The case worked its way through multiple levels of the legal system over the following six decades, producing findings that were sometimes reversed and sometimes affirmed before reaching the Supreme Court.

The 1980 ruling — United States v.

Sioux Nation of Indians — held that the 1877 Act of Congress that had seized the Black Hills was an unconstitutional taking, that the Sioux Nation was entitled to compensation, and that the United States had an obligation to pay.

The compensation offered was approximately $17.5 million — the value of the land in 1877 — plus more than a century of interest, totaling over $100 million at the time of the ruling.

The Sioux Nation refused to accept the money.