The Black Hills in South Dakota and Wyoming are sacred to Lakota (Sioux) people. The Treaty of 1868 guaranteed that the Black Hills would always belong to our people. After the discovery of gold in the early 1870's, the treaty was unilaterally abrogated by the United States and the Lakota were driven to the point of extermination, culminating with the massacre at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890. This petition seeks to redress this historical crime by restoring some of our sacred Hills back to their original, and intended, guardians. The Supreme Court case, United States vs. Sioux Nation of Indians, in 1980, held that a "more ripe and rank case of dishonorable dealing" could not be found in the country's history, yet still ruled for the government's illegal seizure of the Black Hills.



