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54–394 PDF 2010

S. HRG. 111–229 

EXAMINING LESSONS LEARNED FROM OPERATION 

DAKOTA PEACEKEEPER 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JULY 1, 2009 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota, Chairman 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Vice Chairman 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii 

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

JON TESTER, Montana 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

lllll, lllll 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma 

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

ALLISON C. BINNEY, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

DAVID A. MULLON JR., Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on July 1, 2009 ................................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Dorgan ................................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Thune ................................................................................... 3 

WITNESSES

His Horse Is Thunder, Hon. Ron, Chairman, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; 

accompanied by Michael Hayes, Acting Chief of Police, Standing Rock Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior ........................ 11 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 14 

Marcellais, Hon. Richard, Chairman, Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe ........... 8 

Packineau, Mervin, Northeast Segment Representative/Treasurer, Three Affiliated Tribes—Tribal Business Council ........................................................... 9 

Pearson, Hon. Myra, Chairwoman, Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation ........................ 3 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 

OTHER TESTIMONY

Gipp, David M., President, United Tribes Technical College .............................. 32 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 33 

Hill, Valerie, Enrolled Member, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe ............................... 37 

Jandreau, Hon. Michael, Chairman, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe ........................... 37 

Schott, Hon. Arnold, Mayor, McLaughlin, SD ....................................................... 30 

Yonon, Danielle, Director of Resource Development, Grand River Area Boys 

and Girls Club ...................................................................................................... 35 

Zuger, Hon. William, Chief Judge, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court .............. 30 

APPENDIX

Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Council Members: Randy Shields, Sr., Thomas 

Thompson, Sr. and Norman Thompson, Sr., prepared statement ................... 48 

Medrud, Gerald A., Chief of Police, BIA, letter, dated June 30, 2009 to 

Hon. Richard Marcellais ...................................................................................... 41 

Two Bulls, Theresa, President, Oglala Sioux Tribe, prepared statement ........... 43 

(1) 

EXAMINING LESSONS LEARNED FROM 

OPERATION DAKOTA PEACEKEEPER 

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2009 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Fort Yates, ND. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:00 a.m. at Sitting 

Bull College, Fort Yates Campus, Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, Fort Yates, North Dakota, Hon. Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman 

of the Committee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON L. DORGAN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA 

The CHAIRMAN. Which of you is the best singer? 

[Three responded ‘‘that would be me.’’] 

[Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. But they are a great group of people and we are 

really pleased that they are here. Why don’t you proceed? The Riverside Drum Group. 

[Musical presentation.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me thank the Riverside Drum Group. And let 

me also thank the Standing Rock Vietnam Vets for posting the colors today. 

As I indicated to you, I am joined today by Senator Thune. He 

is from South Dakota. This reservation, of course, straddles the 

border of North and South Dakota, and Senator Thune and I have 

worked together, along with many of our colleagues, on a wide 

range of issues relating to law enforcement, water issues, education, health care and more, on Indian reservations. 

I want to just mention as we start that Mr. Dan English is here 

on Senator Thune’s staff. I have Mr. John Harte, who is the Policy 

Director of the Indian Affairs Committee, with me. John has been 

all across the Country consulting with Indian tribes on the Indian 

law enforcement bill that we have now put together. I think we 

have 17 co-sponsors, somewhere in that range. Bi-partisan co-sponsorship in an attempt to try to address nationally this issue of Indian law enforcement issues. 

Let me also mention that Standing Rock tribal judge, Judge 

Zuger is with us. Thank you, Judge, for being here. 

We were here last August to talk about what was happening 

with respect to Operation Peacekeeper, the Dakota Peacekeeper operation, here in this area. We had violent crime rates of six and 

eight times the national average on this reservation, violent crime 

2 

rates of double and triple on the other reservations in North and 

South Dakota. We have worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

where they had somewhere around 25 to 30 officers coming and 

leaving, back and forth, so that we had a larger force of law enforcement officers here on this reservation during that period. 

Our understanding from that is that we had a substantial 

amount of progress in reducing violent crime on this reservation. 

It was significant. That is not surprising, because if you have nine 

or ten or twelve law enforcement officers to parol 24 hours a day, 

7 days a week, on an Indian reservation the size of the State of 

Connecticut, it is impsosible to do. We have, Senator Thune, myself 

and our coleagues, have heard stories of people calling for emergency help because a crime is being committed, but law enforcement would show up six hours later or the next day, because they 

simply can’t deal with that amount of space spread out over an 

area the size of the State of Connecticut, on this reservation. And 

it is true of many reservations. 

