Students at the Rapid City Indian School in Rapid City, South Dakota, in the early 1920s. Photo by The Burke Library Archives (Columbia University Libraries) at Union Theological Seminary, New York
Tribes reclaim Sioux San land
Three Lakota tribes will share trust status
By Ernestine Chasing Hawk
Native Sun News Editor
nsweekly.com RAPID CITY –– Attorney Heather Thompson, announced at a July 29 Unified Tribal Health Board meeting at Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn that two parcels of federal land in Rapid City, totaling 117.9 acres, has reverted back to Bureau of Indian Affairs control. According to a June 11 letter from United States Department of Interior Acting Assistant Secretary Lawrence Roberts to Meredith Stanton, Executive Director of the Indian Arts & Crafts Board, the land was held in trust since 1974 by the Indian Arts & Crafts Board for “the proposed relocation and development of the Sioux Indian Museum and Crafts Center and related facilities.” The Sioux Indian Museum, originally located inside a historic building in Halley Park, shared the space with the Minnelusa Historical Pioneer Collection and was in dire need of a larger facility to adequately house and preserve its extensive Plains Indian art collection. A group of women, including Ella Lebeau, Emma Amiotte and other members of the Winona Club worked diligently raising funds for construction of a new museum to be located off Canyon Lake Drive behind West Middle School. The Tipi Shop, located inside the former Sioux Indian Museum, sold Indian arts and crafts and the proceeds were used to help raise funds to build the new facility.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Tribes reclaim Sioux San land (Contact Ernestine Chasing Hawk at editor@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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