Much of the Sioux land ended up in the hands of the federal government as part of the 1.5 million acre Black Hills National Forest. The Black Hills, the tallest mountains east of the Rockies, are an isolated range that rise up like shadows off the sun-baked flatlands of South Dakota. The flanks of the mountains are a kind of botanical crazy quilt, blending Rocky Mountain species with those found in Great Plains, Midwestern prairies and eastern deciduous forests. The Black Hills are the eastern limit of the Ponderosa pine forests and about the only place you can find unadulterated patches of montane grasslands.
For decades, the Sioux have pressed for the return of these lands. Environmentalists, largely, have refused to support the transfer, saying that the mountains would be better off in the hands of the Forest Service. It's the old paternalism that has stained mainstream environmentalism since John Muir helped to evict the last remnants of the southern Miwok tribes out of Yosemite so that the Park Service could run the show (Yosemite is Miwok for "some among them (ie., the whites) are killers"). These days it's okay to quote Native American spirituality in your fundraising letters, another thing entirely to trust the tribes to take care of their own lands.
For decades, the Sioux have pressed for the return of these lands. Environmentalists, largely, have refused to support the transfer, saying that the mountains would be better off in the hands of the Forest Service. It's the old paternalism that has stained mainstream environmentalism since John Muir helped to evict the last remnants of the southern Miwok tribes out of Yosemite so that the Park Service could run the show (Yosemite is Miwok for "some among them (ie., the whites) are killers"). These days it's okay to quote Native American spirituality in your fundraising letters, another thing entirely to trust the tribes to take care of their own lands.