Local News

Tribes want land, not money

By Journal staff | Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Another tribal leader has rejected a Yankton attorney's attempts to recruit Native Americans who want a piece of a multi-million-dollar trust fund.

"Those lands are sacred to us, and more than anything, we want those lands back," Joe Brings Plenty, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, said.

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Rodney Bordeaux, president of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said Monday that attorneys are the only ones who have something to gain if Sioux people accept a cash settlement.

Brings Plenty said the Gray Eagle Society's decision in the 1970s to not "sell" the Black Hills made it easier for future generations to refuse the settlement ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1980 decision. The settlement supported Sioux claims that the government had stolen the Black Hills and land east of the Hills.

Doug Kettering of Yankton is meeting with groups of Native Americans and offering to represent them in a legal action to disburse the trust fund.

Brings Plenty said the big question is why Kettering is making this attempt.

People need to realize that although money may be "a big deal to them, this is a piece of our history."

The Gray Eagle Society set it in stone that "the Black Hills are sacred to our people," Brings Plenty said.

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