Editing Lakota people (section)

==Government==

===United States===
[[File:America, Native North American, Plains, Lakota (Sioux) people, Post contact - Storage Bag - 1937.850 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|
Lakota beaded storage bag, late 19th century, {{cvt|15|in|cm}} wide, [[Cleveland Museum of Art]]]]
[[File:Nord o sud dakota, lakota, scalpo di bufalo, 1890 ca.jpg|thumb|Lakota [[parfleche]], {{circa|1890}}, [[Speed Art Museum ]]]]
Legally and by treaty classified as a "domestic dependent nation" within the United States,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.infca.org/tribes/IRA.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20060923155305/http://www.infca.org/tribes/IRA.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-09-23|title=The Indian Reorganization Act}}</ref> the federally recognized Lakota tribes are represented locally by officials elected to councils for the several reservations and communities in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Nebraska. These tribes have government-to-government relationships with the United States federal government, primarily through the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of Interior.

As [[autonomy|semi-autonomous]] political entities, tribal governments have certain rights to independent of state laws. For instance, they may operate [[Native American gaming|Indian gaming]] on their reservation based on the [[Indian Gaming Regulatory Act]] of 1988. They operate with the federal government. These relationship are negotiated and contested.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/indiancountry/history/ |title=Indian Country Diaries . History |publisher=PBS |access-date=January 26, 2012}}</ref>

Most Lakota tribal members are also citizens of the United States. They can vote in local, state/provincial and federal elections. They are represented at the state and national level by officials elected from the political districts of their respective states and Congressional Districts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianz.com/News/2004/005762.asp |title=> News > Oglala Sioux Tribe inaugurates Cecilia Fire Thunder |publisher=Indianz.Com |date=December 13, 2004 |access-date=January 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321200219/http://indianz.com/News/2004/005762.asp |archive-date=March 21, 2013 }}</ref>

Tribal members living both on and off the individual reservations are eligible to vote in periodic elections for that tribe. Each tribe has its own requirements for citizenship, as well its own constitution, bylaws, and elections.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov/constitution.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106172400/http://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov/constitution.htm |url-status=dead |title=Official Site of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe|archive-date=November 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www.sioux.org/our_const_by_laws.html Our Constitution & By-Laws] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704052850/http://www.sioux.org/our_const_by_laws.html |date=July 4, 2008 }}</ref> or [[articles of incorporation]].  Most follow a multi-member [[tribal council]] model, with a chairman or president elected [[at-large]], directly by the voters.

*  The current president of the Oglala Sioux, the majority tribe of the Lakota located primarily on the Pine Ridge reservation, is Kevin Killer.
*  The president of the Sičháŋǧu Lakota at the Rosebud reservation is Rodney M. Bordeaux.
*  The chairwoman of the Standing Rock reservation, which includes peoples from several Lakota subgroups including the Húŋkpapȟa, is Janet Alkire.
*  The chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe at the Cheyenne River reservation, comprising the Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, Sihá Sápa, and Oóhenuŋpa bands of the Lakota, is Harold Frazier.
*  The chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (also known as the Lower Sicangu Lakota), is Boyd I. Gourneau.

===Canada===
Nine bands of Dakota and Lakota reside in [[Manitoba]] and southern [[Saskatchewan]], with a total of 6,000 registered members. They are recognized as First Nations but are not considered "treaty Indians".<!-- Why not? --> As First Nations they receive rights and entitlements through the [[Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada]] department. But because they are not recognized as treaty Indians, they did not participate in the land settlement and natural resource revenues.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/ottawa-rejects-claims-by-dakota-lakota-first-nations-1.669072 Ottawa rejects claims by Dakota, Lakota First Nations], CBC News, August 1, 2007</ref> The Dakota rejected a $60-million land-rights settlement in 2008. <!-- Give more explanation --><ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/brandon-sun-the/mi_8087/is_20080626/dakota-nations-reject-603-settlement/ai_n50742556/ Dakota Nations reject $60.3 M settlement offer from Ottawa] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904060736/http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/brandon-sun-the/mi_8087/is_20080626/dakota-nations-reject-603-settlement/ai_n50742556/ |date=September 4, 2015 }}, ''The Brandon Sun'', June 26, 2008</ref>

===Independence movement===
{{See also|Republic of Lakotah proposal}}
[[File:Suscol Intertribal Council 2015 Pow-wow - Stierch 14.jpg|thumb|upright|Mildred "Midge" Wagner, a Lakota woman, singing at a pow wow in 2015]]
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[File:Lakotanation.jpg|thumb|right|Map of possible location of Lakota Nation if cession from the United States is successful.<ref>http://ishgooda.org/oglala/1868lnd.htm {{Bare URL inline|date=February 2022}}</ref>]] -->
The Lakota are among tribal nations that have taken actions, participated in occupations, and proposed independence movements, particularly since the era of rising activism since the mid to late 20th century. They filed land claims against the federal government for what they defined as illegal taking of the Black Hills in the nineteenth century.

