Walsh was sympathetic, but he had to explain Canadian reality.

Canada would not allow the nimíipuu to raid into the United States.

The Lakota were already a logistical and political challenge for the Canadian government, and the addition of hundreds of nimíipuu refugees complicated the situation further.

The refugees were told they were welcome to stay in Canada as long as they observed Canadian law.

What Canada could not offer was any mechanism for returning their homeland, any recourse for what had been done to them, any resolution to the crisis that had produced their exile.

The Exile In Canada: Fragmentation