The Fort Laramie Treaty recognised the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills in present-day South Dakota, for Lakota use. After gold was discovered, the United States failed to prevent settlers entering treaty lands and attempted to purchase them. The resulting conflict ended with federal seizure of the Black Hills.

Broken treaty promises became central to Lakota oral history, song and later Native American writing. Black Elk's testimony and works by writers such as Zitkala-Ša preserved perspectives largely excluded from official documents, challenging triumphalist frontier narratives.