"Laurie Stern: The Lakota Sioux call the wind their relative: constant and strong. Now, they're going to put that relative to work.

Eileen Briggs: Our focus is developing the wind and getting it sold now, that's our focus.

Eileen Briggs is president of Four Winds Energy Corporation. She says the tribe has been measuring the wind for a decade, getting ready for the right deal. The "right deal" turns out to be an agreement with Boston-based Citizens Energy to build a $400 million wind-farm.

Caryle Duchenaux works for the tribe's environmental department:

Caryle Duchenaux: There's been a lot of interested developers going back eight, 10 years. They were wanting to give the tribe a portion rather than a piece of the pie.

But with Citizens Energy, the tribe will get a 20 percent ownership stake, and will also collect fees from leasing land for the turbines. The project could help the tribe become financially self-sufficient."

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Marketplace: Lifting a tribe's fortunes with wind (American Public Media 3/10)