“…Provided, further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate or impair the obligation of any treaty heretofore lawfully made and ratified with any such Indian nation or tribe… March 3, 1871 [U.S. Statues at Large, 16:566.]”
Whenever tribal people are encouraged to “unite”, as in the case of a recent newspaper article, “Tribes strive for unity over Black Hills,” it always makes me laugh. What about the Democrats and Republicans striving for unity over something? But putting all humor aside, many of us are dismayed that we are encouraged to unite and lend credence to two basic lies. This is totally against the values and teachings of our culture. It also makes us wonder about the 8th Commandment of the Christians, Muslims and Jews and their teaching of “Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor.” Many of us were taught that the 8th Commandment was a directive not to lie. So why would we, members of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) be encouraged to lie as an act of unity?
There are two basic lies when we, members of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation), are told to unite regarding accepting any concessions regarding the Black Hills or the Treaty Territory. The first one has to do with the Treaty issue itself. Our understanding regarding parts of the five state region, which we call the Treaty Territory, not just the Black Hills, includes the fact that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was made in good faith under the direction and authority of the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution is supposed to be the foundation of everything that governs the United States. Yet, by 1871, the Congress realized they needed a law, a federal law, regarding the treaties that were made with Indian nations, hence the March 3rd Act of 1871. This federal law was made to protect nations such as the Great Sioux Nation and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 since that Treaty was made before 1871.
Yet, even though the US Constitution’s Article VI, “…treaties are the supreme law of the land…” and a federal law, the March 3rd Act of 1871, were to protect the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which includes the Black Hills, the rest of the story is that the US government lied to their own people and allowed them to come illegally into the 1868 Treaty Territory. The Territory includes all of the land area of western South Dakota and parts of North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Nebraska. It was to be for the “..absolute and undisturbed use and occupation…” of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation).
Why, when our great-great grandparents died to protect this last piece of territory for us to live on as a nation, why would we forget about the Treaty and settle for money, or for only a small portion when the entire Treaty Territory is still legally ours for our nation? Why would we deny what our great-great grandparents tried to do for us and our future generations?
The second, larger lie is that the governments that currently rule the tribes today can speak for the members of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation.). They cannot. They were unlawfully established by the United States government. Would Americans be happy if, for example, the Chinese came in and illegally occupied the country and imposed their own form of government upon Americans? I don’t think so. Yet this is what happened with the Great Sioux Nation and continues to today. Those of us who still believe in our nationhood, the Oceti Sakowin, cannot recognize the illegal tribal governments currently imposed upon our people.
You ask, “Aren’t they democratic? Don’t the people vote for the president and the representatives?” These Tribal Council forms of government were put in place according to American law, and in the case of the Pine Ridge Reservation, even the law, the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, was not followed on that Reservation. Two times the people of the Pine Ridge Reservation voted down the American form of government, yet it was still imposed upon the people.
No, there will never be unity over accepting money, or a small portion of the Treaty Territory, as long as there are those of us who know who we are, members of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation). We have a legal Treaty with the United States that must be upheld. We have a legal Territory that we must be allowed to live in and govern ourselves according to our own ways.
This entire issue is not just about justice, but it’s also about the truth. We cannot give credence to lies in order to achieve unity. This justice and truth are not just for one, or a few people, but justice and truth for collectives of peoples called nations. In this case, it is about the nation known as the United States and the nation known as the Oceti Sakowin (the Great Sioux Nation).
The problem arises from those that oppose truth and justice. The problem arises from those that are greedy, self-serving, and want to continue the lies that the Treaty is dead and the Tribal governments are the true leaders of the tribal nations. There is only one nation, the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) and that nation is to be protected by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, the US Constitution, and the Marc 3rd Act of 1871. What protection does anyone have if the rule of law is not followed?