THE SOUTHWEST BORDER AREA; TRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, Chapter 14

In Chapter 14, Figure 14.3, there is a map showing American Indian reservations in the Southwest Border area. The text reads, "Although American Indians live in every part of the United States, today most of them are found in areas that white settlers had deemed undesirable...The government's goal was to contain these peoples, and as a result, the great majority of American Indian reservations as well as most Indians live in the Plains and Western states." (Pg. 279)

The Navajo reservation of the Four Corners area, where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet, has ten times the population of any other reservation. Arizona and New Mexico combined have a population of nearly 400,000 Native Americans.

Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota

South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation was part of the Great Sioux Reservation established in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The land designated as the Great Sioux Reservation included the Black Hills and all the territory west from the Missouri River in the Dakotas to the Bighorn Mountains in western Wyoming. The treaty stated that the U.S. Army would protect the Reservation from white settlement. In 1876, however, the United States, in violation of the treaty, opened up 7.7 million areas of the Black Hills to homesteaders and private interests. By 1889, the remainder of the Great Sioux Reservation was divided into seven separate reservations: Cheyenne River Agency, Crow Creek Agency, Lower Brule Agency, Rosebud Agency, Sisseton Agency, Yankton Agency, and Pine Ridge Agency.

Pine Ridge Reservation Housing

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located in the southwest corner of South Dakota, with a land area of 3,469 square miles. It is the eighth largest reservation in the United States, and the poorest. On the reservation, the unemployment rate is near 80%. Almost half of the people live below the federal poverty level. Many homes are small shacks without the basics of electricity, telephone service, running water, sewers, or insulation to protect against the cold, South Dakota winters.

The life expectancy on Pine Ridge Reservation is low, 47 years for males and 50 for females. The adolescent suicide rate is four times the national average, and the infant mortality rate is five times the national average.

Pine Ridge Reservation housing

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, nearly $33 million in agricultural production is generated on Pine Ridge Reservation annually, yet less than one-third of the income is returned to members of the tribe.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe operates the Prairie Wind Casino, which began in 1994 in three doublewide trailers. Recently the tribe added a $20 million casino, hotel, and restaurant. The casino employs approximately 250 tribal residents.

Prairie Wind Casino, Pine Ridge Reservation