The violation of this treaty, accelerated by the discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the subsequent government actions to open the hills to settlement, was the direct cause of the final phase of the conflict that ended with Crazy Horse’s death.

The treaty violation has never been fully remedied.

In 1980, the United States Supreme Court ruled in United States v.

Sioux Nation of Indians that the United States had illegally taken the Black Hills from the Lakota and that the Lakota were entitled to compensation.

The compensation offered — approximately $600 million at the time, now grown to over a billion dollars with interest — has not been accepted by the Lakota.

The Lakota position, stated repeatedly by tribal leaders and by referendum results within the tribal community, is that the Black Hills are not for sale.