Advancing the Right to Health Care of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe

The Eighth Circuit of Appeals upholds the Court of First Instance’s ruling that the US government has failed to provide sufficient and adequate healthcare to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. In 2016, the Sioux Tribe lodged a case against the US government because of the closure of the emergency health facility within the reservation. This forced the Tribe members to travel over 50 miles to another hospital in order to receive adequate healthcare. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that this decision violated the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, as it specified that the US government had a positive obligation to provide “competent physician-led healthcare” to the Tribe (Human Rights Watch 2021). By closing the emergency facility and the absence of a physician on the Reservation, the US government had violated its treaty obligations. The judgment is seen as a victory for the Sioux Tribe, as their history is marred with the denial of, and the struggle to gain access to adequate healthcare. For more information, please see https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/08/31/us-court-ruling-furthers-south-dakota-tribes-right-health ;https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-urge-eighth-circuit-to-end-sioux-tribes-suit-over-health-care/ and https://eu.argusleader.com/story/news/2021/08/25/appeals-court-rules-government-must-do-better-rosebud-health-care/5589859001/