Mount Rushmore

In response to those who argue that Mount Rushmore is racist or that it depicts the subjugation of Native Americans and Lakota Indians by white people, or that the land was stolen from the tribes. We state that such assertions need to be accompanied by some further background. The Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, and Pawnee tribes followed the Arikara tribe when they first arrived in the Black Hills, which was around 1500 A.D. This occurred a long time before the Lakota tribe came to dominate the territories in the Black Hills. Historically, the Arikara were a semi-sedentary people who participated in agriculture, including the cultivation of maize, beans, and squash. They lived in ancient communities that were constructed out of huts built of dirt. In addition, they engaged in activities like hunting and collecting, as well as engaging in commerce with the tribes that were located nearby.

During the latter half of the 16th century and the early beginning of the 17th century, the Lakota people originated from the upper Mississippi Region. In addition, there were only about 20,000 Lakota people living at the time, and tribes that were much larger bordered them. On the high plains of Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas, and even as far north as Canada, the Lakota had acquired horses by the time the 1700s rolled around, and they pursued buffalo hunting with great success.

The mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, which is located on the Atlantic coast of what is now Quebec, is where the Ojibwe people found their beginnings. Because they had been migrating throughout the continent for thousands of years, they engaged in extensive commerce across the continent. They were also aware of the canoe routes that allowed them to traverse north, west, east, and finally south in the Americas. The Ojibwe soon arrived in the Great Lakes area and surrounded the Lakota, a smaller tribe. Over the course of a number of conflicts, the Ojibwe were finally successful in driving the Lakota out of the Great Lakes area and gaining control of it.

In order to escape the Ojibwe, the Lakota were compelled to relocate to the Black Hills area, which is located to the west of their homeland. It wasn't until relatively recent times in the history of the tribe that the Lakota made the transition from a traditional tribe to a warlike one, using hunting and fighting methods. The purchase of horses from European settlers, which allowed for increased mobility, made this transformation possible. Additionally, the settlers provided them with modern weaponry. In turn, this made it possible for the Lakota to adapt to the enormous expanses of the Great Plains in a more efficient manner than their traditional counterparts in the tribes that lived in the Great Plains.

Therefore, when the Lakota came to the Great Plains in the late 18th century, they were able to gain control by waging war with the 12 nations of the Great Plains tribes and taking their territory. They also enslaved their opponents by committing acts of violence. For example, they hacked the heads off of their adversaries. To say now that the "White Settlers" or the "US Government" forced them to leave their lands or that they took their lands when, in reality, the Indians had been doing the same thing to each other in the past is analogous to saying that the pot is calling the kettle black. It is referred to as the spoils of war. Additionally, it is a falsehood to attempt to portray the Native American community as being pure and at peace with themselves. Nevertheless, I will go with "Spoils of War," although it is true that we were dickheads to the local people. I believe that there are certain things that are well above the line, and one of those things is the wounding of the knee, for example. On the other hand, we are now living in a new era, and our society is quite different.

The Fort Larmie Treaty and the authority of eminent domain and their relationship The United States of America handed the Sioux Indian Nation the Great Sioux Reservation under the terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty in the year 1868. This reservation included the Black Hills of South Dakota. Through the passage of the "Sell or Starve" Act and the pact in 1877, Congress violated the terms of the pact. In essence, the Black Hills were regained as a result of this action.  Therefore, in 1920, the Sioux Nation submitted a request for reimbursement for the territory that the United States had regained it from.  In 1942, the United States Court of Claims issued a decision that was unfavorable to the Sioux Nation. The Indian Claims Commission was subsequently constituted by Congress in the year 1946. A conclusion was made by the Commission that the Sioux Nation was not prohibited by the decision made by the Court of Claims. Additionally, the Commission decided that Congress used its rights of eminent domain in the year 1877, and as a result, the Sioux were entitled to compensation. It was held by the Court of Claims that the Sioux were not permitted to participate in their first lawsuit. The Indian Claims Commission Act was revised by Congress in 1978, which resulted in the removal of the judicial bar. The Sioux were awarded $17.1 million when the Court of Claims decided that they were entitled to the money.

Consequently, according to the Just Compensation Clause of the Fifth Amendment, the " selling or starve" act that was passed in 1877 is a confiscation of property that required compensation.  In a 1980 ruling that was 8-1, the Supreme Court of the United States of America found that the Court had reached the conclusion that Congress did not breach the theory of separation of powers and confirmed the verdict of the Court of Claims.

Justice Harry A. Blackmun, writing for the majority, referred to a circumstance that was quite similar to the one that occurred in Nock v. United States. In that case, the Supreme Court determined that a legislative exemption from a judicial bar did not violate the separation of powers and continued to uphold the exemption. Given that Congress "had not made a good-faith effort to give the Sioux the full value of the Black Hills," the action taken by Congress in 1877 was deemed to be an exercise of its eminent domain authority in accordance with the case Three Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation v. United States.

Therefore, in accordance with the Just Compensation Clause of the Fifth Amendment, the Sioux were entitled to receive compensation.

I would want to bring back the fact that in 1920, the Sioux tribe requested payment for the land that the government had regained without compensation.  The funds continue to be held in an account at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where they are earning compound interest. The Sioux's award, which included interest, was "about $1 billion" or "1.3 billion" as of the year 2011, which is equal to $1.3 billion to $1.69 billion in the year 2022. But now the policy of the nation is they want the land back not the money since the supreme court decision.

There is no way to alter the fact that the Sioux Nations began the process of being paid in 1920, asked that they be paid, and then went to congress to have the laws changed so that they could collect the money that was owed to them. The fact that they have refused to collect the money cannot change this reality. After all, in the end, they chose not to accept it.  Therefore, the fact that the United States of America took the property via the process of eminent domain doesn't alter the fact that you refused to collect the money that was due to you. Just the fact that you have declined to accept the money that is due to you.

In the End was this Right?  Was it Justified?  Who are we to judge what happened or what was going through people’s minds 150 years ago.  What is known is currently the Sioux Nation is refusing to take the funds owed that could help the plagued by an unemployment rate above 80 percent, arid land, few prospects for industry, abysmal health statistics and life-expectancy rates rivaling those of Haiti. All over a fight for land that they stole from the Arikara Tribe then claimed it as their sacred lands. A bit Hypocritical in the end.   But keep in mind NO nation in this world was ever nice to any population of the land they settled in history or took by force.  

Spoils of War