Leaders needed to reconcile the races in South Dakota

In December of 1989, Gov. George Mickelson wrote to Lakota Times publisher Tim Giago asking for his help writing a proclamation that would declare a year of reconciliation between the races in South Dakota. In the letter, Mickelson noted that racial harmony in the nation had been helped along by the work of Martin Luther King Jr.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it’s worth looking at where reconciliation between the Native American and white races stands in South Dakota.

It seems that in this state it takes more than the 12 months of Mickelson’s Year of Reconciliation for the races to be reconciled.

For his part, Mickelson always had a long view of reconciliation. His father, governor of the state in the 1940s, was troubled by the state’s racial relations. Forty years later, his son was governor and faced the same challenges as Native Americans and whites failed to trust each other or work together. It was the younger Mickelson’s hope that 40 years after his administration, the next governor would not face the same challenges.

Well, the challenges are still there, but no one has stepped forward to face them. While reconciliation has enjoyed fits and starts of progress, for the most part the movement died in the plane crash that took Mickelson’s life on April 19, 1993.

It’s been 32 years since the original proclamation and the state has had five governors in that time. At this point, it looks for all the world like the governor who holds the office 40 years after Mickelson will face the same problems spawned by the distrust that’s bred by ignorance when one culture fails to understand another.

We can’t blame the governors who came after Mickelson for this lack of progress. Reconciliation of the races isn’t in the governor’s job description. That’s a challenge that Mickelson set for himself, above and beyond his other duties in office.

South Dakotans feel insulted when they hear their state referred to as “fly-over country.” But for white South Dakotans the state’s nine Native American reservations are “drive-through country,” unless they make a quick stop for cheap cigarettes or a few hands of blackjack at a casino.

For their part, no one can blame Native Americans for looking askance at white efforts that offer help or seek to foster understanding. With their history of federal government-induced pain and suffering, they have every right to be wary.

It was in this landscape that Gov. Kristi Noem caused a kerfuffle in 2020 when she announced that the secretary of the state’s Tribal Relations office would offer the State of the Tribes address the first week of the legislative session.

Native American leaders were indignant. A tribal chairman traditionally gave that address and they would boycott rather than have the state of their nine nations get a government-approved soft soap treatment. When the dust settled, Noem relented and Crow Creek Tribal Chairman Lester Thompson Jr. delivered the address.

Noem’s initial decision had another outcome, however. While they didn’t boycott the State of the Tribes address, later that same afternoon leaders of all nine of the state’s tribes met in Fort Pierre for the Great Sioux Nation Tribal Address. In an unprecedented show of unity, all nine leaders spoke about the challenges they face.

It’s likely that Mickelson would have been pleased with the show of tribal unity. He would not have been as pleased with their message as speaker after speaker began with the distrust and problems caused by treaties that were signed and broken in the late 1800s. Mickelson, a governor focused on his state’s economic development, preferred looking ahead rather than dwelling on the past.

As we look ahead, to 2023 and beyond, it’s natural to wonder if there is anyone who can pick up Mickelson’s mantle.

Giago, who died last year, was forever tied to Mickelson’s effort but never again found a partner with the grit or the broad shoulders to handle such a heavy load.

President Barry Dunn at South Dakota State University is making progress with the Wokini Initiative that works toward Native American student success.

As South Dakota Searchlight recently noted, outgoing Attorney General Mark Vargo’s short time in office was highlighted by a series of appointments and programs designed to strengthen the ties between law enforcement and the tribes.

There’s no telling who will be the next leader who makes reconciliation a priority. It could be a legislator, a government official, a mayor, a tribal chairman. No matter who it is, that kind of leadership is still needed in South Dakota. Until someone credible steps forward, racial relations in this state will continue to be marked by miscommunication and mistrust.