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05 Wolakota Project Video Transcripts and URLs.docx · WP-0025. Imported source record; individual Elder status and tribal affiliation are not inferred.
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Interview transcript
The treaties, I can't remember how many treaties we signed with the U.S. government, over 200, it might even be over 300, and they were never kept. All the treaties that were signed by the United States government and by the Native tribes, and all the things that we gave up, you know, the tribes in Northern Plains gave up 90 million acres for those treaties, for those benefits for health and education. And people think we get that free, you know, they think that the government gives us a paycheck every month, they think that everything that we get is free. But if you think about that 90 million acres, all the resources on that land, you know, the oil, the coal, everything, even water, we're going to be fighting over water pretty soon. But even that, you know, we lost it all. And we never got, you know, the, we should have, I mean, people can, I've heard people say many times that, you know, that the Indian people get everything free. But it's not true, because we gave up a lot for it. And I always tell people, for the next thousand years, the government can give us free health service and free education, and they still won't pay for what they took from us. So, you know, those treaties are important, and they're mentioned in the Constitution, so that it's the law of the land that the federal government has a duty to the Native American tribes.