The proposal that has come closest to gaining traction has been the narrower one: the return of federally held land — national forest land and other public land — that does not require displacing private landowners.

The Bradley Bill was structured this way.

That narrower proposal still failed.

What the repeated failure of legislative proposals reveals is the specific shape of the obstacle: it is political, not principled.

No one has argued successfully that the legal claim is without merit — the Supreme Court settled that question.

No one has argued successfully that the Sioux nations have not maintained their refusal.