The western Sioux people and the language are represented by the term “Lakota”. The Oglala Sioux nation divided into seven tribes in the late 1700’s. They lived in most of South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. They hunted and gathered for food, relying largely on the buffalo for survival. The western expansion of white settlers and miners promoted the Red Cloud Wars of the 1860’s. This was the only time American Indians successfully waged war against the US Government. In 1868, with the signing of the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the Lakota people were given the land of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This original treaty included the lands of the Black Hills and a much larger portion of South Dakota. Since the discovery of gold and the influx of miners the treaty has been broken, and the Lakota have been forced to live in a smaller area with fewer natural resources. In 1890 the US Cavalry killed 300 men, women and children at Wounded Kneed Creek. This massacre has become a symbol of oppression for all Lakota people. Additional oppression has taken place over the broken Fort Laramie Treaty. This issue has been taken all the way to the Supreme Court to try to get the US government to honor the original treaty (United States vs. Sioux Nation of Indians.) In 1980, the Supreme Court would not grant the land back to the Lakota people. Instead, the government granted them a settlement of $17.5 million dollars for the land at 5% interest per year since 1877, totaling 106 million at that time. The Lakota have rejected this money due to the principle of the treaty promise and also because the land is not valued for its financial resources, but a loss of a place that is sacred to the people and believed to have healing power. The money has been place into an account where it continues to draw interest today.

Information from: American and Indian Reservation and Trust Areas by Veronica Tiller. Tiller Research Inc. Albuquerque, NM, 1996. p. 560-561. And www.airc.org/living/housing.html.