From Publishers Weekly
This comprehensive view of a 57-year legal battle puts the tragic plight of the Sioux Indians into focus with unusually sharp clarity. The Sioux's successful attempt to gain compensation for the U.S. government's 1877 takeover of their sacred Black Hills, in what is now South Dakota, led to a mostly hollow victory. The unprecedented $106 million awarded to the Sioux in a 1980 Supreme Court decision remains untapped by a destitute people, as tribal leaders pursue restoration of the land itself. Lazarus, the lawyer-son of one of the winning Sioux attorneys, Arthur Lazarus Jr., blames the "false hope" of the Sioux as he meticulously details the broken treaties and the lawsuit's serpentine path. Villains are charged, none more harshly than longtime Sioux attorney Ralph Case. The author, however, is guilty of seeking a lofty place in history for his much-assailed father. Still, while a tedious read, the book is an important addition to Native American history. $50,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
"The Black Hills are not for sale!" This cry resounded from Indian country in 1980, when the Supreme Court voted to award the Sioux Nation $106 million in claims and interest for the loss of the heart of their homeland, the Black Hills. Against the background of the 1868 treaty and Custer's discovery of Black Hills gold, Lazarus gives a compelling account of the longest-running claim in U.S. history (57 years). He capably leads the reader through its contorted path of legal arguments and the fluctuating winds of government policy and Sioux politics. The Black Hills case, in many ways a microcosm of 20th-century Native American history, vividly demonstrates the chasm between mainstream and Indian perceptions of justice in today's world. Highly recommended.
- Mary B. Davis, Hun tington Free Lib., Bronx, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Mary B. Davis, Hun tington Free Lib., Bronx, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
