CURIOUS

 

The saying is:  Curiosity killed the cat.

I have wondered recently what the relationship is between the FARMERS / RANCHERS and the tribes that have reservations here in northern South Dakota – two tribes of Sioux.  We traveled on Highway 20 that separates the two reservations and on either side were cattle and fields of hay, harvested crops and large ranches.   I hope to GOD that the ranchers had not sold to foreign investors like down in AZ where Saudis have purchased ranch land and proceeded to drain all their neighbor’s wells by drilling deep wells, then growing HAY in the desert!! 

I pulled up a summation of the Homestead ACT which allowed settlement of the “Louisiana Purchase” after the Civil War and found no reference to the Tribal Lands.  No instruction to respect your NATIVE NEIGHBORS as you make your way west – northwest.  I also checked on some treaties with the Native Tribes and knew of course that they were not enforced or “written in stone.” HOWEVER, there was an article about the leasing of Tribal Lands and the fact that as an autonomous “nation within the nation”  the tribes could petition the State in which they resided for a gaming license and there are some very wealthy tribes thanks to the Casinos.   Seems fair somehow, even if gambling is an addiction as powerful as alcohol, or especially when linked to alcohol consumption!  

Leasing of tribal land was also mentioned.  Leasing for ranching /farming,  mineral exploration or even for Waste Management “mountains” perhaps.  Which came first the Treaties or the Homestead Act?   Obviously the Treaties, whether enforced or not.  Are those ranches on Highway 20 leased from the tribes?

So back to the Homestead Act.  One of our siblings mentioned that Great Grandpa’s homestead in Montana DID NOT INCLUDE THE MINERAL RIGHTS.    I found that interesting and curious, which prompted this small bit of research.   I had had a coworker out in California who told of her family’s oil wells being summarily capped with concrete by the Federal Government – I do not remember the year - forcing her family into bankruptcy and a subsequent move to California.  I wonder if their family “homestead” had had the same omission as Great Grandpa’s piece of Montana.  The coworkers family land was in the North Dakota, I believe.

Perhaps I should just stop being curious since I try to be a positive person and these questions, and MORE, make me cynical and suspicious.   “Turn your eyes upon JESUS… and the things of Earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of HIS GLORY and GRACE.”

BUT, pray for our COUNTRY and do a bit of research once you receive your ballot, and as a citizen VOTE!!