South Dakota tribes revoice claim to Black Hills through joint resolution

All nine tribes located in South Dakota are unifying in their call to return the public, federal lands in the Black Hills to tribal entities.

Each tribe passed a resolution calling on Congress to act. Treaty rights mandate the Black Hills belong to tribes, although that treaty was broken long ago.

Organizers said the most important detail in this new legislative push is the focus on public, federal lands. Put simply, places where people do not live.

Valeriah Big Eagle is the director of He Sapa initiatives for Rapid City-based nonprofit NDN Collective. She said this not about private homes in the Black Hills.

“That’s the myth, that’s the misunderstanding,” Big Eagle said. “When they’re talking about landback in the Black Hills and we’re talking about the federal public land, essentially that is the lands that nobody is living on. It’s the federal, public lands so we can protect it from extractive activities.”

Regardless of outcome, advocates say the inclusion of all South Dakota’s tribes is a historic statement of tribal unity.

Joseph Brings Plenty is a tribal council representative from Eagle Butte. He said tribes have government-signed and guaranteed rights.

“That’s something that needs to be remembered — the treaties still exist,” Brings Plenty said. “That’s why we stand on this. For the United States to uphold their end of the bargain.”

Brings Plenty said it’s a chance for native peoples to have a meaningful say in the management of the Black Hills. With that, Brings Plenty said healing can happen.

“That’s a step forward, a positive step forward,” Brings Plenty said. “The Black Hills are not for sale. I mean, it’s not just in a Lakota or Indian sense. We all want clean water, we all want the air to be clear, we all want housing and grandchildren. We all want a life. The more and more, as is inevitable, the cultures mesh, I think this is all important. Why lose it?”

This comes on the heels of a mining effort near the Black Hills sacred site of Pe’Sla, where the company behind it withdrew after a legal battle and widespread opposition from the Indigenous community.