(TruthAndLiberty.com) – Ben & Jerry’s in their Fourth of July message stated that it was time for “stolen indigenous land” to be returned, including places like Mount Rushmore.
The post was made available on their websites and in it the company pointed out that the Independence Day celebrations, including the barbecues, fireworks shows and barbecues are displays that might end up taking the attention away from the “essential truth” of the creation of the country, which is that it was founded by people taking over Indigenous land.
The company tweeted that it was time for us to recognize the reality of the country being built on stolen Indigenous land and start working towards returning it. It is then pointed out that the land that is now known as Mount Rushmore, where the likeness of four U.S. Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, can be seen carved into the mountain belonged to the Lakota Sioux tribe. As they point out the area was known as Tunkasila Sakpe and was a sacred holy mountain.
However, the Lakota, much like many other indigenous tribes, were part of two treaties signed with the United States in the 1850s and 1860s which ended the fighting in the area. Black Hills, the area where Mount Rushmore is, was given to the indigenous people as a home.
However, with the discovery of gold in those areas, the U.S. government was quick to break the treaties and have settlers move there. As a result, the Sioux, a group of tribes, was forced to give up their land and move to smaller reservations.
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