The United States had made peace with the Lakotah and Oglala people of the Northern Great Plains. The treaty was honored for a period of time. Then the "yellow metal that they worship and makes them crazy" was found in the Black Hills. All treaties went out the window and it was decided to starve the people to death by killing the bison, their main food source. This was genocide of the cruelest kind.
Go forward 100 years and I have had the privilege of knowing Russell Means. I knew him through his various political campaigns, including his run for President of the United States. He was known for his activism on behalf of the American Indian and in his final years started the Republic of Lakotah movement. The Republic of Lakotah covers the traditional land of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. I think he knew that the United States would never honor it's word and give the land back, but raising the issue shed light on the plight of Indigenous Peoples worldwide.
Russell Means said that he was an American first. He showed his love for the United States by both challenging us to treat all Americans with respect and he reminded us that a government who could starve a group of people within its borders was a government which had to be carefully watched. Don't trust them, especially when gold is involved.
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