Lower Sioux 1

Establishing shot: Albert Prescott sitting in a lawn chair outside on the Lower Sioux Indian Community reservation

Named locations: Lower Sioux Indian Community; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community; Morton, Minnesota, USA; Pipestone, Minnesota, USA; the Brickyard and the Quarry on the reservation where many worked.

Major themes covered:  History and governance of Lower Sioux people.  Community Funds, Re-Organization Act of 1934, 5-Member Governing Council of Lower Sioux Indian Community, BIA, BIE, Pipestone and Johnson O’Malley, NDN schools in and out of NDN Country around the area. Also discussed is a plan to give NDNs 10 miles out of the reservation borders their NDN benefits.  The current (2013) Lower Sioux website shows this 10 mile inclusion was passed by the council and is now in effect.

Individuals Named: 
Albert Prescott, Arthur Goodthunder, Samuel Bluestone, George Sinclair, Thomas Bluestone, Moses Columbus, Gertrude Brewer (Brule?). Also mentioned is non-NDN Missionary Susan E. Salisbury, Johnson O'Malley Act of 1934, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).

Native language spoken: 
No tribal language is spoken, but there is much dialogue about speaking “NDN” in the home.

Noteworthy elements:  Locally-made video.

Other notes:The Lower Sioux Indian Community was established and named in 1851. After its establishment throughout the 1850s the United States violated treaties and made unfair or late annuity payments causing extreme hardships and starvation. Not the only reason, but surely a main factor in the Battle of the Lower Sioux Agency, which led to the Dakota War of 1862.  Research on these tragedies will help to contextualize the political talks in this film.  The history of the Lower Sioux in Minnesota informs the community’s present and how the community sees its future.

See also:

Lower Sioux 2 http://aifg.arizona.edu/film/lower-sioux-2

Lower Sioux 3 http://aifg.arizona.edu/film/lower-sioux-3

Lower Sioux 4 http://aifg.arizona.edu/film/lower-sioux-4

Lower Sioux 5  http://aifg.arizona.edu/film/lower-sioux-5

http://www.lowersioux.com/about_us.html

--Kari Quiballo, 2013