{"id":379439,"date":"2026-01-15T08:58:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=379439"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:31:33","slug":"south-dakota-searchlight-rosebud-sioux-president-delivers-tribal-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/01\/15\/south-dakota-searchlight-rosebud-sioux-president-delivers-tribal-address\/","title":{"rendered":"South Dakota Searchlight: Rosebud Sioux president delivers tribal address"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tSouth Dakota State of the Tribes 2026: Kathleen Wooden Knife (Rosebud Sioux Tribe)\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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President Kathleen Wooden Knife of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe delivers the State of the Tribes address on January 14, 2026.Wooden Knife delivered the speech at …<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Indianz.Com Audio: State of the Tribes Address: Kathleen Wooden Knife (Rosebud Sioux Tribe)<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Health, public safety, foster care can improve with collaboration, tribal leader tells lawmakers<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, January 15, 2026<\/div>\r\n
By John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight<\/a><\/div>\r\n

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PIERRE — South Dakota and the tribal nations in the state can make improvements for health care and public safety during the 2026 legislative session, Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Kathleen Wooden Knife said.<\/p>

Wooden Knife, the first female president of Rosebud, delivered the annual State of the Tribes speech to a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature on Wednesday at the Capitol.<\/p>

The State-Tribal Relations Committee endorsed bills on health care and public safety before the session began, and both have been filed and have sponsors.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/southdakotasearchlight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/011426-State-of-the-Tribes.mp3<\/a>\r\n <\/audio>

Listen to Searchlight reporter Meghan O\u2019Brien\u2019s audio story on the State of the Tribes address. (Broadcasters: Scroll to the bottom of this story for downloadable scripts and audio files.<\/figcaption>\r\n

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Lakota and Dakota people have a lower life expectancy than the general population, Wooden Knife said, a sign that the federal government\u2019s treaty obligations to provide for the health of Native Americans isn\u2019t being upheld. Rosebud has sued the federal Indian Health Service more than once for failure to provide adequate health care.<\/p>

Wooden Knife said the tribes need to look beyond IHS.\u00a0<\/p>

A managed care model for tribal members on Medicaid has the potential to improve outcomes and efficiencies on and off the state\u2019s reservations, she said.<\/p>

In such a model, tribes could contract with the state of South Dakota to direct federal Medicaid dollars into a pool of funds for health care. An entity of the tribes\u2019 choosing could negotiate costs with off-reservation providers and coordinate care \u2014 including preventative care or incentives for healthy habits \u2014 for tribal members who seek care on or off tribal land.<\/p>

\u201cWhen we stand together for health care, our Sioux Nation tribes, working with the state, can bring the strongest health care resources to the table to improve health care for Native Americans,\u201d Wooden Knife said.<\/p>

Will Mortenson, R-Fort Pierre, is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and is chair of the State-Tribal Relations Committee, which endorsed a bill<\/a> he\u2019s now sponsoring that would create a task force to study a managed care model in South Dakota.<\/p> \r\n

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