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Ok, so a little over 100 years ago the US military violated the Treaty of Medicine Creek and kicked a bunch of native people off their land and stole it for what became JBLM.

When I was growing up, I remember being taught that the US stole a bunch of land in the past and was all done with that since they stole it all. This all happened in the 1800's, right?

Seeing a 19 at the front of the year feels a bit weird, huh? It feels so much closer. Like finding out slavery was still common in the 1910's and 20's in the south. It kind of changes how one thinks about things... Or at least it did for me. But that's still a long time ago.

Let's talk about something more recent. In 1868 the US signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie with the Lakota people. It said that unused federal lands would be returned to indigenous people. In 1969, a group of indigenous people started occupying the then unused Alcatraz Federal penitentiary. Since it had been declared surplus federal property by the federal government, they were legally reclaiming the land. The federal government forcibly removed the group in 1971. So this would be another instance of forcibly removing indigenous people from land they were promised.... Not 150 or 100 years ago but a little over 50.

Now 1971 doesn't just some how feel closer because it has a 19 in it. My dad was an adult (in Vietnam, if I'm remembering the dates correctly). There are more than a few people on here who were alive then, and may even remember this.

That whole "breaking treatises" period of US keeps creeping closer.

Now there's a whole set of websites dedicated to selling unused federal real estate...
https://www.usa.gov/real-estate-sales

You know, like... exactly what that treaty says the federal government is supposed to return? So the very existence of this....
https://realestatesales.gov/gsaauctions/gsaauctions/

Is basically a big regular violation of that treaty, again and again. So this...
https://realestatesales.gov/gsaauctions/aucpbsindx/?sl=CHICA123006001
Will violate the Treaty of Fort Laramie at some point in the future when it's sold instead of returned.

The whole narrative I remember from school went something like, "we took the land, but now people live on it, so we can't really give it back." But like, here you go. All you have to do is give it back, like the contract you signed where you said you would. It couldn't possibly be easier to fulfill that treaty. There's a whole system designed to track and sell these properties. The hard part is like 90% done. Literally, just give the fucking land back.