Native American-led nonprofit says it bought 40 acres in the Black Hills of South Dakota

A Native American-led nonprofit has announced it has purchased nearly 40 acres of land in the Black Hills of South Dakota, amid a growing movement to return land to Native people.

The Cheyenne River Youth Project announced in an April 11 statement that it had purchased the parcel of land next to Bear Butte State Park in western South Dakota.

“One of the most sacred places to the Lakota Nation is Mato Paha, now part of Bear Butte State Park,” the statement said. “Access to Bear Butte was severed in the late 19th century, when the U.S. government seized the Black Hills and divided the Great Sioux Reservation into several smaller reservations.

Julie Garreau, executive director of the project, said in the statement that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that the U.S. had illegally taken the Black Hills. The court awarded the Lakota people $105 million, but they refused to accept the money because the Black Hills were never for sale, the statement said.

Garreau said “opportunities to restore access to sacred sites are quickly being lost as urban areas grow and land values ​​skyrocket,” which contributed to the organization’s decision to purchase the land.

“Our people have deep roots in this region, yet we have to drive five hours each way to be here, and the prices for accommodation in the summer are astronomical,” she said. “Distance and cost prevent access.”

The statement did not say how much the organization paid to purchase the land.

In recent years, some tribes in the US, Canada and Australia have recovered their rights to ancestral lands thanks to the growth of the Land Back movement.