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In 1998 the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council passed legislation to distinguish the difference between marijuana and agricultural hemp, allowing the Lakota people to plant and harvest according to a strict set of rules and guidelines.
The first successful fields were grown in the year 2000, but were confiscated by the US Drug Enforcement Agency shortly before harvest, breaking every law of protocol and courtesy previously established between the US and OST governments. A law suit was filed for return of the crop, but eventually dismissed -- while the wheels of justice were slowly turning the plants had rotted.
In 2001 Lakota farmers again planted, and again the DEA conducted the harvest, making no charges or arrests.
Industrial hemp, like the buffalo, addresses every one of life's basic needs -- food, shelter, clothing and fuel, and 'real-time's' greatest necessity, economic stability, without compromising environmental integrity. We view it as a promise for a future. So until we can exercise our sovereignty and grow quantities enough to create housing, textiles, paper, bio-fuels and wholesome foods, we'll have the company of little angels …
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