The fund does not diminish the significance of the taking.

It amplifies the significance of the continued non-resolution.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe, in opposing the 2025 FOIA request to reveal the fund’s precise balance, articulated an interesting concern: that publicizing the amount would “harm the interests of the tribes” by giving counterparties harder bargaining power in commercial dealings.

This concern reflects a specific legal reality — the fund is real money, held in trust, that could theoretically be accessed through political agreement.

It also reflects the continuing political reality that the tribes’ negotiating position depends, in part, on maintaining clarity about what they want that the money cannot provide.

What The Present Holds — And What It Tells Us About The Future