Opinion

Marshall Matz: Michael Jandreau leaves strong legacy for tribe

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Michael Jandreau, 1943-2015. Photo from Lower Brule Sioux Tribe

Marshall Matz, former longtime attorney for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, reflects on the legacy of the late former chairman Michael Jandreau:

Michael B. Jandreau, the visionary leader of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota for almost 40 years, passed away last month at the age of 71. Known to all as “Mike” he believed that Indian Tribes had to establish a private sector economy on the Reservations if they were to participate in the American dream. The historic treaties of the 1800's between Tribes and the United States, while still very important, were not enough to prepare Indian people for the 21st century. For rural Tribes that means a focus on agriculture.
Jandreau testified before Congress and the South Dakota Legislature many times in support of Tribal sovereignty but he also believed that the treaties were not a business plan. The Tribes needed to develop a private sector economy to benefit all Tribal members. In 2004 he made history as a Tribal Chairman by telling the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs: “Sovereignty is the key to tribal existence. But, in the long run, for sovereignty to survive there must be economic sovereignty as well. We must develop a private sector economy”
Jandreau again emphasized the importance of the private sector when he addressed the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs a few years later: “It is painful to read The World is Flat and to read that the United States is outsourcing jobs to China and India when many Indian Reservations have an unemployment rate over 80% and a third world standard of living.”
Mike foresaw the reservation's agriculture potential not only in growing larger volumes of agricultural commodities on Tribal and Reservation lands, but also in adding value to those commodities on the Reservation itself. Processing the commodities created good jobs for Tribal members and pride in what was produced in the name of the Tribe.
Under Jandreau's leadership, Lower Brule established a successful Farm Corporation and one of the most diverse and innovative economies of any Reservation in the Nation. The Lower Brule Farm Corporation grows edible beans, has a commercial buffalo herd and is the largest producer of popcorn in the country. The farm has expanded to some 40,000 acres with 10,000 acres under irrigation. They sell popcorn nationwide to the major brands and also market under their own brand name “Lakota Foods."

Get the Story:
Marshall Matz: Mike's Legacy (AgriPulse 4/28)

Human Rights Watch Report:
Secret and Unaccountable: The Tribal Council at Brule and Its Impact on Human Rights (January 2015)