Lakota delegation travels to DC to advocate for their people and request the US honor their treaty commitments

Following the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 in which the Great Sioux Reservation was established, the United States began breaking their treaty promises nearly immediately. Ohiyesa remembers, "Scarcely was this treaty signed, however, when gold was discovered in the Black Hills, and the popular cry was: "Remove the Indians!"... The government, at first, entered some small protest, just enough to "save its face"... but there was no serious attempt to prevent the wholesale violation of the treaty and the loss of the Black Hills."
In May of 1975, a Dakota delegation traveled to Washington DC in an attempt to persuade President Grant to honor existing treaties and stem the flow of miners into their lands. The delegation included Maȟpíya Lúta (Red Cloud), Siŋté Glešká (Spotted Tail), and Hewáŋžiča (Lone Horn).
Today we remember these Lakota who tried to protect their people and their lands, and we enjoy this quote from Siŋté Glešká at the meeting:

"When I was here before, the President gave me my country, and I put my stake down in a good place, and there I want to stay. ... You speak of another country, but it is not my country; it does not concern me, and I want nothing to do with it. I was not born there. ... If it is such a good country, you ought to send the white men now in our country there and let us alone."