Pe’ Sla Owners Accept $9M Offer from Tribes

Artist Shepard Fairey and photographer Aaron Huey created this in reference to the U.S. government's policy of ignoring the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie.

By Vincent Schilling: September 12, 2012

 In a historic victory for American Indian tribes, the owners of the sacred site Pe’ Sla have agreed to an offer of $9 million to purchase an approximate 1,900 acres of land also known as Reynolds Prairie from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (RST). The tribes have united in their front to regain land that originally belonged to them. After a few months of lawyers and contacts there has finally been some progress that appears to be promising. The offer is currently being worked out between the tribes. There is going to be a meeting of the Lakota tribes, which include the Cheyenne River, Rosebud, Oglala, Standing Rock, Yankton Dakota and others. The remaining $8.1M dollars is going to be split between the tribes. Each tribe is going to put forth the effort to make Pe' Sla theirs again. 

“Everyone has been in agreement to obtain this sacred land and to preserve it so it won’t be developed,” said Kingman. “It has been a unified effort, not just the tribe’s but also grandmas and grandpas and young people they have all contributed to the website on LastRealIndians.com.”

I am happy that the tribes are about to receive a large part of their history back, but I can't believe that they have to buy back what they originally owned. First their land was taken from them and now they have to pay $9M dollars to get it back. The land was originally stolen from them in false promises and treaties and now the U.S. wants to have something taken from them fairly? I don't understand how the people selling the land don't feel some kind of guilt or at least some kind of obligation to make the land cheaper for the tribes that are trying to buy it back. I'm not sure if $9M dollars is a steal or not at this point. It is a lot of money for the land....but it might not be that much for the Lakota tribes that are looking to buy it. I hope that everything turns out positive and the Lakota people walk away with their pride and land.