Cheyenne River Sioux

This week we had Jon Hunter with the Madison Daily Leader and Jon Schaff, Political Science professor at NSU as our Politcal Junkies; we discussed the Pentagon launching surveillance balloons over South Dakota and the American Civil Liberties Union’s concerns over privacy, and the Jon Hunter’s report shinning a light on South Dakota’s need for more mental health professionals. We hear from folks at the new addiction treatment center, Project Recovery, and what they’re seeing regarding addiction in South Dakota.

A new initiative has been launched by a Native American non-profit on the Cheyenne River Reservation to help boost the local economy through cultural tourism. Over the next two years, Four Bands Community Fund will implement the “Rediscovering Native Art on Cheyenne River” project to assist artists in marketing their work. Tanya Fiddler, executive director of Four Bands, says that Cheyenne River offers unparalleled beauty and a rich cultural experience for visitors. She says the project will help people on the reservation to embrace that culture and think of it as an asset.

Oliver Red Cloud, chief of the Oglala Band, died last Thursday in a Denver hospital at the age of 93. Oliver Red Cloud was a champion of Lakota culture, a defender of American Indian treaty rights and a descendant of one of the most important leaders in Native American history. A former foreman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he had served as chief of the Sioux Nation since 1979. He was a fourth-generation descendant of Chief Red Cloud, who led several battles against the U.S. Army and also signed the 1868 Fort Laramie peace agreement with the U.S.