Native Sun News Today: Discussion continues on Indian boarding school lands

Indianz.Com > News > Native Sun News Today: Discussion continues on Indian boarding school lands

Basketball teams from four schools are seen at the Rapid City Indian School in South Dakota in 1929. Photo: Department of the Interior / Office of Indian Affairs

Resolution for school lands pushed until November 10

Friday, November 6, 2020

By Travis Dewes

Native Sun News Staff Writer

nativesunnews.today

RAPID CITY — On Monday, a resolution which would have taken the first steps in resolving 3 outstanding land deeds involved with the Rapid City Indian School lands was voted to be moved to a future working session for further discussion. The Rapid City Council voted 6-3 to move discussion for the resolution to November 10.

The resolution

Brought to Rapid City Council by a volunteer group of over 100 people with over 7 years of work, the resolution seeks to prevent the reversion of 3 parcels of lands which were illegally acquired from the Rapid City Indian Boarding School lands.

After a 1948 law passed by the United States Congress, lands from the boarding school could be given to “the city of Rapid City for municipal purposes, or to any public-school district for educational purposes, or to the State of South Dakota for use of the South Dakota National Guard: Provided, That the title to any lands so conveyed shall revert to the United States of America when the land is no longer used for the purposes for which such lands were initially conveyed.”

Two of the three parcels were conveyed from the City of Rapid City and given to Monument Health which became the Behavioral Health Center and Clarkson Health Care which became Westhills Village. The other parcel was conveyed from the Rapid City Area School District and is now the Canyon Lake Activity Center.

In a 2017 letter from the United States Department of Interior, the Federal Government acknowledges that these three parcels of land are in violation of the 1948 law and subject to reversion back to the Department of the Interior. The letter encourages all affected parties to come to a “creative solution” to the issue.

A letter from Monument Health Vice President Mike Diedrich, which was submitted to Rapid City Council on October 28, states that Monument Health believes that it’s Behavioral Health Center is compliance with all deeds and requests that the resolution be corrected to reflect this view. The letter cites many correspondences which date back to the 1950’s that admit the federal government accepts the deed in question is in compliance, but none of those letters were provided. Monument Health’s letter was not spoken about at Monday’s meeting.