Land return
Pe' Sla returned to the Oceti Sakowin
Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.
On November 30, 2012, a 1,942-acre parcel bought for $9 million was returned to the Oceti Sakowin; ILTF gave $900,000 in rapid financing.
- Nation
- Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation): Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
- Where
- central Black Hills, South Dakota
- Acres
- 1,942
- Began
- 2012
- Status
- Returned
Where the land is
The map marks only the general area, so this page does not say which recorded cession the land falls in.
Location from main.aisc.ucla.edu.
What happened
On November 30, 2012, the Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) announced that full ownership and control of Pe' Sla, a site sacred to the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation), had been officially returned to the Oceti Sakowin at a 2:00 pm ceremony in Rapid City, South Dakota. The text is ILTF's statement, republished by the UCLA American Indian Studies Center.
ILTF says the effort was to raise a $9 million purchase price for the 1,942-acre parcel that contains Pe' Sla. The Reynolds family had announced in August that it planned to sell the land at auction to the highest bidder. ILTF says Indian Land Capital Company, its affiliate lender, provided $900,000 in rapid financing to help the tribes secure the initial purchase agreement. All the tribes of the Oceti Sakowin, it says, contributed time, effort and scarce funds, and the public fundraising was carried out by LastRealIndians and ILTF.
ILTF states that it is anticipated each tribe will participate in the oversight and management of the land to protect its spiritual and cultural values. It also notes that the ownership of this land and the rest of the Black Hills is still disputed by non-Indians, and says it does not accept that the Nation's losses are permanent.
Good to know. All facts come from the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, which helped finance the purchase. Which tribe holds title, and in what form, is not stated.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
full ownership and control of the sacred site Pe’Sla, located in the Black Hills, was officially returned to the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation)
ILTF: Pe' Sla Returns to Oceti Sakowin (UCLA American Indian Studies Center, reposting ILTF, Nov. 30, 2012)raise the $9 million purchase price for the 1,942 acre parcel of land that contains Pe’ Sla
ILTF: Pe' Sla Returns to Oceti Sakowin (UCLA American Indian Studies Center, reposting ILTF, Nov. 30, 2012)was able to provide $900,000 in rapid financing in order to help the tribes secure the initial purchase agreement
ILTF: Pe' Sla Returns to Oceti Sakowin (UCLA American Indian Studies Center, reposting ILTF, Nov. 30, 2012)It is anticipated that each tribe will also participate in the oversight and management of the land
ILTF: Pe' Sla Returns to Oceti Sakowin (UCLA American Indian Studies Center, reposting ILTF, Nov. 30, 2012)
Research notes. All facts are from ILTF's own announcement, a partner organization that helped finance the purchase, as republished by UCLA; no independent report or tribal statement was opened. Which tribes hold title is reported differently: AP (2012) names Rosebud, Shakopee Mdewakanton and Crow Creek as the contributors; South Dakota Public Broadcasting (2016) names Rosebud, Crow Creek, Standing Rock and Shakopee Mdewakanton and says the land was on track for federal trust status. The site is sacred to the Oceti Sakowin; only the broad region is given.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
- Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
- Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
- Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska
- Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota
- Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
- Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana
- Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
Working with these nations
- Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Oyate) Nation government Pe' Sla (1,942 acres, Nov 30, 2012)
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Lakota People's Law Project (program of Sacred Defense Fund) Native-led Legal advocacy Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Siċaŋġu Co (Sicangu Community Development Corporation; Wolakota Buffalo Range) Native-led Sicangu Lakota economic engine incl. Wolakota Buffalo Range, food sovereignty initiative, local foods Give on their site Website
- Owamniyomni Okhodayapi (formerly Friends of the Falls) Native-led Dakota-led restoration and return of care for sacred St. Anthony Falls (Owamniyomni) site in Minneapolis, with… Give on their site Website
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Cheyenne River Youth Project (CRYP) Native-led Youth programs Website
- Native Governance Center Native-led Strengthening Native nation governance and capacity to exercise sovereignty Give on their site Website
- Tanka Fund Native-led Returning buffalo to Native American lands, lives and economies via animals, grants and technical assistance to… Give on their site Website
- Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation (Lakota Land Systems) Native-led Lakota-led regenerative community development on Pine Ridge: Lakota Land Systems Give on their site Website
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
- Honor the Earth Native-led Pipeline resistance, sovereignty, energy justice Give on their site Website
- Indian Law Resource Center Native-led Legal assistance to Indigenous nations to protect lands, resources, treaty and human rights Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named 6
- Crow Creek Sioux Tribesuggested
- Mdewakantonsuggested
- Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation)suggested
- Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Oyate)suggested
- Sioux (as named in treaty records)suggested
- Standing Rock Sioux Tribesuggested
Located in 1
- South Dakotasuggested
Policy era 1
Responds to 1
Supported by 1
Sources
- main.aisc.ucla.edu/reference work
- Kind
- Land return
- Confidence
- Medium
- Nation review
- Not yet reviewed by this nation