For hundreds of years the Lakota Sioux have fought to protect their land and for hundreds of years have they been given empty promises and broken treaties. What was once called “The Six Fathers” by the Lakota was renamed and reshaped into what is now called “Mount Rushmore”. Not only is this a constant reminder of the genocide that happened, but is a constant reminder that it’s still happening. The Six Fathers are sacred to the Sioux Lakota. In 1868 the U.S and Sioux signed a treaty that gave the Black Hills (area of Six Fathers) to the Sioux. In the 1870s prospectors migrated there and the federal government forced the Sioux to relinquish the Black Hills. In 1873 Ulysses S Grant said he “favored a humane course to bring Native Americans under the benign influences of education and civilization. It is either this or war.” The Sioux decided to not assimilate. The “Battle of Wounded Knee” was actually a massacre of unarmed indigenous women and children. So yes, the federal government needs to honor its treaty with the Lakota by giving the land back and destroying this monument.