{"id":39734,"date":"2026-01-24T17:58:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/rosebud-sioux-president-calls-for-renewed-tribal-state-relations-in-the-state-of-the-tribes-address\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T17:58:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:58:53","slug":"rosebud-sioux-president-calls-for-renewed-tribal-state-relations-in-the-state-of-the-tribes-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/rosebud-sioux-president-calls-for-renewed-tribal-state-relations-in-the-state-of-the-tribes-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosebud Sioux President calls for renewed tribal state relations in the State of the Tribes Address"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Rosebud<\/a><\/p>\n

Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Kathleen Wooden Knife delivering State of the Tribes address to South Dakota Legislators. (Photo by Marnie Cook)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

PIERRE \u2013 \u201cOur children are the future of our people,\u201d said Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Kathleen Wooden Knife who delivered the 2026 State of the Tribes Address on Wednesday January 14, 2026, to a joint session of South Dakota legislators as the 101st South Dakota legislative session began, as it always does on the second Tuesday in January.<\/p>\n

The gallery was full of legislators, and it was standing room only in the upper chamber as Native Americans from across the state gathered filling every seat and standing against the back wall. There were many teachers who brought their students to the Capital at the invitation of the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition (SDEEC).<\/p>\n

In the less than 30-minute speech, Wooden Knife adeptly detailed European American history, the tribe\u2019s historical treaties, which guarantee education, healthcare, and economic development. She noted the tribe\u2019s low life expectancy and called for better health and education funding. She said that the tribe seeks federal child care funding exemptions and equal education opportunities for Native American students. She also addressed law enforcement needs, including the Tribal Law Enforcement Protection Act, and the importance of infrastructure improvements, including water and electricity.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/a><\/p>\n

President Kathleen Wooden Knife. (Photo by Marnie Cook)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Wooden Knife noted the importance of the recent public acknowledgment by the South Dakota Congressional delegation regarding protecting the Wounded Knee Massacre site. \u201cSenator Thune shared his insight that our Lakota people who simply sought to maintain our families, had their lives cut short. Senator Rounds and Representative Johnson acknowledged Wounded Knee as a massacre and one of America\u2019s darkest days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tribal relations in the state had improved considerably in the 1990\u2019s under Governor George Mickelson who had proposed a \u201cYear of Reconciliation\u201d but progress waned after he died. Governor Dennis Daugaard is credited with establishing a cabinet-level Department of Tribal Relations and oversaw the establishment of the State of the Tribes address, the first of which was delivered by Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier in 2016. Tribal relations deteriorated under Governor Kristi Noem\u2019s leadership as she expressed open hostility to tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction, alleged tribal leaders were benefiting from drug cartels, disparaged Native American parenting, and attempted to interfere in Indigenous learning social studies standards. Tribal leaders consistently reported that there was no communication from her office. Eventually, most of the state\u2019s tribes banned her from their homelands.<\/p>\n

\"Students<\/a><\/p>\n

Students from Oceti Sakowin Community in Rapid City attending the Tribal legislative address. (Photo by Marnie Cook).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As Noem\u2019s successor Governor Larry Rhoden has promised to restart regular consultations. Wooden Knife also called for a normalization of relations. \u201cIn the spirit of reconciliation, we call upon the Governor and the state legislature to engage with our Sioux Nation tribes on the basis of government to-government relations with open, honest, and respectful dialog, to find mutually beneficial solutions for shared concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public safety has been an ongoing difficulty for tribes due to complex jurisdictional issues, chronic underfunding, and federal neglect. Many tribal homelands are vast rural areas that are difficult to police. \u201cLike the rest of America, Indian Country suffers from drug and alcohol addiction,\u201d said Wooden Knife. \u201cWhen people are addicted to drugs and alcohol, they act out and they commit crimes. As a result, among Native Americans, our homicide rate is four times that of non-Hispanic whites. Among our Sioux Nation tribes we have one officer per one-thousand people on average.\u201d The Rosebud Sioux Tribal Police oversee more than 1.3 million acres of land across five counties. \u201cWe seek congressional enactment of the Tribal Law Enforcement Prairie Act, which provides police employee benefits. Our treaty mandates America should protect us.\u201d She also called on the state legislature to pass a law to recognize tribal police as law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether our Sioux Nation tribes are working to restore buffalo as a healthy American food source and we are working on greenhouses to grow fresh vegetables and groves of traditional fruit trees,\u201d said Wooden Knife. \u201cWhen we get our tribal colleges involved, we can develop food prep kitchens to can food for further distribution and create added value agricultural jobs. Currently, eleven of our Great Sioux Nation tribes are working together under a USDA stewardship program to help reduce fire dangers through fuel reduction in the Black Hills.\u201d She also said they are planning to partner with Job Corps to provide tribal youth jobs this summer.<\/p>\n

In closing, Wooden Knife said elected leaders must seize the opportunity \u201cto lead in a positive manner through increased consultation, mutual respect, and consideration of mutually beneficial solutions to our shared concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Native Sun News Today caught up with Dr. Valeriah Big Eagle, Director of He Sapa Initiatives and candidate for Rapid City Council Ward 4, who had attended the address. Big Eagle said that she really enjoyed Wooden Knife\u2019s address. \u201cI really like the way she articulated the needs, but also the challenges and the issues that we as Indigenous people here in South Dakota are concerned about. You could feel the spirituality in her. She talked about water, she talked about the land, she talked about the people and all the things that we are fighting for. She spoke about the treaties being the supreme law of the land and should be respected. I really appreciated what she had to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a field trip for third graders from the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy (OSCA in Rapid City. Founder and Director \/Head of School Mary Bowman said she jumped at the invitation to bring students to learn about their state and American government. \u201cWhen this invitation came up, I thought it was a good opportunity for them to learn about our state, because we see them all as future leaders and we encourage their leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowman explained how earlier that morning her students had learned that only six members of the 105 member legislature were Native American. \u201cOur population is about twenty percent of the population, so we are underrepresented. I think in order to be better represented, to have some of the things that are important to us, education being one, it\u2019s important that we have more Native representation. I think that\u2019s one big takeaway they\u2019ll have from today.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Rosebud Sioux President calls for renewed tribal state relations in the State of the Tribes Address<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Kathleen Wooden Knife delivering State of the Tribes address to South Dakota Legislators. (Photo by Marnie Cook) PIERRE \u2013 \u201cOur children are the future of our people,\u201d said Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Kathleen Wooden Knife who delivered the 2026 State of the Tribes Address on Wednesday <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> January 24, 2026<\/p>\n

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