A large gathering of South Dakota tribal members are honoring the spirit of their ancestors who signed the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie 150 years ago.
Many gather at the site with mixed feelings.
The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed a large swath of land from Nebraska to Montana, which included the Black Hills and the east bank of the Missouri River.
Eventually, the established treaty area got whittled down to modern day reservations.
The 150 years between the treaty signing and today include events like the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.
Faith Spotted Eagle is Ihanktowan Dakota from the Yankton Reservation. She says the commemoration is bitter sweet.
“Some leaders were hesitant to come, because there are people who are non treaty signers from certain families,” Spotted Eagle says. “It’s not a celebration. It’s a very large time in history where we were against the wall, our children are dying, our language was outlawed, but it was the onslaught of settlers coming into our territory. It was actually during the Indian Wars, so I know a lot of our leaders were backed against the wall.”
Claud Two Elk is Sicangu Lakota from the Rosebud Reservation. He’s a member of the treaty council.
“Historical trauma has created a lot of our behavior of our people,” Two Elk says. “A lot of our people is not aware of what the trauma has done to the spirit of our people. One of the reasons why I’m here is to help all of our nations to become aware of the past and to go through that healing process of knowing who we are and becoming more involved in our treaties.”
Tribes still use the treaty for education and healthcare funding, as well as rights as sovereign nations.
The commemoration was two years in the making. National Park Service officials say they’re continuing that dialogue between the park and tribes to permanently incorporate tribal perspectives in the telling of the historical site.
