Amelia Schafer
ICT + Rapid City Journal
RAPID CITY, S.D. – A tribally operated security task force with promising results has been forced to cease operations after one year.
The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe’s security task force reduced calls for service by 30-35 percent during its time in operation, Tribal Chairman Peter Lengkeek said. However, after a full year, no one from the Bureau of Indian Affairs had responded to the tribe’s Public Safety State of Emergency and the small tribe of about 2,000 citizens was forced to foot the bill.
“Without it being honored or funded we have no choice,” Lengkeek said.
Funding for the task force came from the tribe’s general welfare account, Lengkeek said. Since July 2023, the tribe has spent nearly $1 million on the operation. Providing certified security training, private training, employee compensation, vehicle maintenance and gas prices all quickly added up to an unsustainable amount.
Historically, the Crow Creek tribe is consistently one of the poorest in the state. At one point in the early 2000s, the tribe was the poorest county and tribe in the United States. While the tribally operated High Plainz Dispensary has provided a financial boost, a $ 1 million bill is something the tribe can’t afford.
“We have no choice but to set that security task force aside for now and hopefully someday [bring it back],” Lengkeek said.
The task force’s creation came after the murder of tribal citizen Garrett Hawk on July 1, 2023. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe formed a group of eight tribal members to patrol the 421-square-mile reservation in central South Dakota.
The day after Hawk’s death, the tribe issued a Public Safety State of Emergency regarding violence on the reservation. The state of emergency called for an amended Memorandum of Agreement with the South Dakota Highway Patrol for increased protection when needed, working with the Brule County Sheriff’s Department to lease jail cells, reopening the tribal justice department facilities and establishing a security task force.
Much like the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit against the United States, the tribe called upon the federal government to fulfill its treaty obligations to protect the tribe.
Under the 1825 Treaty With The Teton, which was reaffirmed by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the U. S. government is obligated to protect not only Crow Creek citizens but all Native reservations in South Dakota.
“Because this is a BIA issue it’s not getting any better, it’s getting way worse,” Lengkeek said.
Lengkeek said he’s yet to receive any assistance despite reaching out to the Department of Interior.
For over a year, the tribe has struggled with excessive response times, and a lack of jails and juvenile detention facilities, all of which are exacerbated by jurisdictional issues.
The tribe has a total of three law enforcement officers staffed and managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. On the weekends, one officer is on at a time to cover the reservation. Additionally, some land within the reservation is not owned by the tribe, making matters more complicated when police are called.
Violence on the reservation isn’t exclusive to tribal citizens either, Lengkeek said. Recently, several tourists were attacked and robbed near a campsite at the Big Bend Dam, which is Corps of Engineers land.
The Corps of Engineers did not respond to a request for comment from ICT and the Rapid City Journal.
Due to its proximity to Lake Sharpe and the Missouri River, the tribe sees a large number of visitors in the summer and fall looking to hunt and fish. Lengkeek said theft is a big issue at area campgrounds, and tribal police can’t respond as the campgrounds aren’t technically within their jurisdiction.
“It’s hurting our economy,” Lengkeek said. “They’re going to tell all their friends, ‘Don’t come to Crow Creek, you’ll get robbed in broad daylight, and there’s no security.’”
With the tribe’s annual powwow coming up in August, Lengkeek said he’s not concerned about safety during the powwow. Currently, the tribe has a Memorandum of Understanding with the South Dakota Highway Patrol to provide increased security and work alongside tribal law enforcement during the powwow.
Lengkeek is anticipating signing an updated Memorandum of Understanding with the South Dakota Highway Patrol to allow for this agreement year-round as needed.
“I have no qualms working with the state,” Lengkeek said. “I have always reached out to the state to coordinate on different things. Even though we banned the governor we still work with the state. We banned the governor herself, not the state.”
In addition to reaching out directly to the Department of the Interior, Lengkeek has also reached out to U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, Representative Dusty Johnson and Representative John Thune.
When asked, Rounds’s office said he’s addressed the issue several times including directly with U.S. Assistant Interior Secretary Bryan Newland in May 2024 during a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs oversight hearing,
Johnson’s office said last year he met with tribal leaders virtually to discuss the matter. In a 2023 letter to the Congressional Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Johnson requested that the subcommittee hold field hearings on lack of law enforcement in Indian Country and hear directly from tribal leaders in the Great Plains.
This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.
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