American Indians make up 9% of South Dakota's population. That's about 76,000 American Indians out of 845,000 South Dakotans.
South Dakota has a Department of Tribal Relations to help us relate to all those tribal people. The Fiscal Year 2015 state budget passed last week spends $619,017 on those relations. That's 0.015% of the $4.259-billion state budget.
The Department of Tribal Relations gets five full-time positions to do its work. That's 0.036% of the state's 13,947 full-time-equivalent workforce in FY 2015.
Looking just those percentages is perhaps an unfair assessment of the state's investment in working on tribal issues. Other lines of the budget include tribal services. American Indians make up 27% of South Dakota's male correctional facility inmates and 41% of our female inmates, so we could estimate that $5.7 million of the state penitentiary budget and $2.1 million of the women's prison budget is directed toward American Indians... both more than the amount the Department of Tribal Relations may spend relating with non-incarcerated Indians.
Some big chunk of the Department of Social Services' $1-billion budget goes toward placing and supporting around 3,800 children in foster care, in which Indian children are overproportionately represented.
6 of the 67 budgeted veterans service officers are tribal VSOs. Veterans Benefits and Services gets $1.66 million to serve 73,000 South Dakota veterans.
The Department of Education does a variety of programs to boost American Indian student performance; alas, none of those programs are separately lined in DOE's $636 million budget summary. (I invite passionately statistical readers to submit their estimates.)
But in terms of agencies dedicated to addressing big populations and prominent problems in the state, South Dakota's investment of 0.015% of its public wealth in promoting better relations with 9% of its population seems to suggest slightly misaligned priorities.
I think there is a perception among most South Dakotans that the tribes are a Federal responsibility. This attitude may extend to our legislature and state government.
Uuuuntil, DSS and or Children's Home take a 45 minute glance.
And for good reason Cranky. They are in fact two separate entitles. Granted, both are dependent on the federal government for their survival but they both have their own separate legal systems and governments.
Neither can go outside of their jurisdiction to make arrest unless the other agrees. The state of SD still has to gat blanket permission to send it's troopers across the res on atate highways. The feds are the only ones that can make an arrest for a felony on the res. And the only thing that the state has any direct say in as far as I know are the gambling compacts.
Except for the symbiotic relationship do to state roads and the few public schools on the res the real interaction between the two governments is none existent.
So let's see here. Were are dealing with three separate legal systems, three governing bodies, two of which are in direct competition for the same funds, and a federal government that continues to deal from the bottom of the deck.
There are a lot of changes that need to be made before a perfect relationship can ever exist between the tribes and the state. I don’t see that happing anytime soon.
The Blindman
The native people need to become more involved in South Dakota's political system to effect more change. I think they have a big distrust of what goes on in Pierre, and I can understand that. I see signs that things are changing in ndn country and I expect more involvement in South Dakota's political future.
True, Paul: if you want the grease, you gotta squeak!
Bill, don't forget from our discussion of TFA that two-thirds of South Dakota's American Indian kids are in public schools. All the jurisdictional complications you cite are all the more reason to have a robust Department of Tribal Relations helping parties on both sides navigate those complications and better integrate economic (tourism!) and educational activities to everyone's benefit.
Cory there is a huge difference between public schools and tribal santioned federally funded schools. That's like comparing apples and oranges.
If you dont believe me just ask the 90 staff members that were fired from Crazy Horse in 2011 if such a thing could have happened at a public school.
The Blindman
Aside from the gaming compacts tribes have with the state, there are several others and maybe some I am not aware of. There are compacts for the collection of sales tax, a compact allowing DSS and other state agencies to operate on the reservation and a limited compact allowing some enforcement of both governments Uniform Commercial Code.
The threat of state jurisdiction has long been a sore spot with the Oglalas, and likely always will be. Since the statewide referendum on state jurisdiction in the 1960's the tribe has always been suspect of the state, as well they should be.
The incarceration rates of Indians in SD's penal system, it would interesting to see a comparative sentencing study to identify why those numbers are so high.
Unfortunately most Natives regard the state's Department of Tribal Relations as a token offering and given the miniscule amount of funding they receive, proves them right.
Tribes are not "dependent" on the federal government, they are entitled to funding by the force of law and treaty and again, low amounts of funding for various tribal programs ensure their failure.
Billions of dollars in revenue from tribes nationwide are being held in trust and earning interest, there are periodic token payments to tribe and tribal members that amount to a few thousand dollars
In the meantime the interest is paying outlandish attorney fees, administrative fees and other bureaucratic mumble jumble.
The state is not going to expand services to tribes unless they complete and total jurisdiction, that is their whole card.
And Roger, we should not be seeking expanded jurisdiction. Our Department of Tribal Relations should work like the U.S. Department of State, engaging in diplomacy, working out agreements, helping citizens from both sides do business and be treated fairly. All the complications require more than the current token effort.
Very true Cory, I never thought of the concept the Tribal Relations Department being on par with a Department of State and an idea worth exploring. The question would be is if that a state department have any real authority? Most Indians regard the Department of Tribal Relations as a token offering.
South Dakota needs to take tribal jurisdiction completely off the table and recognize that after all these years, tribes will not relent and in fact have dug in more since the 1960's challenge. If tribal jurisdiction is indeed the problem, the state and tribes would do well not to make it a continuous political point.
JR LaPlante is leaving the Daugaard administration apparently to work for Brendan.
IMO, the late former Gov. George Mickelson was the first and last governor in SD to try to improve relationships with the tribes. After Mickelson's death, Janklow worked to destroy Mickelson's efforts.
There are issues that run deeper than what it appears to be on the surface.
When I visited Arizona last August, I was impressed by how well the North American Indian culture is so well blended with the non-Indian culture.
SD does not even come close to having the Indians as well represented as they are in Arizona.
When I have asked why that is the case, the response I received was that there is a lack of unity between the tribes, and a lack of unity between the state and the tribes.
Until there is more effort to create unity, I don't think there is much chance that things will improve.