So the question is, what are we going to do about that? Well, we 

know what was done temporarily. And we know that worked. We 

know that it worked because a larger presence of law enforcement 

officials, properly trained, doing the work, working through a court 

system and so on, that law enforcement system works if you have 

the right people, trained the right way, to provide law enforcement 

on these reservations. 

So we are here again to get an update of what has happened 

since that time. I know that most of those temporary law enforcement officials have been withdrawn. We now are back to a much, 

much lower level of law enforcement on this reservation. We are 

going to talk today about that and what the experience has been. 

I also know that in the first couple of months this year, there has 

been some increase in violent crime. So it is clear to me that the 

Federal Government has responsibilities. It is clear to me the Federal Government is not meeting those responsibilities. 

That is why a group of us have put together a law enforcement 

bill that will begin to address the issue of declination by U.S. attorneys. Declining to prosecute is a very serious issue. Just the sheer 

number of law enforcement people that are available in the BIA, 

an agency that has promised to provide law enforcement protection, 

that is a significant issue. 

So we are going to work through all of those. But today we want 

to listen to you. 

Senator Thune and I have to leave at about 10:30. So what we 

would like to do is hear from a group of witnesses, in this case the 

tribal chairs from four reservations. Then we would like to have an 

open mic period. I know that the mayor of McLaughlin is here, and 

we may have others who wish to stand up and speak. We will be 

happy to entertain that. I would also keep open for two weeks following today the hearing record, so that anyone who wishes to submit written material, that will become a part of the permanent 

hearing record as well. 

Senator Thune, thank you for joining us. Let me give you the 

microphone for an opening comment. 

3 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to express my appreciation to you for your leadership on this important 

issue as the Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee in the Senate, as well as serving on the Appropriations Committee, following 

through and making sure that there is a funding commitment to 

some of these priorities as well. 

As you said, we were here a year ago. Since that time, there has 

been some significant progress made with respect to getting an infusion of additional law enforcement personnel, manpower, resources out here on Standing Rock. I think it had the desired effect, if you talk to most of the folks here. 

But my fear is that like so many policy initiatives that we start 

in Indian Country, it has a stop-start type practice to it. In other 

words, we start something but we don’t finish it. I think it is important that the commitments that have been made be carried out. 

I am very interested in some of the charts here that you talked 

about the violent crime rate and the crime rate as a percent of the 

national average in some of our reservations. So many of those are 

here in the upper plains. And so many of the deficits with regard 

to the number of officers needed are here in the upper plains. I 

think those are some questions that we need to visit with the BIA 

about as well, in terms of how they allocate these resources that 

are coming in and how they prioritize about where they put the additional manpower and resources. 

But I am very pleased to be able to be back, and of course, anxious to hear from our panels today, the leaders. I have read Chairman His Horse Is Thunder’s testimony and am interested in asking 

some questions of him and others on the panel when I get the opportunity. But I just want to again acknowledge that some of the 

steps that have been taken I think have yielded great results. But 

I also think that if we don’t continue on that path and continue 

that commitment, we are going to see some of the gains that have 

been made reversed. I think that would a big mistake. So I am 

looking forward to the testimony and asking some questions. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Thune, thank you very much. 

We are joined by three tribal chairs and a senior member of the 

tribal council of another tribe. We are going to begin today with 

Chairwoman Pearson from the Spirit Lake Nation. Chairman His 

Horse Is Thunder is of course the host here today, but he has requested that he follow the others. So we will honor that request. 

Chairwoman Pearson, thank you for being here. The full statements of all the witnesses will be made a part of the permanent 

record and we will ask that all of you summarize. I believe that 

each of you would have something you can pass along here in 

terms of some projection. So why don’t you proceed. 

STATEMENT OF HON. MYRA PEARSON, CHAIRWOMAN, SPIRIT 

LAKE DAKOTAH NATION 

Ms. PEARSON. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the 

Committee. I am pleased to be here this morning to be given this 

opportunity to continue our dialogue on tribal justice issues. 

