It is always interesting to me whenever anyone in western South Dakota
"sells" their land since the correct
English term for "selling" stolen
property is "fencing." However, when the
state of South Dakota (also an illegal
entity) and the federal authorities
condone such illegal activities, then
what would these otherwise criminal
actions properly be called? And who will
enforce their prosecution?
Homestake Mining Company's most recent
agreement to "sell" land to the state of
South Dakota reminds many of us of the
historic, illegal trespass into western
South Dakota by the gold miners and
Homestake Mining Company. This illegal
trespass was a direct violation of the
US Constitution, Article VI, and the
Congressionally ratified Fort Laramie
Treaty of 1868 which was made between
the United States and the Great Sioux
Nation. In that Treaty, all of western
South Dakota and parts of Nebraska,
Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota were
to be for the exclusive use and
occupation of the Great Sioux Nation.
The "Wrongs" were started at the time
when President Ulysses S. Grant secretly
ordered the US Army not to stop any gold
miners from coming into the Treaty
territory. He should have been impeached
then and there for violating the
Constitution. But greed always has a way
of making some people turn a blind eye
to atrocities. Adding the word
"progress" also has a nice ring so
immoral and illegal actions are condoned
by those that don't care to be called
"greedy."
The "Wrongs" continued in the
destruction of the economic base of the
Great Sioux Nation, the buffalo, and the
deliberate spread of small-pox filled
blankets, and rotten food. The "sell or
starve" treaties that some Sioux leaders
were forced into signing in 1877 were
still illegal as there was still not the
three-fourths adult male signatures as
required to change the 1868 Treaty.
Those leaders knew that only a few
signatures were not enough to change the
Treaty.
The US government also knew that public
opinion would not condone the total
genocide of the Great Sioux Nation so
they created "Prisoner-of-War Camps,"
now commonly known as the Indian
Reservations. Children were taken away
to "have the Indian taken out of them."
If there was no one left who remembered
the Treaty, then who could remind anyone
that this was a gross violation of the
very principles that created the
Constitution of the United States in the
first place? How many of the
grandparents of the trespassers had come
to North America because of the
oppression in their own homelands? How
could they have forgotten so quickly?
Thankfully, for the sake of the people
of the United States, and for the
survival of the Lakota people, the
information of the Treaties continued to
be passed on from generation to
generation of Lakota people. My
grandmother told me and her grandmother
told her.
The list of the "Wrongs" is miles long.
But the greatest "Wrong" is the lie that
the federal government told to the
non-Indian American people by allowing
them to believe that they could
homestead in this region. That lie
continues to this day.
Homestake Mining Company has no more
authority to sell stolen land than a
thief has to sell his stolen goods. The
state, the federal government, or any
private individual who continues to
participate in these illegal activities
is just as guilty as a common criminal
convicted of fencing stolen wares. The
state, the federal government, and every
individual who becomes aware of this has
a responsibility to correct these
"Wrongs."
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 is still
a legal document. The Constitution of
the United States is also a legal
document. Both of these were made to
insure the survival of their peoples
with the ability to live in freedom.
Violating the Treaty by the Federal
government was not easy and tens of
thousands of people, albeit Lakota
people, died as a consequence.
What effect will violating the
Constitution of the United States have
on the American people?
####
Charmaine White Face is a writer,
spokesperson for the Teton Sioux Nation
Treaty Council, and Coordinator for
Defenders of the Black Hills, a
volunteer non-profit organization. She
may be reached at
bhdefenders@msn.com.