An Interview with Rep. Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota; Indian Issues On the Great Plains

Summary

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The other one was Trust Reform, the Cobell vs Norton case. Personally, I own 800 acres of land in South Dakota on the reservation that is leased out to a non-Indian rancher who lives in Witten, South Dakota. Now, that money that he pays, he pays directly to the BIA. Actually, he was the one who brought up this point to me which was; he's been leasing from my family for years, generations, almost and what he said was, 'what is happening to the money I'm paying as a non-Indian? That money has been taken away from the state of South Dakota so you Indians aren't the only victims. That's revenue coming out of this state.' So, how would you address those two issues, Medicaid and the issue of non-Indian "leasers" having a concern about their money being mismanaged by the government?

[Stephanie Herseth]: That's what I think it has to be, and for a number of years there hasn't been the type of, at least potential for, positive communication between tribal governments with the state. I think Governor Rounds is making a good-faith, positive effort to evaluate these avenues of partnership and cooperation so that there can be a more efficient allocation of the dollars in a way that serves the most people and looking at the different federal agencies that then become involved, whether it's the VA or whether it's IHS, and so I would welcome further conversations along this line where Governor Rounds, Senator-elect [John Thune], Senator [Johnson] and I are all involved along with members of Governor Round' administration and then tribal leaders from the nine tribes in South Dakota, to be able to figure out the best strategy going forward and coordinate those efforts rather than having piece-meal conversations that sometimes don't come together as effectively and don't get us where, kind of that end-point that we can all identify where at least some of the challenges that we have been able to identify based on the lack of coordination in the past.

Herseth: That's right. And then, also a couple of thoughts there going back to the statement that I made, (and I think you were at that Great Plains Tribal Chairmens meeting when I came in and met with Chairman Harold Frazier and others, I think it was shortly after Dave Anderson was there), which is, healthy tribes means a healthier South Dakota. And we need more people, both Indian and non-Indian, in South Dakota recognizing that fact. And, precisely where money is being spent. Whether it's in larger communities like Rapid City or Sioux Falls, it gets regenerated through different communities. Now, the other issue here is, if we had the model that you and I are discussing here of more local involvement, the tribe takes out administrative costs, the money then goes directly into the hands of the land owners, then perhaps that then helps stimulate the private enterprise, small business development that we've been talking about for economic development that then benefits, indirectly, that rancher who perhaps buys his supplies from a more geographically close business that is an Indian owned business versus driving however many miles to get to Pierre or where-ever he may go to get those supplies, then benefiting the community. And it's more of a cyclical effect that benefits communities at the more local level versus the broader statewide level. And whatever money we can keep within our borders, and some counties in South Dakota are starting to do this, doing a cost-benefit analysis and looking at money that is spent on "Main Street" in that county versus money that then goes to Sioux Falls, and how do you keep more of that money locally to benefit the community. So, I agree with you and with the individual rancher that leases from you, that when you take that money and it goes to a third party like BIA that is a federal agency, you remove it however many steps away from the accountability that's necessary and then the reinvestment that we so strongly need to cultivate private enterprise in any part of South Dakota.

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An Interview with Rep. Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota; Indian Issues On the Great Plains

Native Voice: One of the things I wanted to talk to you about was the meeting that we organized with John Thune and Governor Rounds and some of the issues that came out concerning Indian Health Service and Trust Reform...getting some of the tribes to manage their own lands and resources. Seems like he (Thune) was kind of unclear about how that process worked. Basically, I want to ask you the same questions. What is your goal in Indian health care, trust reform and other Indian issues that were kind of there that Daschle was championing? What is your answer to those questions on those national Native issues?

Stephanie Herseth: Well let me, if I could, before addressing specifically IHS funding levels as well some of the other issues that I think are relevant with regard to health care and trust reform and talk about my ideas and things that I would like to work on with tribal leaders in South Dakota in addition to the coordination that we need as it relates to these national issues.

You know, we've talk...

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