Excerpt from this article:
"The conservative press has framed the story in a variety of ways, casting the story both as matter of outright federal seizure of private land, and as an absurd environmental crusade to save a tortoise from extinction. The reality looks to be a little murkier, however, as is often the case when dealing with land ownership in the American West."
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My grandfather use to own several hundred acres of farmland in North Dakota, just outside Minot. I remember growing up in the 1970s and hearing my parents talk about "our" farm back in North Dakota. They would tell us kids that there were producing oil wells just 60 miles away from "our" farm. The joke back then was that some day oil would be discovered on "our" property, and some day we would all move down to Beverly Hills and live in a large mansion (like the Beverly Hillbillies).
My grandfather passed away many years ago, and "his" farm has long since been sold off. But I have often wondered about the people who owned that land before my grandfather did. And who owned it before them? I can't help but ask the question: Was it ever really "our farm?"
Consider the following articles I found on the Web:
"Vast portions of five U.S. states — North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana — are Indian land according to a treaty to which the American government voluntarily assented. The highest legal authority in the United States has acknowledged that a significant portion of the land in question is rightfully Lakota. The American government refuses to return that land....Americans have unjustly taken vast tracts of land. This President's Day, let's uphold our treaties and return it." - North Dakota Has Way, Way, Way More Oil Than We Thought
"This war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land from us without price." - Teaching With Documents - The Sioux Treaty of 1868
"In 1805 the Dakota ceded 100,000 acres of land at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. U.S. Army Lt. Zebulon Pike negotiated the agreement so the U.S. government could build a military fort there. Of the seven Indian leaders present at the negotiations, only two signed the treaty. Pike valued the land at $200,000, but no specific dollar amount was written into the treaty. At the signing, he gave the Indian leaders gifts whose total value was $200. The U.S. Senate approved the treaty, agreeing to pay only $2,000 for the land. Generally, the Indians who signed treaties did not read English. They had to rely on interpreters who were paid by the U.S. government. It is uncertain whether they were aware of the exact terms of the treaties they signed." (emphasis mine) - The US - Dakota war of 1862
"Suppose
your Great Father wanted your lands and did not want a treaty for your
good; he could come with 100,000 men and drive you off to the Rocky
Mountains."
Generally,
the Indians who signed treaties did not read English. They had to rely
on interpreters who were paid by the U.S. government. It is uncertain
whether they were aware of the exact terms of the treaties they signed.
- See more at: http://www.usdakotawar.org/history/treaties/minnesota-treaties#.dpuf
Luke Lea, U.S. negotiator, Treaty of Mendota, 1851
1805: In
1805 the Dakota ceded 100,000 acres of land at the confluence of the
Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. U.S. Army Lt. Zebulon Pike negotiated
the agreement so the U.S. government could build a military fort there.
Of the seven Indian leaders present at the negotiations, only two signed
the treaty.
Pike
valued the land at $200,000, but no specific dollar amount was written
into the treaty. At the signing, he gave the Indian leaders gifts whose
total value was $200. The U.S. Senate approved the treaty, agreeing to
pay only $2,000 for the land.
Generally,
the Indians who signed treaties did not read English. They had to rely
on interpreters who were paid by the U.S. government. It is uncertain
whether they were aware of the exact terms of the treaties they signed.
"Suppose
your Great Father wanted your lands and did not want a treaty for your
good; he could come with 100,000 men and drive you off to the Rocky
Mountains."
Generally,
the Indians who signed treaties did not read English. They had to rely
on interpreters who were paid by the U.S. government. It is uncertain
whether they were aware of the exact terms of the treaties they signed.
- See more at: http://www.usdakotawar.org/history/treaties/minnesota-treaties#.dpuf
According to Forbes.com, North Dakota oil fields may yield 24 billion barrels of oil. Do I think we should return all the land Americans "took" from the Natives? No, not really. But I do believe that we should honor the treaties that our ancestors made with the Native Americans - and where we violated those treaties I think we need to somehow go back - if possible - and make things right. And we can start by giving the Native Americans in North Dakota a sizable portion of the profits derived from the discovery of oil in that state!
Luke Lea, U.S. negotiator, Treaty of Mendota, 1851
1805: In
1805 the Dakota ceded 100,000 acres of land at the confluence of the
Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. U.S. Army Lt. Zebulon Pike negotiated
the agreement so the U.S. government could build a military fort there.
Of the seven Indian leaders present at the negotiations, only two signed
the treaty.
Pike
valued the land at $200,000, but no specific dollar amount was written
into the treaty. At the signing, he gave the Indian leaders gifts whose
total value was $200. The U.S. Senate approved the treaty, agreeing to
pay only $2,000 for the land.
Generally,
the Indians who signed treaties did not read English. They had to rely
on interpreters who were paid by the U.S. government. It is uncertain
whether they were aware of the exact terms of the treaties they signed.But while [some] Americans dealt deceitfully with the Native Americans, they did bring them the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And all the money in the world can't even come close to that. I would like to recommend the following sermon to every man, every women, every boy or girl who has any Native American blood running in their veins:
When Government Tries to Be God, by Dr. David P. Murray
Recommended listening:
The Ballad of Ira Hayes
America's Sins Against the Indians, by Pastor Kevin Swanson
The Life of David Brainard: Apostle to the Indians, by Jonathan Edwards
Japan Marks 68th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor (my post)