4 

I have been asked to provide testimony on the public safety 

issues on Spirit Lake Reservation. In 2007, the Spirit Lake Tribe 

completed a community-wide assessment and strategic plan to 

identify and prioritize issues facing our communities and to 

strategize about the best practices to enable us to address those 

issues. During that effort, the tribal courts, law enforcement services and emergency management were all identified as priority 

areas for development and enhancement. 

The Tribe has continued a dialogue with the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs for decades. The blatant deficiencies with respect to law enforcement and tribal justice as a whole remain unresolved. And in 

many respects, the issues have compounded over the years. Tribal 

justice issues, like so many other issues in communities across this 

Country, requires a comprehensive approach to resolution and not 

a temporary fix. To truly have a comprehensive approach, tribes 

need adequate funding, services and support in relation to tribal 

courts, law enforcement, detention, addiction counseling, mental 

health services and other related support services. 

The tribal justice issues that face our communities, our community lacks an adult detention facility. The detention facility at Spirit Lake has for many years operated in a manner that is comparable to a third world country. Outdated technology, inadequate 

facilities and overcrowding have resulted in public outcry. The conditions in many tribal jails would not be tolerated elsewhere, but 

it is all that the tribes have to assist in maintaining some sense 

of law and order. 

The BIA is responsible for the maintenance of the existing facility, but has opted to allow the building to fall into such a state of 

disrepair that currently, the BIA has plans for the facility to be 

closed and to enter into a contract with an existing State facility. 

From the tribe’s position, housing our prisoners off the reservation 

creates a huge problem with respect to our sovereignty. When prisoners are housed in off-reservation facilities, it interferes with our 

court process and it creates a transportation problem with subjecting the people to laws outside the jurisdiction of our reservation 

for any problems that might arise during incarceration. 

It is unclear how prisoners will be transported in a timely fashion to and from the court and eh detention facility in the state 

when the transport would require a minimum of 30 miles round 

trip, and the local law enforcement transport van is an eight-passenger vehicle. Equally troubling is the fact that this is a situation 

that has essentially been created by the BIA and it has come to 

fruition that the Tribe has secured funding to provide necessary 

improvements, but the BIA has planned to close the facility. 

We need a juvenile detention facility. In recent years, one of the 

biggest problems for our juvenile court has been the lack of juvenile 

detention. The Tribe has been forced to either go without detention 

or utilize State facilities that are generally ineffective in meeting 

the needs of troubled youth. Additionally, there is a significant lack 

of service-based programs that can serve as an alternative to detention as well. The tribe has essentially had our sovereignty eroded by an agency that is to be carrying out a trust responsibility 

which flies in the face of basic principles of law. 

5 

Officer shortages have plagued the tribal justice system at Spirit 

Lake for many years, resulting in slow response time, inadequate 

investigations, and reports of a number of related problems. It has 

gotten to the point that many people are not even reporting criminal activity, as they have no faith in anything that will be done to 

help them. The tribe has engaged the BIA in a dialogue about 

these issues for decades, but the response has been slow and inadequate at best. Generally, the response from the BIA has been to 

detail officers from other reservations to reduce the outcry. However, this not only creates shortfalls on other reservations, but it 

is a very short-term response to a long-term problem. 

Lack of training. It is imperative that the officers who are providing law enforcement services on the Spirit Lake Reservation be 

adequately trained for both their safety and for the safety of the 

community. It is alarming that BIA officers are expected to respond 

to often volatile crimes such as domestic violence with little or no 

backup. This creates a dangerous situation, not only for the officers, but also for the victims on the scene. 

Our tribal courts. I cannot discuss safety issues in our community without highlighting the lack of support and financial resources for our tribal court. To say that our court functions on a 

skeleton crew is an understatement. I am not aware of any Federal, state or municipal court that could function with the personnel, training and technological deficiencies that exist within our 

tribal court. For instance, we have a prosecutor, but no funding for 

a public defender. 

While the Indian Civil Rights Act does not mandate a public defender, our sovereignty is constantly under threat in the Federal 

court system because we do not provide publicly-funded defense 

counsel. Not to mention that Federal law, such as the Adam Walsh 

Act only provide for recognition of tribal court convictions where a 

public defender was available. These are the types of corners that 

we as tribes are backed into within the current legal scheme and 

with current funding and service deficiencies. 

