This interview is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.
On April, 11 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation that the parts of Lake Traverse Reservation of the Sisseton Wahpeton Tribe, be opened to settlement. Congress approved the action a year earlier in March 1891, but with Harrison’s proclamation, Non-Indian settlement could begin. Homesteaders began making claims four days later... at noon on April 15th, 1892.
The proclamation follows the passage of the Dawes act in in 1887. The act essentially forced assimilation practices on Indian people. The act stated that the head of each Indian family would receive up to 320 acres of tribal land and each single person would receive 80 acres.
