It was made in the judgment that accepting the money — closing the land claim permanently — would do greater harm than the continued refusal, even given the very real costs of that refusal.

This is a position that requires significant trust in a specific argument: that the land claim, maintained, will eventually produce a better outcome than the money, accepted.

Whether that trust is warranted is a question that the subsequent four decades have not yet resolved.

The Particular Significance Of Water In The Hills

There is one dimension of what the Black Hills represent that often gets underemphasized in accounts focused on the spiritual and gold-rush dimensions of the story: water.

The Black Hills are a major source of water for the surrounding region.