In closing, I have reviewed the Field Hearing Report from August 4, 2008, regarding the Dakota Peacemaker Operation that was 

implemented on the Standing Rock Reservation. I am encouraged 

by the fact that it provides a model and an example of how peace 

can come to the tribal communities with the proper support. My 

only concern rests with the means used by the BIA to carry out the 

project, in that the officers detailed to Standing Rock were from 

surrounding tribal communities. The result is that communities 

such as Spirit Lake are left with the same sense of despair and 

fear that the people of Standing Rock have also reported. Constituents have even reported to me that they are considering purchasing 

firearms to provide some peace of mind. 

In my opinion, the approach that the BIA has taken in addressing justice issues in tribal communities has demonstrated that the 

agency is completely out of touch with Indian Country and that 

there are far too many people climbing the ranks, collecting large 

salaries and leaving field offices ill-equipped to meet the needs of 

the communities they are supposed to be serving. I appreciate the 

Committee’s efforts to tackle the justice issues that are plaguing 

many tribal communities. I would strongly encourage the ComVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:45 Apr 07, 2010 Jkt 054394 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\54394.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
6 

mittee and the United States Congress to also take a hard look at 

the upper level administration within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

History demonstrates that a community will be as strong as its 

leader, and I believe the same is true for the agencies such as the 

BIA. 

With that, I want to thank you gentlemen for listening to me. I 

will be happy to answer any questions, or I will try to answer any 

questions that you may have. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Pearson follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MYRA PEARSON, CHAIRWOMAN, SPIRIT LAKE

DAKOTAH NATION


701a1.eps
7 


701a2.eps
8 

The CHAIRMAN. Chairwoman Pearson, thank you very much for 

your testimony. 

Next we will hear from Chairman Richard Marcellais, who is the 

Chairman of the Turtle Mountain Reservation. 

STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD MARCELLAIS, CHAIRMAN, 

TURTLE MOUNTAIN CHIPPEWA TRIBE 

Mr. MARCELLAIS. Thank you, Senator Dorgan, Senator Thune, for 

being here today. And I want to thank the Chairman for allowing 

me this opportunity to present the law enforcement issues at the 

Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. 

Some of the issues that Chairwoman Pearson mentioned are 

similar and identical to what’s going on in Turtle Mountain. A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from our jail director saying that 

our jail was going to close up. So that was a big issue to start with. 


701a3.eps
9 

I notified Senator Dorgan’s staff and they got on it right away. So 

we did get some answers and our jail is going to stay open. 

They were talking about transferring our prisoners to, actually, 

Standing Rock. I tried to get hold of the Director, Mr. Ragsdale, 

and couldn’t get a response. So I followed up with a call to Senator 

Dorgan’s aides, and they got me some answers right away and put 

a hold on that issue. 

The jailer told me that what happened was, they were looking at 

utilizing some of the other State facilities and also the BIA facilities in the State for prisoners. Actually, I thought about it, it would 

cost more and it wasn’t beneficial to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

I guess one of the other issues I want to talk about is recruitment and personnel. Currently, we have five officers at Turtle 

Mountain, and we should have 20 officers. When I talked to the 

chief of police up there, he said that he’s got positions available and 

he’s been advertising. But it takes so long to go through the personnel process to get these positions filled. And if you don’t have 

the human resources, naturally you are going to have problems 

with crime on a reservation. Just seeing officers out there in the 

communities is beneficial to the overall reservation. 

The other thing we are looking at is, we are working with our 

housing authority and we have security officers out there, we are 

looking at a community protection awareness program. And we are 

going to start identifying individuals in the housing communities 

to be on this committee and report things that are going on in 

these housing projects. Because Native Americans for years have 

lived out in the rural communities, and they are not used to being 

in housing projects. I think that is some of the problems that we 

have, is when you put Native Americans all in a housing project, 

then your crime goes up. 

I want to thank you again for being out here. Thank you very 

much. 

The CHAIRMAN. Chairman Marcellais, thank you very much as 

well. 

Let us call on Mervin Packineau, who is a tribal council member 

of the Three Affiliated Tribes. 

STATEMENT OF MERVIN PACKINEAU, NORTHEAST SEGMENT 

REPRESENTATIVE AND TREASURER, THREE AFFILIATED 

TRIBES—TRIBAL BUSINESS COUNCIL 

Mr. PACKINEAU. First of all, I want to say thank you to Senator 

Dorgan and Senator Thune for coming to the heart of Indian Country to hear our concerns on law enforcement. I also want to commend you on your dedication to help us overcome the obstacles 

here on our reservations. 

