By David Bartecchi | Director
Dear Supporter,
There's been a lot happening on the Lakota Lands Recover Project the past year, primarily in researching the status of Bennett County, SD (as being part of the Pine Ridge Reservation) as well as researching the allottment process and fee patenting process on Pine Ridge. Both of these are important to understand why, how and when certain lands on the Pine Ridge Reservation were fee patented (e.g. taken out of trust status and sold primarily to non-natives). One of the most significant developments was the digitization of government patent records and then using them to create a timeline of the allotment process on Pine Ridge see link https://www.nativeland.info/dashboard/allotment-timeline-on-the-pine-ridge-reservation/
In the coming weeks we hope to do the same thing for lands that were fee patented. This will reveal just what policies had the greatest impact on liquidating native lands on the Pine Ridge Reservation. With the results from this project we hope to reproduce this for all native lands in the United States, clarifying the historical record for tribes.
Additionally, we continue to maintain the Lakotalands.net and land information for the Pine Ridge Reservation and frequently respond to calls from Tribal members about the options they have for utilizing their lands.
Our work wouldn't be possible without your support so I humbly thank you!
Links:
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