The original homeland of the Mdewakanton Dakota people was once a cornucopia of diverse ecological landscapes from river wetlands and big woods to high grass prairies. Near the banks of the Minnesota River, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) people lived in villages until their land was seized in the mid-1800s by the U.S. federal government. Since then the land has endured decades of devastation – from the razing of its forests to the destruction of its prairies and wetlands – all in the name of farming and development.

But today the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community tribal members, whose ancestors once owned the southern half of Minnesota, along with sections of Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota, are using tribal money to buy back the land and restore the tall grass prairies and wetlands, and preserve the remainder of the woods. The tribe wants to protect their ancestral land for future generations and ensure that the tribe, currently living in Prior Lake and Shakopee, has the space to grow, and the natural resources to prosper, for generations to come.

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Tribal Chairman Stanley Crooks and Stan Ellison, the tribe’s land manager, who has worked with the tribe for more than 15 years, agreed to answer, via e-mail and over the phone, some questions from Indian Gaming Business freelance writer Maya Dollarhide about the Mdewakanton’s efforts to buy back their land and put it into trust, and how the tribe plans to use the land once its been purchased.

INDIAN GAMING BUSINESS: How much land once belonged to the Mdewakanton people? How much do you own now?

STANLEY CROOKS: Historically, the Mdewakanton people gave up rights to about 35 million acres of land that allowed for settlement of southern Minnesota. We now own 3,100 acres and 830 acres is currently in trust.

STAN ELLISON: The tribe has been buying land for quite a long time. Essentially since the tribal government was established here as a separate entity in 1969 they started buying land almost immediately. It’s accelerated with the tribe’s ability to buy it.

IGB: Did gaming funds help this effort?

ELLISON: It’s primarily the result of the gaming success. Gaming is one of the primary economic engines here on Shakopee [reservation].

CROOKS: When we began experiencing economic success as a result of our gaming enterprises, one of our first priorities was to re-establish our land base to provide a place for our members and future generations to live together as a community. We began as soon as our immediate needs for health care, education and other necessities were met.

IGB: What is the repurchased land used for?

CROOKS: We need land primarily for residential purposes. We have a young and growing tribal membership so we are quickly running out of land for our members’ housing needs.

IGB: And what about future generations?

ELLISON: There has to be enough land for everyone who is enrolled here to be able to live here and maintain their culture, have housing, and be able to use the land. A tribe doesn’t move. This land needs to serve future generations, and our tribe is growing. Over half of the tribal members are under 20. They will have children, and the population is going to grow radically in the next 20 or 30 years.

IGB: I read that you are cultivating and restoring the land back to its original state, where you can. How do you know what the land looked like in the past?

ELLISON: One of the things we’ve been doing recently is going through the old 1850s survey maps and we are creating a township-by-township map of what the environment was here in the 1850s. Back then, big woods and savannah prairies were the major ecotypes. There were bison, deer and Maple trees, so you could sugar.  There was a species of wild rice that grew in the wetlands. Back in the day, this land was a pretty nice place to live if you didn’t mind the winter.

IGB: Is the tribe buying the land acre-by-acre and then putting it into trust?

ELLISON: The tribe buys back large pieces of land if it can, not house-by-house. And most of the big parcels we bought were in agricultural use. Farmers were growing corn and soybeans [both non-indigenous], but now we are restoring prairies where the cornfields used to be.  And there will be agricultural use of the land because you’ve got to eat.

IBG: Why restore the prairies? Are you restoring the forests, too?

ELLISON: Well, we can’t bring back the forests, but we can try to manage what is left of them. We have brought back native grasses on the prairies. We also grow and harvest prairie grass to feed a community member’s buffalo herd. There is not just one single reason for restoring the prairies. By restoring this land we’ve also seen improvement to the water quality in the streams and ponds in these areas. Native wildlife is also coming back.  We are also growing prairie grasses for our KODA energy project – we’ll be using 200 acres.

IGB: Why is it important to buy back and get into trust as much of your original land as possible? 

ELLISON: Restoration is important because if you are going to maintain a culture, you have to maintain the physical place of that culture. 

CROOKS: One of our overriding goals is to build a strong and united community where the Dakota history and culture is preserved. One way to accomplish this goal is to maintain a tight-knit community where tribal members live near each other and participate in tribal governmental affairs. To accomplish this you need a land base.

IGB: What happens when the land base goes into trust? 

ELLISON: When land goes into trust, the city and the state no longer have control over the land, it belongs to the tribe. Developers can’t build on the land, only the tribe can do that.

IGB: So it is very important in terms of tribal sovereignty?

ELLISON: The whole point is to improve tribal sovereignty. The tribe needs to have jurisdiction [over the land] where its people live and the tribal government takes care of its people. Tribal sovereignty is at the very root of the whole issue.

IGB: It sounds like a continuous journey to gain back the land and get it into trust. What is your hope for the future of this endeavor? 

ELLISON: I am hoping we can get enough land in trust to provide a mix of environment and culture so that the community can thrive as a Dakota community – not as a subdivision [in the state] – but an actual Dakota community.

IGB: You’ve been involved in this for 15 years, Mr. Ellison. What would you recommend to other tribes who want to purchase their lands back and get it into trust?

ELLISON: They really need to understand the process in great detail. They need to do a lot of planning. They need to plan what they need for the future, plan for the land use that they want to purchase and put into trust. Try to maintain good relationships with the local community if you can. And don’t lose hope.