Rosebud Sioux Tribe

Brendan Johnson, head of the business litigation group for Robins Kaplan and former U.S. attorney for South Dakota. (Courtesy of Robins Kaplan)

Q&A: Why Brendan Johnson chose courtrooms over politics

BY: - September 24, 2023

Sioux Falls lawyer Brendan Johnson has a last name that carries a lot of weight in South Dakota political circles. His father, Tim Johnson, was the last Democrat to serve in any statewide elected office from the now-solidly red state. The elder Johnson, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 1997 […]

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s EMS team staff the single ambulance station that serves their reservation in rural South Dakota. (Courtesy of Rosebud Sioux Tribe Communications Department)

You might need an ambulance, but your state might not see it as ‘essential’

BY: - September 11, 2023

When someone with a medical emergency calls 911, they expect an ambulance to show up. But sometimes, there simply isn’t one available. Most states don’t declare emergency medical services (EMS) to be an “essential service,” meaning the state government isn’t required to provide or fund them. Now, though, a growing number of states are taking […]

A pickup truck drives along a gravel road in front of badlands formations in southwestern South Dakota. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

More precipitation, more drought: Rosebud Sioux Tribe to implement climate adaptation plan

BY: - April 25, 2023

Steam rose from snow puddles hours after melting across southwestern South Dakota over Easter weekend. Deer are changing their migration patterns because of drought; magpies have nearly disappeared from the prairie, Native American elders observe. This is the shifting landscape of the Rosebud Reservation, home of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate, or the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. […]

An apartment complex on the Rosebud Reservation has drifts of snow blocking the doors and windows on Dec. 27, 2022. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

Disaster declarations for tribes land as two-part storm looms

BY: - February 21, 2023

President Joe Biden declared major disasters for two tribal communities in South Dakota on Tuesday for a pair of deadly December storms.  News of the declarations for the Rosebud and Oglala Sioux tribes arrived as snowflakes began to fall in the first of two more winter storms expected to blanket the state. This week’s storms […]

Flags from various tribal governments on display near Cannonball, ND in 2016. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

SD tribes would lose millions for tribal government if state eliminates food sales tax

BY: - January 26, 2023

PIERRE – A food sales tax cut that passed a House panel Thursday morning has raised concerns for South Dakota’s nine tribal governments. An official with the Bureau of Finance and Management estimated that the tribes would lose about $2 million in funding for tribal government operations if the food tax is eliminated, but admitted […]

Wayne Boyd, chief of staff to the president of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, looks at a map showing cleared and uncleared roads on Dec. 27, 2022, after winter storms. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

State responds to criticism, says it answered tribal storm needs

BY: and - December 29, 2022

The state has responded to Rosebud Sioux Tribe officials’ frustrations with its response to recent winter storms. The tribe issued an emergency declaration in response to the storms, which partially buried homes across the reservation and resulted in at least six deaths. The deaths occurred both before and after a National Guard deployment ordered by […]

Wayne Boyd, chief of staff to the president of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, reflects on recent winter storms while helping with the storm response from his office on Dec. 27, 2022. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

Rosebud officials say at least six dead as tribe digs out from storms

BY: and - December 28, 2022

ROSEBUD RESERVATION — Rosebud tribal officials say at least six people have died as a result of two winter storms that partially buried homes across the reservation, and some people remain trapped at home more than two weeks after the first snow fell. The fatalities included a 12-year-old boy with health problems who couldn’t be […]

The view from O.J. Semans' rural Mission home during two rounds of extreme winter weather in December 2022. (Courtesy of O.J. Semans)

Rosebud Tribe struggles to clear roads as blizzard contributes to at least one death

BY: and - December 23, 2022

The situation is grim on the Rosebud Reservation after two rounds of severe winter weather pummeled the area, contributing to at least one death. Many people remain snowed-in and some have run out of propane for their furnaces, causing tribal residents to fear there may be more deaths from the cold. Wayne Boyd, chief of […]

Conditions on Interstate 90 on Dec. 22, 2022, between Wall and Rapid City. (Photo courtesy of Pennington County Sheriff's Office)

Governor activates Guard for firewood mission to Rosebud Reservation

BY: - December 22, 2022

Members of the South Dakota National Guard are hauling available firewood from the Black Hills National Forest to the Rosebud Reservation, pursuant to an executive order from Gov. Kristi Noem declaring an emergency related to ongoing winter storms in the state. The Noem administration announced the order Thursday night in a news release. “My administration […]

(John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Federal government opens grassland conservation program to tribes

BY: - November 30, 2022

Three South Dakota tribal nations have a new opportunity to partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conserve and improve grasslands. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program pays landowners to set aside environmentally sensitive land for a specific conservation concern. Landowners get money, and the public gets benefits like cleaner water and more wildlife habitat. […]

Bison once roamed North America, from coast to coast, from Alaska to Mexico. Several groups, including the Nature Conservancy, have been working to re-establish the native grazing animals to lands owned and managed by Native Americans.

Bison return program is now helping Native American ranchers build herds

BY: - November 4, 2022

LINCOLN — For years, Wayne Frederick and his father managed a herd of bison held by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of south-central South Dakota. But now, a unique partnership between a tribal nonprofit that helps Native ranchers raise bison and the Nature Conservancy is helping Frederick start his own commercial herd. Four bison were delivered […]