Lakota's Argument Analysis

The Sioux have staunchly maintained that the treaty ratified by the 1877 Act is void for several reasons, among which are the insufficient number of signatures, the coercive nature of the negotiations, and, most importantly, because the Black Hills were never for sale. Despite creating a Court of Claims to allow non-Indians to sue the federal government, claims by Indians were expressly barred until 1920. The Lakota’s appeal for monetary compensation, filed in 1923 and asserting that the seizure of the Black Hills constituted an illegal taking under the Fifth Amendment, represented the only legal avenue for any redress for the loss of their land, and for decades the Lakota pursued the claim despite the inadequacy of any monetary award (Lenane,