They wanted the Black Hills.” He meant it as a factual observation, but the observation carried its own implicit question: at some point, does holding out for land that Congress will not return become a form of self-denial that harms the living people the claim is supposed to serve?

This view had — and has — supporters within Sioux communities as well.

The Black Hills dispute is not, internally, a matter of perfect consensus.

There have been tribal members and community voices who have argued that accepting the judgment fund, or some modified form of it, combined with other provisions, would be better than continuing to refuse.

These voices have not prevailed in the formal political processes of the tribal governments.

But their existence is part of the real story.