The U.S. Government Offered The Sioux More Than $1 Billion For The Black Hills – They Refused To Take The Money

The Fort Laramie Treaty promised land and its use to the Sioux people.

The 1877 act took that land.

The taking left the Sioux with the loss of the Hills and the loss of the resources and relationships the Hills embodied.

The remedy for such a taking, under any framework that takes the treaty promise seriously, would be the restoration of the land — not money.

The Fifth Amendment provides money.

The Supreme Court provided money.