Sioux desperately trying to raise $9million to buy back South Dakota land 150 years after it was taken from them

Time is running out for tribes to buy back sacred land taken from them by the U.S. Government

They have just weeks to come up with remaining $8.1million needed to purchase portion of the Black Hills

They have fought on battlefields and in courtrooms for the return of the land that once belonged to them.

And now - 150 years after the sacred, mountainous land in South Dakota's Black Hills was taken from them by the U.S. government - the Sioux are desperately trying to raise $9million to get it returned.

However, the bid has sparked controversy among the native American tribesman, many of whom are angry that they are being forced to buy back land that once belonged to them.

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Sioux tribesman on the plains of South Dakota: The Sioux have an ancient association with the Black Hills

Disputed land: The Reynolds Prairie in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The ranch - nearly 2,000 acres - encompasses the sacred site of Pe' Sla

Tom Poor Bear, the vice president of the Oglala Lakota Tribe in South Dakota, told the New York Times : 'It’s like someone stealing my car and I have to pay to get it back.'

A portion of the rolling range of mountains, given the name of called Pe' Sla by the Lakota Sioux tribes, was offered for sale earlier this year.

The family that have controlled the land since 1876 - the year that General George Armstrong Custer died - have accepted a bid for the land made by more than half a dozen Sioux tribes.

The group, which includes some of the country's poorest people, is now scrambling to raise the $9million needed to buy back the land before next month's deadline, the New York Times reported.

Not for sale: Lakota Indians at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, protesting in 2004 against the Government taking away treatied land

Sacred land: The Black Hills was given to the Sioux in 1868 but mountains (pictured) were snatched back by the government after the discovery of gold

The move is the latest in a long and controversial battle over ownership of the land after the United States broke several treaties when it took it from the natives.

The government's seizure of the Black Hills was described as one of the most dishonourable acts in American history in a landmark federal court decision in 1979.

The SIoux tribes have been blighted by poverty and unemployment for generations. If they cannot raise the money they stand to lose their sacred land as well as a $900,000 initial payment they put down.

Sioux tribal leaders from all over the Great Plains will meet this week to devise a strategy to come up with the remaining $8.1million by November 30.

'Our ceremonial patterns would collapse': The current owners have always allowed the Sioux to access the land for prayer rituals

Way of life: If the Sioux fail in their bid to buy Pe' Sla they say their culture could 'come to an end'



The current owners - the Reynolds family - have always allowed the Sioux to access the land for prayer ceremonies.

However, if the Sioux fail in their bid to buy Pe' Sla they say their culture could 'come to an end' if the land was bought by an owner who prevented them from visiting, effectively finishing 3,000 years of annual pilgrimages.



Victor Douville, who teaches Lakota history and culture at Sinte Gleska University in Mission, told the New York Times : ' Our ceremonial patterns would collapse.'

Heading the purchase bid is the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. It's treasurer Louis Wayne Boyd said: 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to get some land back that is very, very dear to us.

'Most of the tribes want to do something, but it’s very difficult for them to raise any money, especially of this magnitude.'