I never was brought up plowing or bringing anything up out of the ground. ‒WHITE CRANE, FORT LARAMIE, APRIL 29, 1868

They do not know how to farm and so long as there is game don’t care to learn. ‒RED CLOUD, FORT LARAMIE, NOVEMBER 6, 1868

Along with all the challenges of farming, they were directed to grow the “most valuable crop”. Fast-forward one hundred and fifty-one years, now in two thousand nineteen, it is difficult to get hemp legalized so it can be grown on the reservation ... It seems the United States Government is still deciding what is best for the tribes. ‒CHERYL KENDALL, OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE, 2019

The Three Sisters reflects the three main agricultural crops: corn, beans, and squash.  The intention of Article 14 was for the tribes to eventually become self sufficient in growing crops and sustaining a source of food. Since 1868, food options have increased in variety; however, many are low in nutritional value and contain a high amount of sugar. ‒PAUL HIGH HORSE, OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE, 2019

The Farming Awards in Article 14 are absurd and antithetical to the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Lakotas. The U.S. Government was aware of this and had engineered a treaty that best served U.S. interests and set up the Lakotas for failure. The Farming Awards seem like a cruel, patronizing farce on top of an already absurd set of terms. ‒MARTY TWO BULLS, JR., OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE, 2019

Article 14. FARMING AWARDS

The US will provide $500 annually for three years to the top ten farmers.

ARTICLE 14. It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually, for three years from date, shall be expended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who in the judgment of the agent may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.