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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2002

Legislation to compensate two Sioux tribes for more than 4,000 acres of lost land cleared its final hurdle on Wednesday after being stripped of provisions that threatened passage.

The Senate approved a bill to create a $28 million trust fund for the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska. Both tribes lost valuable agricultural land, burial sites and other property to a massive water project in the 1950s.

"Compensation to the Yankton and Santee Sioux Tribes is long overdue," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). "Over 40 years ago, these tribes lost important economic and cultural resources when thousands of acres of their most fertile and valuable land were flooded to complete the Fort Randall and Gavins Point Dams."

The measure faced an uncertain future after Republican leaders in the House added provisions to authorize a controversial, unrelated deal. Wyoming's two senators would have fought the sale of federal land in their state to the Mormon Church, thus derailing the Sioux settlement.

But with the Martin's Cove sale off the table, the bill is now ready for signature by President Bush. "This was the right thing to do," said Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska), one of the co-sponsors.

The two tribes are the last to be compensated for damage caused by the creation of dams along the Missouri River. The project uprooted entire families, destroyed sacred sites and changed tribal culture.

"Many of our tribal elders who experienced first hand the taking of tribal land and the removal have passed on," said Yankton Sioux Chairwoman Madonna Archambeau at a May 2000 hearing on the bill. "It has been long enough for a just and equitable resolution to the devastating impacts of the Pick-Sloan program on our tribe."

The Yankton Sioux lost 2,800 acres of land to the Fort Randall Dam. A $23 million economic development, infrastructure and education trust fund will be established as compensation.

The Santee Sioux lost a total of 1,000 acres when the Gavins Point Dams was built. The tribe will receive a $4.8 million trust account.

The deal follows other legislation affecting tribes in North and South Dakota. The largest was a $290 million fund established for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, which lost more than 100,000 acres to the Pick-Sloan project.

Other tribes that have received money are the Crow Creek Sioux, the Lower Brule Sioux and the Standing Rock Sioux of South Dakota. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota was also compensated.

Get the Bill:
A bill to provide equitable compensation to the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska (S.434)

Related Stories:
Sioux land bill changed by House GOPs (10/02)
River compensation bill advances (3/22)
Bill to compensate tribes for river losses (3/02)
Bill would put $290M in tribe's fund (9/14)