My name is Mervin Packineau. I serve as elected northeast segment representative and treasurer of the Three Affiliated Tribes 

Tribal Business Council. I also serve as the Judicial Committee 

Chairman under whose responsibility law enforcement falls. I 

would like to thank Senator Dorgan and his staff for allowing me 

the opportunity and honor to be with you here today and present 

some brief comments on law enforcement in Indian Country, and 

the issues that we face on the Fort Berthold Reservation. 

10 

The Three Affiliated Tribes has recently undertaken a momentous task, one that many tribes around the Country have also undertaken in our collective pursuit of self-sufficiency and self-reliance. The contracting of law enforcement on the Fort Berthold Reservation has not been without difficult or reward. We have faced 

our share of growing pains and continue to face a very steep learning curve in ensuring the people and lands of the Mandan Hidatsa 

and Arikara and protected to the fullest extent possible. 

One of the major obstacles we in Indian Country face is a severe 

lack of funding for law enforcement. Prior to undertaking the 638 

law enforcement contract, we supplemented the BIA law enforcement in equipment, staff and actual funds in order to provide 24- 

hour policing to our sig segments and almost 1,500 square miles 

that make up the Fort Berthold Reservation. Yet in undertaking 

this contract, we face severe funding shortfalls to not only adequately staff our police force, but to train, equip and house our officers and their families. 

Technical assistance is another obstacle that severely hinders 

tribes that choose to 638 contract law enforcement from the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs. In order to undertake the duties and responsibilities of law enforcement, we have to create, operate and maintain 

a program that is almost a mirror image of a BIA law enforcement 

department. What appears to be lost upon our Federal trustee is 

while the tribes themselves have the primary responsibility to ensure their programs are in compliance, there is an equal duty on 

the BIA and our Federal contracting officers to assist the tribes in 

operating our programs to be in compliance with our individual 638 

contracts. 

The BIA’s role is not restricted to mere oversight, but the BIA’s 

duty to provide compliance and technical assistance should supersede its oversight responsibilities as the BIA has just as much responsibility in ensuring tribes succeed in establishing its own tribal 

law enforcement as the BIA would providing those same services 

on our reservations. 

A lack of housing on Fort Berthold continues to be an issue in 

attracting qualified individuals to serve as law enforcement officers 

in our police force. The 638 law enforcement contract lacks basic 

resources or funds for sufficient housing. This makes it extremely 

difficult for our tribes to not only recruit law enforcement officers, 

but to keep those officers and their families in our communities. 

One specific issue that we have faced on Fort Berthold concerns 

background checks on candidates for law enforcement positions in 

our police force. While we recognize the regulatory requirements 

for adequate background checks, it is our position that the BIA’s 

‘‘insistence’’ that we use the same vendors that complete the background checks for their officers creates a huge and unnecessary 

delay for our tribal police departments. Not only does that severely 

limit the effectiveness of our officers who cannot adequately enforce 

all laws, Federal and tribal, on our reservations, but puts those 

tribes under tremendous potential liability. Tribal officers who 

have not had their background checks completed and therefore 

have not received their Federal commissions are not covered under 

the Federal Torts Claim Act, but under our own tribal liability insurance. This affects not only the tribe and its officers, but also the 

11 

public at large, should an unfortunate accident occur, and sufficient 

insurance protection is not available. 

The issues I have raised represent only a small fraction of what 

we and other tribes face when we contract the Federal responsibility to provide law enforcement on our reservations. Whether is 

it providing more Federal fund and resources to the tribes, to providing technical assistance for joint/cross-deputization agreements 

with local and State governments to ensure that everyone is protected on our lands, whether Indian or non-Indian, law enforcement within Indian Country simply needs more. 

Above all, it is imperative that whatever assistance is provided 

to our law enforcement programs, it must be undertaken to promote our self-sufficiency and self-reliance and not hinder it. Everyone in this room, our distinguished Senator and his staff, the tribal 

leaders and tribal staff members, and the Federal officials present, 

everyone here has the responsibility that Indian Country not be 

isolated from the most basic of rights: the right to live in a safe 

and protected community. 

I thank you for your time and attention. 

The CHAIRMAN. Councilman Packineau, thank you very much. 

