The court’s reasoning turned on a legal distinction — the claim had been presented in a form the court found insufficient — rather than on the merits of the underlying grievance.

This was not the first time the legal system had found a procedural or jurisdictional reason to avoid the substance of the Black Hills claim.

It was part of a pattern: the claim was real enough that it needed to be addressed, but the legal mechanisms available to address it were consistently found to be unavailable or inadequate.

Congress established the Indian Claims Commission in 1946.

The Commission was created specifically to provide a forum for tribal claims against the United States — and implicitly to work toward resolving the backlog of such claims, which Congress understood to be both a legal and a political liability.

The Sioux filed their Black Hills claim with the Commission.