Rosebud Indian Reservation


The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Sicangu Oyate – also known as Sicangu Lakota, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, a branch of the Lakota people. The Lakota name Sicangu Oyate translates into English as "Burnt Thigh Nation"; the French term "Brulé Sioux" is also used.
The Rosebud Indian Reservation was established in 1889 after the United States' partition of the Great Sioux Reservation. Created in 1868 by the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the Great Sioux Reservation originally covered all of West River, South Dakota, as well as part of northern Nebraska and eastern Montana.
The reservation includes all of Todd County, South Dakota, and communities and lands in the four adjacent counties.

Geography and population

The RIR is located in south central South Dakota, and presently includes within its recognized border all of Todd County, an unincorporated county of South Dakota. However, the Oyate also has communities and extensive lands and populations in the four adjacent counties, which were once within the Rosebud Sioux Tribe boundaries: Tripp, Lyman, Mellette, and Gregory counties, all in South Dakota. Mellette County, especially, has extensive off-reservation trust land, comprising 33.35 percent of its land area, where 40.23 percent of the Sicangu Oyate population lives.
The total land area of the reservation and its trust lands is 1,970.362 sq mi with a population of 10,469 in the 2000 census. The main reservation has a land area of 1,388.124 sq mi and a population of 9,050. The RIR is bounded on the south by Cherry County, Nebraska, on the west by the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, on the north by the White River, and originally, on the east by the Missouri River.
The Oyate capital is the unincorporated town of Rosebud, established when the Spotted Tail Indian Agency to the banks of Rosebud Creek near its confluence with the Little White River. It was previously located in northwestern Nebraska. The largest town on the reservation is Mission, served by the intersections of US Highways 18 and 83.
Mission's near neighbor of Antelope is one of the many tribal band communities established in the late 1870s. It has grown since then. Other major towns in the reservation are Saint Francis, located southwest of Rosebud. It is the home of Saint Francis Indian School, a private Catholic institution first established as a mission school. Saint Francis, with a current population of about 2000, is the largest incorporated town in South Dakota without a state highway for access.
Located on the Great Plains, just north of the Nebraska Sandhills, Rosebud Indian Reservation has large areas of Ponderosa Pine forest scattered in its grasslands. Deep valleys are defined by steep hills and ravines, often with lakes dotting the deeper valleys.

Economy and services

The RST owns and operates Rosebud Casino, located on U.S. Route 83 just north of the Nebraska border. Nearby is a fuel plaza, featuring truck parking and a convenience store. Power for the casino is furnished in part by one of the nation's first tribally owned electricity-generating wind turbines. In the early 21st century, the tribe built a new residential development, Sicangu Village, along Highway 83 near the casino and the state line.
Like numerous other Native American tribes, the Rosebud government decided to legalize alcohol sales on the reservation. This enables it to use sales taxes and other revenues generated for the welfare and health of the tribe. It directly polices and regulates the use of alcohol in an effort to reduce abuses.
The RST population is estimated at 25,000. It is served by the Oyate administration and agencies. In addition, the tribe is served by the BIA Rosebud Agency, Todd County School District, Saint Francis Indian School, Saint Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota; and the Rosebud Indian Health Service Hospital.
It has developed Sinte Gleska University on the reservation. The tribal university is named after the 19th-century Sioux war chief and statesman, whose name in English was Spotted Tail.
The tribe has suffered from terrible conditions at the IHS hospital. Because the IHS did not maintain standards, in November 2015 the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it would no longer reimburse for services at the ER, as conditions were so poor. The ER was closed. For seven months, citizens on the reservation had no access to ER services. Five babies were born in ambulances en route to the nearest hospitals -50 miles away- and nine people died during emergency transport to other health facilities. CMS announced on July 14, 2016 that the emergency department would re-open the next day.
Representative Kristi Noem, R-South Dakota, has authored legislation to improve conditions and staff at IHS facilities. She has testified before Congress to gain support for the legislation.
The Tribe also owns QCredit, an online financial services company. The Tribe currently works with financial technology vendor Think Finance for assistance with compliance management, risk management, and loan services.

General information

Under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the federally recognized Rosebud Sioux Tribe re-established self-government. It adopted a constitution and bylaws, to take back many responsibilities for internal management from the BIA. It followed the model of elected government: president, vice-president, and representative council, adopted by many Native American nations. At the time and since then, many tribal members opposed the elected government, preferring their traditional form of hereditary clan chiefs selected for life, contingent on approval by women elders, and a tribal council that operated by consensus.
Both women and male elders have continued to have influence within the nation, particularly among those who have followed more traditional lives. At times the political factions have developed and continued along ethnic and cultural lines, with full-blood Sioux following traditional ways. Others, sometimes of mixed-blood or having had more urban or European-American experiences, support the elected government.
The short two-year terms of office can make it difficult for elected officials to carry out projects over the long term. In addition, BIA officials and police retain roles on the reservations, which the historian Akim Reinhardt calls a form of "indirect colonialism".
The Sun-Times is the only news outlet to cover political news on the reservation, along with police, court and community news. An economic decline forced the paper to cut back to a monthly edition in 2010.

Notable tribal members and residents


Video Bob. Famous YouTuber. Builds move props and film famous cars, including The Deloren from Back to the Future.


In United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, the people of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation joined the Oglala Lakota and other Sioux nations in suing the federal government in a land claim for its taking of the Black Hills in the late 19th century. In 1980 the case was heard by the United States Supreme Court, which agreed with the nations that the US had acted illegally in 1877. The US government offered financial compensation, which the Sioux have refused. They still demand the return of the land to their nation. The compensation fund is earning interest and has increased in value.
On April 28, 2016, members of the Rosebud Indian Reservation announced they were suing the federal government for its closure of the only emergency room on its reservation, which is operated by Indian Health Services. The ER was closed because of conditions so poor that Medicaid would not reimburse for its services. The ER had been closed for nearly five months, leaving people on the reservation without services. They have to travel 50 miles to reach another hospital. The emergency department was re-opened after seven months on July 15, 2016.

Communities

The Rosebud Sioux Reservation has 20 communities represented on its tribal council: