Upper Sioux Indian Reservation

The Upper Sioux Indian Reservation (or Pezihutazizi in Dakota) is the reservation of the Upper Sioux Community, a federally recognized tribe of Sioux people.

The Upper Sioux Indian Reservation located in Minnesota Falls Township along the Minnesota River in eastern Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, five miles (8 km) south of Granite Falls. It was created in 1938 when 746 acres (3 km²) of land were returned to the tribe. Most of the land along the river valley had been taken from the Dakota following the Dakota War of 1862. As of the 2000 census, the reservation recorded a resident population of 57 persons. Its land area is currently 1.984 sq mi (5.139 km², or 1,270 acres).

The tribe operates the Prairie's Edge Casino Resort. Every August, the Upper Sioux community holds its Pejhutazizi Oyate traditional wacipi (pow-wow).

History

Termination Efforts

As part of the Indian termination policy that was followed by the US government from the 1940s to the 1960s, four Native American Groups in Minnesota were targeted. A memo dated 19 January 1955 for the BIA issued from the Department of the Interior indicates additional terminations were being reviewed in proposed legislation for four Indian communities of southern Minnesota including the Lower Sioux Community in Redwood and Scott counties, the New Upper Sioux Community in Yellow Medicine County, the Prairie Island Community in Goodhue County and about 15 individuals living on restricted tracts in Yellow Medicine County.

Discussions between the BIA and the Indians from the targeted area began in 1953 and continued throughout 1954. Though the Prairie Island and Lower Sioux communities drafted agreements with individual land ownership, the Upper Sioux strongly opposed fee simple title to tribal lands. On 26 January 1955 Senator Edward Thye introduced into Congress a bill (S704) to provide for termination of the tribes. Opposition, not only of the Indians, but of other citizens who realized their state expenditures might increase, were made to the committee reviewing the bill. The Governor's Commission on Human Rights also opposed the legislation, indicating that it would "not adequately protect the interests of the Indians..." The bill died in committee, never reaching the Senate floor.

Notable community members

• Waziyatawin (Angela Wilson), Dakota author, professor, and activist from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village)

See also

• Sioux Agency Township, Minnesota
• Minnesota Indian Affairs Council
• Upper Sioux Agency State Park
• Lower Sioux Indian Reservation

References

• Upper Sioux Reservation, Minnesota United States Census Bureau

External links

• Upper Sioux--Pezihutazizi Kapi, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council
• Upper Sioux Community tribal government website