protection of Indian sites of historical and cultural
significance.
The Indian Claims Commission offers
compensation for the Black Hills.
Twenty-four years after their case first came before
the Indian Claims Commission, the Lakota Sioux
receive a favorable decision on their complaint re-
garding the United States’s illegal seizure of the
Black Hills in South Dakota, an area sacred to the
Lakota (see entry for 1877). The commission deter-
mines that the land and the gold mined from the
area was worth $17.5 million at the time the Black
Hills were appropriated. It also finds that the Lakota
are entitled to 5 percent annual interest, since the
U.S. actions violated their Fifth Amendment rights.
The victory for the Lakota will be short-lived.
The next year, the U.S. Court of Claims will reverse
the decision. It will rule that the Indian Claims
Commission cannot determine the case, because it
had already been heard and dismissed by the U.S.
Court of Clai ms in 1942. Despite this setback, the
Lakota will continue their legal battle throughout
the 1970s. (See also entry for JUNE 30, 1980.)
February 7
AIM leader Russell Means loses the election
for Pine Ridge tribal chairman.
In an election for tribal chairman of the Pine Ridge
Reservation, incumbent Dick Wilson defeats Russell
Means, a leader of the American Indian Movement
(AIM) activists who took over Wounded Knee the pre-
vious year to protest Wilson’s systematic harassment
of Indian traditionalists (see entry for FEBRUARY 28,
1973). In a later investigation of the election, the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights will find that nearly
one-third of the votes were “tainted,” but the Justice
Department will take no action against Wilson.
February 12
The Boldt Decision confirms Northwest
Indian fishing rights.
A long series of protests and court battles regarding
fishing rights culminates in United States v. State of
Washington. In the case, many Indian groups chal-
lenge the right of the Washington State government
to regulate and restrict Indian fishing. These regu-
lations were instituted beginning in the early 20th
century to placate non-Indian commercial fishing
concerns and sports fishermen. In their argument,
the Indians refer to the treaties by which they were
forced to cede their lands (see entry for MAY 24 TO
JUNE 11, 1855). These documents explicitly stated
that the Indian groups retained the right to fish at
their “usual and accustomed” fishing areas, whether
these were on or off reservations, without interfer-
ence by the state.
A landmark victory in the battle for Indian
fishing rights, the ruling in the case (known as the
Boldt Decision, after the presiding judge, George
Boldt) states that the Indian groups that signed
these treaties have a right to half the catch taken
in the state of Washington. It also holds that for
conservation purposes the state can limit the overall
catch, but it cannot impose rules on Indian fishers
regarding their fishing methods.April 12The Indian Financing Act provides loans for
Indian-run businesses.
With the Indian Financing Act, Congress establishes
a fund from which Indians can draw loans to finance
business ventures. The law is a response to the dif-
ficulty many Indians have encountered borrowing
money from banks that refuse to accept as collateral
tribal lands held in trust by the government.MayMohawk activists occupy Ganienkeh.
Claiming the land belongs to them, a group of
Mohawk from the Akwesasne and Kahnawake res-
ervations occupy 612 acres owned by New York
State at Eagle Bay, near Moss Lake in the Adiron-
dacks. They rename the land “Ganienkeh,” meaning
“Land of Flintstone.” The occupation begins a
lengthy standoff between the activists and local au-
thorities. (See also entry for MAY 13, 1977.)