In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled in their favor and decided in ''[[United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians]]'' to award [[US$]]122 million to eight bands of Sioux Indians as compensation for their [[Black Hills Land Claim|Black Hills land claims]]. The Sioux have refused the money, because accepting the settlement would legally terminate their demands for return of the Black Hills. The money remains in a [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] account, accruing [[compound interest]]. As of 2011, the account has grown to over $1 billion.<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957595,00.html?promoid=googlep | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204101457/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957595,00.html?promoid=googlep | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 4, 2008 | magazine=Time | title=Race: The Price of Penance | date=May 8, 1989 | access-date=May 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/03/saying-no-to-1-billion/308380/|title=Saying No to $1 Billion|last=Streshinsky|first=Maria|work=The Atlantic|access-date=November 25, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>

In September 2007, the [[United Nations]] passed a non-binding [[Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples]]. <!-- Explain what these are -->Canada,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Canada votes 'no' as UN native rights declaration passes
|date= September 13, 2007
|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-votes-no-as-un-native-rights-declaration-passes-1.632160
|publisher=CBCNews
|quote=Canada's UN ambassador, John McNee, said Canada had "significant concerns" over the declaration's wording on provisions addressing lands and resources
}}</ref> the United States, Australia, and New Zealand refused to sign.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://readerrant.capitolhillblue.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number |title=UBB Message – ReaderRant<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=January 1, 2008 |archive-date=March 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303124055/http://readerrant.capitolhillblue.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On December 20, 2007, a small group of people led by [[American Indian Movement]] activist [[Russell Means]], under the name Lakota Freedom Delegation, traveled to Washington D.C. to announce a withdrawal of the Lakota Sioux from all treaties with the United States government.<ref>[http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVC1KMTOgwiSoMQyT2LwZc9HyAgA "Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609092458/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVC1KMTOgwiSoMQyT2LwZc9HyAgA |date=June 9, 2007 }}, [http://afp.com ''Agence France-Presse'' news] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821112631/http://www.afp.com/ |date=August 21, 2008 }}</ref> These activists had no standing under any elected tribal government.

Official Lakota tribal leaders issued public responses to the effect that, in the words of [[Rosebud Sioux Tribe|Rosebud Lakota]] tribal chairman Rodney Bordeaux, "We do not support what Means and his group are doing and they don't have any support from any tribal government I know of. They don't speak for us."<ref name=toensing>{{cite news |url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2008/01/04/withdrawal-us-treaties-enjoys-little-support-tribal-leaders-79806 |title=Withdrawal from US treaties enjoys little support from tribal leaders |author=Gale Courey Toensing |publisher=[[Indian Country Today]] |date=January 4, 2008 |access-date=March 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504091145/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2008/01/04/withdrawal-us-treaties-enjoys-little-support-tribal-leaders-79806 |archive-date=May 4, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name=cos>[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/23/425848/- ''Lakota Sioux Have NOT Withdrawn From the US'']; in [[The Daily Kos]]; December 23, 2007; accessed March 28, 2016</ref>

Means declared "The Republic of Lakotah", defining it as a sovereign nation with property rights over thousands of square miles in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana.<ref>Bill Harlan, [http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/20/news/local/doc476a99630633e335271152.txt "Lakota group secedes from U.S."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823081033/http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/20/news/local/doc476a99630633e335271152.txt |date=August 23, 2009 }}, ''[[Rapid City Journal]]'', December 20, 2007.</ref> The group stated that they do not act for or represent the tribal governments "set up by the BIA or those Lakota who support the BIA system of government".<ref>[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080111065452/http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071220/NEWS/712200347/1001 "Lakota group pushes for new nation"], ''Argus Leader'', Washington Bureau, December 20, 2007</ref>

"The Lakota Freedom Delegation" did not include any elected leaders from any of the tribes.<ref name=toensing/><ref name=cos/> Means had previously run for president of the Oglala Sioux tribe and twice been defeated. Several tribal governments – elected by tribal members – issued statements distancing themselves from the independence declaration. Some said that they were watching the independent movement closely.<ref name=toensing/><ref name=cos/> No elected tribal governments endorsed the declaration.<ref name=toensing/><ref name=cos/>