Telephone firm maps reservation, to heal relations

PINE RIDGE, S.D. – Trying to resolve a dispute with Oglala Sioux Tribe officials over the extent of its service, Golden West Telephone Co. (GWTC) of Wall began a state-of-the-art-mapping project on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation May 1.

Tim Fast, a field engineer for the company, said the project involves locating every structure, inhabited or abandoned, and determining if there is existing access to telephone services. Fast said he expects the project to take two weeks, depending on weather and road conditions on the reservation. Golden West crews use the Global Positioning Satellite System (GPS) to get a map accurate to within one meter.

The focus of the disagreement is on the disparity between the telephone penetration numbers used by the tribe’s Economic Development Office and the company.

In a letter to OST Vice-Chairman Wilbur Between Lodges, Golden West management consultant Jack Brown invited a tribal representative to participate in the survey. Brown’s letter explained that the “Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has suggested that we work together in arriving at a mutually acceptable number.

“If those numbers are to provide either OST or Golden West with a better picture of the telephone penetration or lack of penetration on the Reservation, then we need to have and are asking for OST’s help and involvement,” wrote Brown.

“This office would love to help Golden West out in their efforts to get a concrete grasp on what the real numbers are out here,” said Joe Red Cloud of the tribe’s Economic Development Office. Red Cloud said either he or someone from his office would represent the tribe.

Red Cloud noted that Brown’s letter was not sent to his office and that he only became aware of it after it had changed hands many times. “If they’re so interested in helping out, why did they not send a copy of that letter to the exact agency that they know would be responsible for helping them out?”

Relations between Golden West and the Tribe’s Economic Development office have been strained since the tribe began negotiating with Western Wireless Corp. for additional telephone service on the reservation.