The US Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that the Black Hills were unconstitutionally taken and awarded the local tribes a settlement of $120.5 million, which, with interest, is now worth over $1.5 billion. The Lakota Tribe continues to assert their right to the land and has not accepted the monetary award, stating that- 'The Black Hills Are Not For Sale'!

“A fiery spirit burst from your soul.” ~ A.D Posey, Muskogee Creek Nation, (1873-1908)

“If there are no dogs in heaven—then when I die I want to go where they went.” ~Cherokee,

they targeted our lifeblood: "A Dead Buffalo is a Dead Indian." The U.S. Army explicitly aligned with commercial hunters to slaughter tens of millions of bison to starve our families. Then, they targeted our minds: "Kill the Indian, Save the Man." In 1879, the trail of blood entered the classrooms with the founding of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, forcefully removing Lakota children to execute their very identity. Years later, the newspapers cheered the massacre at Wounded Knee, calling it "retribution" for Custer at the Little Bighorn. I often wonder... after Wounded Knee, and after seeing our children stolen away, how deeply the sadness must have set in with Mahpiya Luta. They tried to make us disappear. But generations later, the empire's propaganda has completely failed. The bloodlines of our ancestors are still here, standing strong, breathing the truth of this sacred land. While that structural trauma knocked our people off balance for a time, today we are beautifully finding our footing again. Ten years ago, the reservation silences were heavy and our Sundances were few. But today, the circles are returning. The drums are beating loud and clear, and the laughter of our children carries the very language they tried to take from us. Our culture isn't just surviving—it is thriving. I know that when Grandpa Red Cloud left this plane, he carried a heavy heart. But I smile knowing that today, he looks down from the stars and sees the dust rising from the dance grounds. He sees our beautiful people gathering, reclaiming our strength, and finally regaining our balance. We Are Still Here!

The Story Behind the Trail of Blood: Bozeman Trail! On June 16th, 1870, my 3x great-grandfather, Chief Red Cloud (Mahpiya Luta), stood inside the echo-filled halls of Washington, D.C. He looked directly at the politicians of an expanding empire—men who engineered a false narrative of native "savagery" back east to mask their own systemic bankruptcy. Red Cloud had just defeated their army on the Bozeman Trail, forced them to burn their illegal forts, and sign the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. Now, he delivered the absolute truth of their Manifest Destiny: “Whose voice was first sounded on this land? The voice of the red people who had but bows and arrows. What has been done in my country I didn’t want, didn’t ask for it; white people going through my country—when the white man comes in my country he leaves a trail of blood behind him." As his grandson, I am writing the version the textbooks left out. The mechanics of that "trail of blood" were uncovered years earlier by another 3x great-grandfather of mine. In 1855, West Point engineer Major Thomas Twiss was sent out as the Upper Platte Indian Agent. The empire expected him to provide a military justification for expansion. Instead, Twiss’s investigations revealed a profound truth: the Lakota were strictly honoring the 1851 treaty lines, while rogue white contractors, illegal gold prospectors, and lawless militias—the "grey men"—were deliberately manufacturing violence to spark a war & steal land. Twiss refused to be an instrument of a corrupt state. He used his power to shield Native families from unprovoked military massacres. By 1861, the government stripped him of his office. Twiss threw away his uniform, grew his hair in braids, married Mary Standing Elk, and completely adopted the Lakota way of life. The government knew the Lakota were peaceful. Their own agent had documented it. But peace didn't satisfy American greed. Drowning in a colossal $2.7 Billion National Debt when the Civil War ended in 1865, the United States was a nation built on a house of cards. Even as the 1868 treaty was being signed, tensions escalated as the empire looked to claw back control. During this exact pressure cooker, shortly after in 1869, the Ghost Dance movement first began. Born from the Paiute Nation, it was a traditional circle dance of spiritual rebirth and renewal. The songs we sang held absolutely no mentions of war or killing anyone. They were peaceful prayers to heal the earth. Yet, when the economy shattered completely during the panic of 1873, the empire broke its own supreme laws. In 1874, they sent Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry on an illegal expedition into our sacred Black Hills (Pahá Sápa). Custer brought a full corps of engineers, scientists, and miners to map the territory—and to find gold. When the engineers confirmed gold, the government abandoned the 1868 treaty. To justify this theft, they deployed their most lethal weapon: the printing press. East Coast newspapers and yellow journalists became the propaganda arm of the state, manufacturing psychological warfare. When our people turned to the Ghost Dance for hope, the white press fabricated stories of a "Bloodthirsty Red Devil Craze." They created a state of absolute, manufactured hysteria. Terrified readers back east demanded blood, begging the government to send the army to crush a threat that the newspapers had entirely invented. This weaponized media coverage gave the federal government the mandate it needed. Driven by ungrounded fear, U.S. agents banned the dance and deployed the 7th Cavalry once again. That fabricated hysteria led directly to the frozen horror of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. In the late 60’s, when they realized they could not break our warriors on the battlefield without total bankruptcy, they turned that media-fueled trail of blood directly toward our survival and our children. First, they targeted our life blood: “A Dead Buffalo is a dead Indian.”

"There is no death—only a change of worlds." - Chief Seattle, 1786-1866

“It also made her think of the sounds of ceremony—the eagle whistles, the drum, the shakers. It made her think that we really are replicating the sounds of nature through our music and celebrations—all of which help heal us.” ~ Aimée Craft,

The atmosphere was absolutely electric. ⚡️ Traditional dancers honoring the ancestors and dancing to the Greasy Grass Victory Song at the Black Hills Powwow 2026, when "General Custer" showed up... it didn't end well for him.🪶🏹 Historically accurate re-enactments are hitting different this year! 🎯 Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day! #powwow #indigenous #warrior #culturalpride #IndigenousPeoplesDay #BlackHillsPowWow #GreasyGrass #LittleBighorn #Custer #HistoryReclaimed #Lakota

The energy here was unmatched. 🔥 A Marine honoring the ancestors and dancing to the Greasy Grass Victory Song at the Black Hills Powwow. 2026 #powwow #indigenous #usmc #military #warrior #culturalpride #IndigenousPeoplesDay

“The First Peace comes within when we realize our Oneness with the Universe... The Great Spirit dwells at the Center, and this Center is really Everywhere—it is Within Each of US.” ~ Black Elk, Heȟáka Sápa, Oglala Lakota (1863-1950)

“I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am at that place within me, we shall be one.” ~ Crazy Horse, Tasunké Witko-(1841-1877) 📸: Sylvan Lake, SD

“As great as is the light above us—greater by far is the light within!” ~ Hopi,

“I survived because the fire that burned inside of me burned brighter than the fire around me.” ~ Unknwn,

”Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it.” ~ Arapahoe,