The Commission was designed to provide a definitive forum, with a deadline (the deadline was subsequently extended multiple times) after which claims would be barred.

The intent was to clear the ledger.

The Sioux Black Hills claim was one of the hundreds of claims that proceeded through this forum.

The Commission process itself was lengthy and contested.

The government defended the 1877 act vigorously, deploying legal arguments and historical evidence aimed at characterizing the 1877 act as a legitimate exercise of congressional power.

The Sioux, represented by attorneys who had devoted careers to the case, contested every point.