Tribal Affairs
More on Tribal Affairs
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Natural Resources Committee unanimously passed the Tribal School Federal Insurance Parity Act (H.R. 895), which was introduced by U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) earlier this year.
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This week, South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson became just the second member of Congress to speak Lakota on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Johnson spoke the language as a way to advocate legislation that would advance the practice of Lakota languages.
He emphasized the importance of indigenous languages as the life-blood of cultural understanding.
The last member to speak Lakota on the floor was Representative John Kyl of Iowa. He used a Lakota phrase on the floor in 1963.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) today applauded the Trump administration for approving a major disaster declaration for several South Dakota counties, including Aurora, Brookings, Brule, Charles Mix, Davison, Douglas, Gregory, Hanson, Hutchinson, Kingsbury, Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, Turner, Union, and Yankton, and the Yankton Indian Reservation and Flandreau Santee Indian Reservation following severe flooding and tornadoes from September 9-26.
Click here or on the photo above to watch the video.
Washington, D.C. – This week U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) introduced legislation that would designate the United States Postal Service building in Rosebud, South Dakota as the Ben Reifel Post Office Building. Click here for full speech.
When Professor Sean Flynn, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, released his book Without Reservation: Benjamin Reifel & American Indian Acculturation, I was quick to snag a copy. I was fascinated by the story of the first Congressman of Lakota Sioux descent, Ben Reifel.
Throughout Ben Reifel's career at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and for a decade in Congress, he worked tirelessly to further economic opportunity for American Indians. He celebrated education, hard work and self-determination.
I came to Congress to solve real issues for South Dakotans. This office has awarded me the opportunity to meet and engage with constituents that perhaps I would not have otherwise had the opportunity to know. Every meeting that comes through my door is important, but I am particularly impressed by the intentionality of South Dakota's tribal members.