Great Sioux War

Historical Context Note

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.6: Indigenous Writing and Culture of North America - United States.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Sarah Henzi (Simon Fraser University), Padraig Kirwan (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

Domains

Dates

Date of occurrence 1876-1877-08

Places

United States (Location)

Cultural Identities

First Nations/Indigenous US-American

Resources

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The Great Sioux War (1876-77), also known as the Black Hills War, was between the United States and the Lakota and the Northern Cheyenne tribes (the Sioux) in present day South Dakota. The Black hills were declared as being for the exclusive use of the Lakota in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which created the Great Sioux Reservation. The Black Hills were sacred to the Lakota people, as well as being an important woodland and hunting ground. However, the richness of the land attracted the attention of Dakota's settlers, and the US government could not control the encroachment of them onto Lakota land. By 1874 the treaty had become worthless as the government-endorsed Custer Expedition discovered gold, sparking a flood of prospectors onto the territory. Attempts by the US government…

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