Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe faces opposition to land-into-trust application

Wednesday, January 16, 2019  

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is seeking to restore more of its homelands but officials in South Dakota are putting up a fight.

Commissioners in Moody County are sending letters to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to oppose the tribe's land-into-trust application, The Moody County Enterprise reported. They are worried about the loss of tax revenue and jurisdiction if the properties are taken into trust.

The application covers 214.86 acres near the tribe's powwow grounds, the paper reported. Another 318.9 acres is near the Royal River Casino.

The latter property was the subject of a prior application that was rejected by the BIA in the mid-1990s, the paper said.

County opposes additional FSST land being put in government trust (The Moody County Enterprise January 15, 2019)