Shakopee Tribe donates $1.4M to help tribes with heating costs

Friday, March 21, 2014  

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota has donated $1.4 million to fellow tribes to help with heating costs.

Last week, the tribe donated $250,000 to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and $250,000 to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, both in South Dakota.

That's in addition to $870,000 that went to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota and South Dakota, the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska last month.

"The propane shortage this year has been particularly hard on American Indian communities,” SMSC Chairman Charlie Vig said in a press release. “We are compelled to help our fellow tribes get through the remaining days of winter.”

Tribal members in the Great Plains have been hit hard by rising propane costs during an extremely cold and lengthy winter.

Get the Story:
MN Tribe Helps Fellow Tribes With Propane Crisis (AP 3/21)

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe welcomes help for heating needs (2/12)
Shakopee Tribe donates $870K for tribes facing fuel shortage (2/10)