Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

South Dakota Governor William Janklow charged into the dim meeting room of the Iron Horse Motel in Pierre, South Dakota, dressed in tiger-striped pants and an open-necked shirt. He was going boating. But first he wanted to ensure that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agree to approve leases to the state for recreation areas on the Missouri River, on treaty land belonging to the Great Sioux Nation.

Proponents of the Mitigation Act, which transfers 92,000 acres of land along the west side of the Missouri to the state of South Dakota, say that subsequent legislation and Supreme Court decisions by the U.S. abrogate that treaty. Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) slipped the Mitigation Act, officially called, "Title VI Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and State of South Dakota Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Restoration Act of 1999," into a 40-pound budget bill last fall after it was defeated in the House of Representatives.

Lakota people opposing the transfer of their land to the state have set up a fire symbolizing that treaty rights still burn on an island a few blocks from the state capitol in Pierre. They had just given testimony against the transfer to representatives from the Army Corps and the state, who did not meet their eyes.

"You took Indian lands to finance your first colonies and your wars... [Senator] Daschle is a criminal for trying to take more of our land. This will not happen," said one Lakota woman in a calm voice.

Minutes later, the governor growled to a bevy of Army Corps lawyers from Washington about the disrepair of boating ramps and other recreational sites along the river administered by the Army Corps. As they nodded busily, he said that he had heard complaints about dumpy, unpainted bathrooms from out-of-state visitors. He said he was fed up with the Corps' ineffective administration of sites that are important to a budding state tourist industry.

The remedy? Lease the sites to the state. Governor Janklow said, "I want them turned over today." Paul Wemhoener, Omaha District, said "You have to apply for the lease just like anyone else. But we will respond as soon as you do so." When the meeting resumed minutes later, Wemhoener explained that the state would go through a leasing process just like anyone else. When tribal representatives present asked if they also could lease land, he said they could, but was much less enthusiastic.

The Corps has now approved leases for construction on 15 recreational sites to the state of South Dakota, effective on September 7, 1999, just two months away. Fifty-four recreation sites are pending lease to the state by January 1, 2000. By leasing them, the state can begin developing sites which it is slated to get through the transfer, undermining the environmental impact study the Corps is required to complete before transferring the land to the state.

The lease process shortens the time period for the Lakota people who oppose the bill to lobby for congressional oversight hearings and forces them to consider costly litigation.

Lakota people are put in the same situation as Palestinians who watch Israeli settlers "legally" whittle away at their ancestral land while politicians negotiate agreements. The longer the politicians talk, the more land gets taken. And, if the leases include the La Framboise Island site where the tipi camp is located, Governor Janklow will have the authority to physically threaten the inhabitants of the camp.