I heard a lot about treaties when I visited Pine Ridge reservation. Young and old, people I met mentioned specific treaties by date. You've probably heard, as I had, that the U.S. government made and broke treaties with Indians.
Here's the thing, though: the last time the U.S. made a treaty with any Indians was in 1868. Soon after, Congressmen agreed with each other that groups of Indians weren't sovereign nations, after all. Starting in 1871, Congress just passed a law when they wanted something from Indians.
It happens that one of the last treaties the U.S. made was with the Lakota- Dakota- Nakota people (officially called Sioux even though that's a French muddling of a word from a different Indian language; it meant snake and/or enemy). Everyone agreed on these boundaries for the Indians' land. The Indians got all of western South Dakota for their exclusive use, and they could also hunt to the west and south, since that's where the bison went.
Six years later, a bunch of soldiers and scientists headed into the Black Hills. "Just a peaceful reconaissance, looking around at the geology, seeing where a road might go, or a fort." An Army general thought a fort in there would help stop Indians from attacking people in Nebraska Territory to the south. Entirely without meaning to, some guys on the trip found gold. Oops.
Within a year, the U.S. goverment offered $6 million for the Black Hills and, when the Indians tried to negotiate on the price, President U.S. Grant simply ordered all Indians onto the reservation and made it law that any Indians in the hunting lands were "hostile." U.S. troops moved in to enforce the law.
Here's the thing, though: the last time the U.S. made a treaty with any Indians was in 1868. Soon after, Congressmen agreed with each other that groups of Indians weren't sovereign nations, after all. Starting in 1871, Congress just passed a law when they wanted something from Indians.
It happens that one of the last treaties the U.S. made was with the Lakota- Dakota- Nakota people (officially called Sioux even though that's a French muddling of a word from a different Indian language; it meant snake and/or enemy). Everyone agreed on these boundaries for the Indians' land. The Indians got all of western South Dakota for their exclusive use, and they could also hunt to the west and south, since that's where the bison went.Six years later, a bunch of soldiers and scientists headed into the Black Hills. "Just a peaceful reconaissance, looking around at the geology, seeing where a road might go, or a fort." An Army general thought a fort in there would help stop Indians from attacking people in Nebraska Territory to the south. Entirely without meaning to, some guys on the trip found gold. Oops.
Within a year, the U.S. goverment offered $6 million for the Black Hills and, when the Indians tried to negotiate on the price, President U.S. Grant simply ordered all Indians onto the reservation and made it law that any Indians in the hunting lands were "hostile." U.S. troops moved in to enforce the law.
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