Tribal members successfully changed the name of Shanon County in South Dakota to Oglala Lakota County. Photo by Neeta Lind / Flickr
Five of the top six deadliest counties are in SD
By Brandon Ecoffey
LCT Editor PINE RIDGE— Despite being rich in culture and history five of western South Dakota’s counties have been deemed amongst the deadliest counties in the entire United States. According to data collected by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute, Oglala Lakota County and Todd County rank number one and two on the list of the most deadly counties in the United States. South Dakota plays home to five of the top six most deadly counties in the entire United States despite being one of the least populated. Oglala Lakota County, who ranked first on the list, has a population base that will see 983 people per 100,000 die before the age of 75, Todd County sees 878 per 100,000, Dewey County 811 per 100,000, and Corson County 793 per 100,000. The five counties from South Dakota all exist within the boundaries of an Indian Reservation or share borders with one. The data that was published in the newest edition of County Health Rankings and first reported by Time magazine ranked counties based on the likelihood that that residents living in a specific county will die a “premature” death before the age of 75. South Dakota’s nine reservations have suffered from high rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease and many other health problems but across the U.S. the more Native Americans die by injury by the age of 44 than any other cause of death. The high rates of violent assaults on reservations in South Dakota led former United States attorney Brendan Johnson to make prosecution of these types of crime a priority of his office. The causes for the high rates of crime on reservations in the state are partly caused by number of failed federal policies. Continued cuts in spending by congress have resulted in substandard highways systems that have resulted in high rates of motor vehicle deaths and the continued lack of federal resources allocated to healthcare and law enforcement on reservations compounds the problem The median rate across the United States results in 376 people per 100,000. Lincoln County had the lowest premature death rate in South Dakota with 179 per 100,000 people likely to die before the age of 75. (Contact Brandon Ecoffey at editor@lakotacountrytimes.com) Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter.
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