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The Nebraska Santee Sioux Tribe is hopeful a solution to its five-year water ordeal may be on the way.
As Deborah Van Fleet reports, tap water has been unusable for drinking or cooking since 2019, when unsafe manganese levels led the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a “no drink” order.
Kameron Runnels, vice chairman of the Santee Sioux Nation, said a bill passed in the Nebraska Legislature allows them to tap into the state’s Water Sustainability Fund for possibly as much as $20 million, although it is not a long-term solution. Ultimately, the tribe hopes to connect to the Randall Community Water District in South Dakota, which will cost roughly $53 million.
“Connecting to that water system would provide us that generational change to our water system and give us clean water for the next, who knows, maybe forever,” Runnels explained.
The tribe is waiting to hear the status of its Water Sustainability Fund application, and a $20 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant it applied for more than a year ago. For now, they continue to provide bottled water for the 800 members who reside on tribal lands, at a cost of nearly $15,000 a month.
A Bureau of Indian Affairs grant that covered the water costs for about a year recently ran out, but Runnels said they were just awarded a grant from the Omaha-based Sherwood Foundation which should cover another year of bottled water. He noted nobody knows why the manganese levels are so high and pointed out the Indian Health Service went to great lengths to try to find available safe water.
“They used ground-penetrating radar, using airplane flights, looking for pockets of water all over our tribal lands,” Runnels recounted. “They did exploratory drilling in about 20 different sites but they could never find quality or quantity of water.”
Runnels added the Water Sustainability Fund and the attention they are getting from state and federal lawmakers has been encouraging. He regrets other Nebraska Tribes were not helped by the new state law and said water issues are rampant in Indian Country.
“Somewhere around 50% of tribal households have some kind of water quality situation,” Runnels reported. “They either don’t have water or they just don’t have clean drinking water.”
Nicole Wigart, left, and Sunny Red Bear. (Courtesy Nicole Swigart / LinkedIn; Sunny Red Bear / X)
The superintendent of Rapid City Area Schools in South Dakota issued an apology connected to comments during a recent Department of Education investigation.
C.J. Keene reports.
In a letter discussing truancy rates, the superintendent was quoted saying tribes don’t value education and said the district struggles with so-called “Indian time.”
In response, community members expressed anger at the comments at a school board meeting.
Community member, Sunny Red Bear, described the comments as unacceptable and called for the school board to reassess the role of superintendent. Others say the comments reaffirm the claims of racism leveled at the district.
Earlier this month, superintendent Nicole Swigart said she did not intend to make statements dismissive of Native cultures or values.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is commending the announcement by the province to take preliminary steps to begin the search of the Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris.
The government announced this week the approval of a license to search the landfill located outside of Winnipeg.
Native leaders, the family of the women and community members have been calling for the landfill to be searched to bring the women home.
Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, were victims of an admitted serial killer, who’s on trial for their murders, and their remains are believed to be in the landfill.
In a statement, Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Cathy Merrick said she’s pleased the government is initiating the search, but also says it needs to include the families and be Indigenous-led.
Melissa Robinson, cousin to Morgan Harris, in a statement said moving forward, they’re insisting both families, as well as the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, are involved in the process.
Listen to our past coverage of the story:
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