The Full Story
International Law, Treaty Rights, and Human Rights
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TREATY RIGHTS AS SUPREME LAW
The Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868 established the sovereignty of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Oyáte over its ancestral lands, including the sacred Pahá Sápa (Black Hills). These treaties remain part of the Supreme Law of the United States under Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. Article XII of the 1868 Treaty states that no cession of land is valid without the consent of three-fourths of the adult male population of the Sioux Nation. That requirement was never met, and therefore the treaty lands were never lawfully ceded.¹
INTERNATIONAL LAW OF TREATIES
Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969):
1. Treaties must be performed in good faith (pacta sunt servanda).²
2. No treaty may be unilaterally altered; modification requires a new treaty agreed upon by the parties.³
3. Treaties signed under coercion, fraud, or threat of force are void.⁴
When U.S. generals threatened Lakota leaders with annihilation if they refused to sign, such coercion rendered the negotiations unlawful under international law.⁵
UNDRIP & HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), endorsed by the U.S. in 2010, affirms that Indigenous nations have the right to recognition, observance, and enforcement of their treaties.⁶ It also requires free, prior, and informed consent before states undertake any measures affecting Indigenous lands or resources.⁷ These provisions reinforce the continuing validity of the Fort Laramie Treaties and condemn U.S. unilateral actions as violations of Indigenous human rights.
THE BLACK HILLS CASE
In United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that the seizure of the Black Hills violated the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.⁸ The Court described the taking as unconstitutional and unlawful, offering financial compensation instead of land return. The Sioux Nation has consistently refused compensation, holding that the Black Hills are not for sale. This ruling serves as binding proof that the U.S. violated its treaty obligations.
CONTINUING VIOLATIONS
Despite these international and domestic legal obligations, the U.S. government has repeatedly authorized pipelines, mining projects, and settlement on unceded treaty lands without consent of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Oyáte. These actions violate the treaties, UNDRIP’s requirement of free, prior, and informed consent, and international prohibitions against colonial domination and resource exploitation.⁹
Endnotes
1. Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, art. XII, 15 Stat. 635. See also Wowashi Luta Wowapi (Red Spirit Paper), Oceti Sakowin Oyate Treaty Councils, at 3–4 .
2. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, art. 26, May 23, 1969, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331.
3. Id., art. 39.
4. Id., arts. 49–52.
5. Wowashi Luta Wowapi (Red Spirit Paper), Oceti Sakowin Oyate Treaty Councils, at 9 .
6. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, G.A. Res. 61/295, art. 37 (Sept. 13, 2007).
7. Id., arts. 19, 32.
8. United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, 448 U.S. 371, 376–79 (1980).
9. Wowashi Luta Wowapi (Red Spirit Paper), Oceti Sakowin Oyate Treaty Councils, at 13–14 .