After a decades-long quest, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation is finally reclaiming a piece of its homeland.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the federal government flooded 156,000 acres of the tribe's reservation in North Dakota. More than 300 families -- more than 80 percent of the membership at the time -- were forced out of their homes to make way for the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River. The upheaval contributed to language and cultural loss as well as a decline in health because a community hospital was closed and wasn't replaced until 2011.
"We will sign this contract with a heavy heart," George Gillette, the tribe's chairman said at an emotional ceremony in 1948 in Washington, D.C., where he can be seen crying in a photo published by the Associated Press. "With a few scratches of the pen, we will sell the best part of our reservation. Right now the future doesn't look too good to us."
The Mandan and Hidatsa tribes formed an alliance after the smallpox epidemic of 1837–1838 decimated the Mandan, leaving approximately 125 survivors. The Mandan subsequently banded together with the Hidatsa to survive...
The United States issued two executive orders in 1870 and 1880 that diminished the land base of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara by approximately 80% to make way for a new railroad. Their land was again reduced a further 60% in 1886 when the Fort Berthold Reservation was established. In all, about 11.4 million acres of tribal lands were taken...
In response to severe flooding on the lower Missouri River in 1943, Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1944 and authorized the creation of the Garrison Dam.
In order to construct the dam, the US government needed to purchase 152,000 acres of agricultural land in the Fort Berthold Reservation that would be flooded by the creation of Lake Sakakawea.[8] Threatened by confiscation under eminent domain, the tribes were forced to accept $5 million in exchange for their lands. This amount was increased to $7.5 million in 1949, but it hardly compensated for the loss of 94% of the tribe’s agricultural land.
Tha_Watcher on December 17th, 2022 at 08:51 UTC »
https://www.indianz.com/news/2016/12/20/north-dakota-tribe-recovers-ancestral-la.asp
jtinz on December 17th, 2022 at 10:31 UTC »
Wikipedia
Poprocketrop on December 17th, 2022 at 12:24 UTC »
He probably personally knew how many people would be displaced