Starting in 1927, the federal government sponsored the l4-year carving of four of the presidents’ faces on Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, which insulted the Sioux. To the Indians, the act was like carving up a church, since the hills were sacred in their religion. In 1998, 15 miles away from Mt. Rushmore, near Crazy Horse, South Dakota, another carving in the Black Hills was unveiled. Begun in 1939, the one head covers an area greater than the four heads of Mt. Rush-more. The image is of Crazy Horse. Various Sioux bands have sought to have a greater voice in the use of the Black Hills and, in 2003, organized the Black Hills Inter-Tribal Advisory Committee to the National Forest Service regarding the protection and preservation of sacred lands.
During the 20th century, the Sioux have rebuilt their lives. Many Native American writers and philosophers have been Sioux. A Sioux writer, educator, and physician by the name of Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) helped found the Boy Scouts of America. The shaman Black Elk helped communicate Sioux religious beliefs in Black Elk Speaks: The Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux. Vine Deloria, Jr., wrote Custer Died for Your Sins and many other books. Philip Deloria, his son, is a professor of history and a writer.
Some Sioux have devoted themselves to pan-Indian causes, joining organizations such as AIM, the American Indian Movement, formed in 1968. In honor of their ancestors and in protest of the treaties broken by the federal government and the lack of opportunity for Native Americans, members of AIM staged an occupation at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1973. The incident ended in violence with two Indians, Frank Clearwater, a CHEROKEE, and Buddy Lamont, a Sioux, killed by federal agents.
Today, there are Sioux reservations in many different states: South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Montana. In Wyoming, some of which also was part of the vast Sioux homeland, no lands are held in trust for the tribe. There also are Sioux bands in Canada with reserves in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Leasing of lands to outside interests provides income for some tribes. Others, especially those groups in Minnesota, have turned to gaming, with newly built casinos, for revenue. Many Sioux now live in urban areas, such as Minneapolis—St. Paul and Denver. Many Sioux Indians practice traditional ceremonies and traditional arts and crafts.
There is a concerted effort among many of the tribes to encourage traditional values among Sioux youths. In 1999, the Billy Mills Youth Center opened in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, in conjunction with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Billy Mills was a Lakota who in 1964 won the Gold Medal in the 10,000-meter run at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
World History
