Sioux try to raise money to buy sacred land

[Waffle]

usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/21/13400194-sioux-tribes-race-to-raise-money-to-buy-ceremonial-land-at-auction?lite&


There are 1900 + acres of land that are about to go for sale at auction - the family that currently owns the land lets the Sioux use it for their ceremonies. Now the Sioux are afraid of losing access to the land and are trying to raise money to buy it - but their online begging hasn't been very successful

When I started reading this story - I felt oh so sorry for the Sioux and I even thought that if I had that kind of money I would buy the land for them. Then I got to this part

Around the time that the Reynolds homesteaded in 1876, gold was found in western South Dakota, and Congress promptly passed a law seizing the land. In 1980, the federal Indian Claims Commission awarded the Sioux tribes $102 million for the loss of the Black Hills, but they have refused to take the money.

The money, sitting in a U.S. Treasury account, is now worth about $1 billion, according to the Atlantic magazine, but remains untouched.

Now, I'm thinking - just take the money and buy the sacred land! They supposedly aren't taking the money because they want the Black Hills back. My thought is that should accept the fact that they are not getting the Black Hills back and take the money to buy the sacred land.

Thoughts?

[zibazinski]

I'm sorry but I feel it is their land, the Sioux, to begin with and that it should be given back to them.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I was thinking of something similar Waffle. Except I was having the gov't give the land back to the Sioux and give all/or some of the money to the Reynolds family. the rest in the SS fund or something...

[Deleted]

Aug 22, 2012 8:22:53 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I'm sorry but I feel it is their land, the Sioux, to begin with and that it should be given back to them.

Couldn't the same be said for most the the US?

[Waffle]

Aug 22, 2012 8:27:21 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Aug 22, 2012 8:22:53 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I'm sorry but I feel it is their land, the Sioux, to begin with and that it should be given back to them.

Couldn't the same be said for most the the US?

Not necessarily Sioux, but Native Americans, yes, absolutely! which leads me back to my original thought, right or wrong the government is not going to give the land back and in this case, it's not just the land that is currently owned by the Reynolds family, it's all of the Black Hills, which includes some National Park lands.

[zibazinski]

Yes, it could be said. What we did was bad, very bad and very wrong. Now to make up for it we give them casinos. Along with alcoholism, drug abuse, and lack of education. No one ever talks about how we have created an entire race of dependents all quarantined on a reservation.