grinding poverty. In 2011, PBS reported the average income in Shannon County, South Dakota (home of the Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation) to be $8,000. Unemployment is over 80 percent. Life expectancy is just 48 years old for males, 52 for women.
Whether they eventually take the money or not, the Native Americans may have lost the military struggle, but they have clearly won the battle for integrity.
Sources
Crazy Horse and Custer by Stephen E. Ambrose
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues/july-dec11/blackhills_08-24.html
http://bellevuecollege.edu/diversitycaucus/AIFF/CBE.html