This article takes a historical view of Dawes Era medical communication, focusing on National Archives Record Group 75 (the Bureau of Indian Affairs papers). Examinations of reports from the Pine Ridge and Nett Lake Agencies focus readers' scrutiny on prevalent formal codes and paracolonial conventions of Indian Bureau medical reports. This…

Drawing on three years of partnership with residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, I discuss some of the insights and challenges of working toward a critical community engagement that is antiracist, anti-colonial, and "place-engaged" (Siemers et al., 2015). I specifically reflect on how the bridging of academic practice…

In 1877 a small group of Swiss immigrants from the Graubunden canton formed a cooperative with another Swiss group in Stillwater, Minnesota, to begin a colony in eastern South Dakota. These settlers founded the Badus Swiss colony on the open prairie in Lake County, Dakota Territory (later South Dakota), based on cooperative rules written in…

As a literary work initiated and directed by a committee of women, the "Pageant of Paha Sapa" captures the zeitgeist of the post-frontier era through the eyes of the influential women of one small town. Like all origin myths, this script presented the current populace as the rightful heirs of the place and its resources, having won them…

The brief history of Pine Ridge discusses its early days, the last battle fought there, its schools and churches, and its development in the twentieth century. (NQ)

The "Dakota boom" is a label historians have almost universally adopted to describe the period of settlement in Dakota Territory between the years 1878 and 1887. The term "boom" has been applied to this period largely because of the volume of land claimed and the rapid increase in Dakota Territory's population that occurred…

Inconsistent government policies towards American Indian landholdings have created jurisdictional chaos on South Dakota's Sioux reservations. Although the Sioux had occupied the area of South Dakota since the seventeenth century, white settlers began to move into the territory in the 1840's. Despite treaties, the federal government began…

Examines the Sioux Nation Black Hills Act (1987) as a proposed settlement of the Black Hills claim by the Sioux. Examines bill in terms of American legal history. Suggests the legislation would create legal confusion, conflict, and racial tension. Criticizes bill as harming regional resource management efforts. (TES)

Discusses the legal history of ownership claim to Black Hills land in South Dakota by Lakota Sioux Indians and federal government. Examines progress of the Sioux Nation Black Hills Act (1987) as a way to establish a Sioux National Council, a vibrant legal panel linking the Lakota with their past. (TES)

This annotated bibliography focuses on fiction for children and young adults that is concerned with three subject areas: South Dakota, pioneers, and American Indian culture. The publication dates of these titles span the 1930s to the late 1980s. Entries are listed alphabetically by author and include title, publisher, date of publication, an…

Investigates townsite distribution in South Dakota's land settlement pattern. Reviews past theories explaining eastern South Dakota's systematic spacing of towns along rail lines. Indicates a correlation between railroad functions and town development, advancing the theory that nineteenth-century railroad technology, involving traffic control and…

Discusses Sioux claim to the Black Hills of South Dakota from the Sioux perspective. Land claim discussed not as legal or political issue, but as a problem deeper than simple land transaction. Examines history and federal land acquisition as violation of Indian culture. Discusses possible future strategies in dealing with government. (TES)