This war did not spring up here in our land; this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land from us without price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things…This war has come from robbery – from the stealing of our land.
– Spotted Tail
Chief of the Brule Sioux accuses the government and its commissioners of betraying the Indians, of broken promises and false words. This was during a speech when government commissioners came to Nebraska to negotiate with Sioux agencies for the Black Hills, where gold had been found. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown.