Yankton Sioux Tribe still recovering from flooding

The local residents refer to the stretch of road replaced near the Yankton Sioux Tribal housing in Lake Andes as “Noem Highway.” The state had raised this road to prevent flooding into the tribal community. Two weeks later it was under feet of water, and ironically created a dam for the water to stay in the housing. Photo by Richie Richards

LAKE ANDES – A series of two flooding periods have occurred on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in eastern South Dakota in the last six months, leaving devastation and a need for assistance.
The Yankton Sioux Tribe is located in southeastern South Dakota. This checkerboard reservation is situated just off the Missouri River and Fort Randall dam. This year has been especially difficult for tribal members who are having flooding problems in the three main towns where tribal citizens live; Marty, Wagner, and Lake Andes.
In recent months, the town of Lake Andes has been deeply affected by waters that are flooding from the Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, located just outside of a tribal housing area in Charles Mix County. The flooding has affected 64 houses in the area and disrupted the lives of nearly 300 tribal members.
With limited resources, tribal leaders have stepped up to protect their communities and provide some comfort during these hard times. In August, tribal members were stumped when Gov. Kristi Noem had a stretch of road (Noem Highway tribal members are calling it) redone and raised 3-4 four feet. The raising of this road by the state was meant to keep waters from flooding over the housing from the lake and into the tribal housing areas; instead this newly raised now sits a few feet under water and has created a dam and trapping waters on the other side. These waters are now trapped in the tribal housing area.
Vice President Jason Cook, 50, of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, along with others, have activated to protect their community and their “people”. These efforts have included sump pumping the waters from flooded basements and other areas. This has been done in an attempt to protect the houses and families. The tribal vice president spoke to Native Sun News Today.
“I feel good because, I see my young kids have more heart and compassion for their community than anybody else out here. It made me feel good because they were the ones working hard. They are out there filling those sand bags for everyone,” said Cook.
Cook talked about the flooding of the Lake Andes tribal housing area which began back in April, but claims the tribe was hit even harder in August when over 15 inches of rain fell in just a matter of days. Since this recent flooding, the vice president the tribe has been serving meals each weekend and has been supplying water and snacks in the evenings for youth and families. “We’re a tribe, so we have limited resources and we are stretching what we have. We got to take care of them,” he said.
For last few weeks, Cook and several others, have been pumping water from their housing area which is adjacent to non-Native lands located in and next to the town of Lake Andes. This has been done to prevent infrastructure damage and molding issues in the homes. One solution the tribe had come up with has been to dig a trench. This trench would have redirected the waters away from the housing and towards the tributaries which lead to the Fort Randall Dam and Missouri River.
“We been trying to dig trenches and we dug a trench, but it wasn’t working. Maybe we’ll try a coffer dam further down the line. I hear we’re going to have a bad winter,” Cook said. “We have to get the water out of there before the winter time. We don’t want busted pipes.”
In the meantime, having to deal with the flooding has caused a lot of stress and strain on the families who live in this area. Cook claims there is unrest and the tensions are high, but states the tribe is doing as much as they can to help families with the limited resources available. “We’re trying to keep them comfortable and we don’t want them to feel like they’re alone.”
“I’m not an engineer. I’m just an Indian boy that tried to do something to try to get the water away. It looked like it (trenching) would work, but it didn’t work. We just stopped on our own. People think that someone made us stop (trenching), but we stopped on our own. That’s our land. We’ll dig on there as much as we want,” he said. Rumors swirl as to why the trenching was halted.
Cook said he would like to get some engineers come in and dig some trenches or other ways of draining the housing flood waters. He would like to see this done before winter hits and the groundwater freezes, causing damage to underground pipes. The tribe has reached out to the Salvation Army and Red Cross. Also, the Ihanktowan Nation has been receiving help from other tribes, including Sisseton who brought water during the Cook’s interview with NSNT.
“We had Sisseton bring us water today. We reached out to the State and it seems like it’s not enough damage. We’re not a disaster for them. I don’t know what a disaster is to them. They need to come down and put their feet on the ground and see what people are going through before they can say ‘It’s not a disaster’,” said Cook. “It don’t seem important to them.”
Last week, 25 counties and 2 reservations had been approved for federal funds to help with flooding in May in June across the state. Charles Mix County and the Yankton Sioux Tribe were not among that list. There is a small stretch of road that leaves from the center of the town of Lake Andes and goes towards the tribal housing area. This road was repaired and raised and now sits underwater. The cost, according to Cook, was over $1 million. “It might be about a half mile stretch. They built it and I was thinking why. I don’t think they understood what can happen since they built that stretch,” said Cook.
“I know it’s flooding across the state. They built the road (Noem Highway as it is called locally), but they should have fixed the drainage (on the lake). The most important thing is they should have made sure the lake has drainage, before they built the road that is now under water,” he said.
Cook said there is an aqueduct located on the lake which is how the lake is drained and flow towards Fort Randall Dam and the Missouri River. “The Game, Fish and Parks, they’re responsible for the upkeep of all the drainage. To me, it’s negligence on their part. I’m pretty sure there’s damage in there because that’s why it’s not flowing. It’s either blocked or maybe the water capacity is too much. There has to be something. The bad part is, upstream from there we have all these tributaries that come into this lake. That’s the dangerous part. It don’t have no outlet,” said the YST Vice President. Cook was adamant of the blame falling onto the hands of the state who manage the lake.
Cook said the main issue is the upkeep of the drainage system of the lake. There’s no adequate drainage. “We have a tribal member that lives on the north side of the lake and he had to evacuate. It was three feet deep in their basement.”
The vice president made a plea to the surrounding communities and tribes for: clothes, blankets, hygiene products, laundry soaps, bleach, sump pumps, water heaters, stoves, and refrigerators.
In Resolution No. 2019-128, the Yankton Sioux Tribe Business and Claims Committee declared a state of emergency and disaster, stating,
• The Yankton Sioux Tribe has continuously been in a state of emergency since flooding between the months of March 13 – April 26, 2019.
• They Yankton Sioux Tribe has experienced a total of 15 plus inches of rain since August 30, 2019 – September 4, 2019.
• Waters have flooded the Yankton Sioux Community housing areas and roads in the Lake Andes region.
Also listed in the resolution, are damages ranging from mold to continuous flooding, families being displaced, families being temporarily housed in hotels, over 30 roads and highways are declared unsafe, and the costs of the conditions being placed on tribal members and the tribe.
The tribe had requested a Presidential Declaration Request for Extension on September 26, 2019 stating recent rains have prevented travel to areas heavily impacted and making limiting the ability to “conduct damage assessments and gather data in a timely manner”. This extension request was signed by YST by Vice President Jason Cook for President Robert Flying Hawk.
In closing, Jason Cook said, “All in all, the state Game, Fish and Parks needs to step up and take responsibility of the lake’s drainage system, instead of neglecting the problem.”
The Yankton Sioux Tribe will continue to support their families and work with anyone willing to help with their needs and their children continue to make sandbags to protect their community.