Finally, we will hear from the Tribal Chairman of the Standing 

Rock Reservation, Ron His Horse Is Thunder. Ron is also accompanied by the Standing Rock Chief of Police, Michael Hayes. Mr. 

Hayes, welcome. 

Mr. Chairman, why don’t you proceed? 

STATEMENT OF HON. RON HIS HORSE IS THUNDER, 

CHAIRMAN, STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE; ACCOMPANIED 

BY MICHAEL HAYES, ACTING CHIEF OF POLICE, STANDING 

ROCK AGENCY, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, U.S. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Mr. HIS HORSE IS THUNDER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

First, I want to say thank you for having this hearing, again, on 

Standing Rock. You were here last year, Senator Thune, you were 

here as well. I welcome you both back and thank you for having 

great concern on this issue, because it is an issue that does impact 

our reservation greatly, as well as the other reservations, as you 

heard from the prior witnesses from the respective reservations. 

Last year, we had a police surge here. And the police surge went 

up to 37 officers. And I reported last year in my testimony the impacts of that surge and how it made a profound difference in the 

safety and the well-being of our reservation. As you know, and as 

everyone else is quite aware of as well, too, that in order to address 

the poverty level, the remoteness of our area, that in order for us 

to start growing as a nation that public safety is part of that 

growth. It is absolutely necessary. You can’t have growth unless 

you have good public safety. 

So last year, with the surge, the number of arrests that were 

made, the police presence that was here, the officers who actually 

walked the streets and talked to our children made a huge difference. Unfortunately this year, that surge number is actually, 

those officers are gone. And during the surge all the data that they 

collected showed that there was in fact need for 25 officers or actually 32 officers on the reservation. 

12 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs did increase the number of slots for 

our Reservation up to 25. However, they have not been able to fill 

those 25 slots. Today I believe we have 13 officers, and in fact, the 

number of officers, 13 is less than we had prior to the surge. So 

that is an unfortunate thing, that we have a surge that brings the 

number of officers up, then we go back down to less numbers than 

we had prior to the surge. I am thankful to the Bureau for actually 

bringing the number up to 13, because when I first took office three 

and a half years ago, the number of police officers actually in the 

field here were five. So we have more than doubled the amount of 

officers in four years, but even according to Bureau statistics we 

aren’t even close to where we should be in terms of number of officers. 

It has had a profound effect in terms of reduction from the surge 

numbers now down to having 13 police officers in the field. We see 

that today unfortunately in the number of suicides that this community has seen since January. We have had 9 suicides on this reservation with approximately 51 attempts. And we ask ourselves 

why are our children killing themselves. We know there are a multitude of reasons. 

But one of the reasons we believe is part of these attempts and 

the suicides is that our children do not feel safe, and in fact, in 

many instances, aren’t safe; that having adequate law enforcement 

on the reservation does affect our children and how they feel about 

themselves. I honestly believe that had we maintained the number 

of officers at 37 or at least 25 that we wouldn’t have had as many 

attempts as we have had thus far this year. 

Having a large police presence is not the only answer, but it is 

definitely part of the answer. I won’t go into more in terms of the 

impacts of the operation as far as Peacekeepers, because we know 

that it had a profound positive effect. But we do believe that the 

goals of the temporary surge should be the goals of policing by BIA 

on our reservations every day, and not just simply a surge, but 

they should be our every day goal. 

I have been asked whether I support the return of the six-month 

surge on Standing Rock. I do, absolutely. But it must not only be 

for our reservation, it must be for all reservations in those areas 

where crime is at a high rate, and the statistics bear out that the 

highest crime rates in this Country are in the Great Plains and the 

Rocky Mountain Region. We definitely need to have our numbers 

go up. 

Part of what we believe is the problem, and I want to focus not 

just on the problem but also a solution. What do we believe is the 

solution? I gave a list of solutions last year, and I don’t think we 

have had a report on whether or not the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

has paid heed to those solutions. We know that Congress in 2008 

and 2009 had increased the appropriations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the tune of an additional $15 million. What’s unclear to us, though, is how the Bureau of Indian Affairs actually 

allocated those additional resources. It appears to us the Bureau of 

Indian Affairs does not have a systematic methodology for distributing these public safety funds, including money for detention facilities and investigators. 

13 

We don’t understand why the BIA does not rely on its own data 

in terms of where high crime rates are at to use that data to fairly 

distribute those dollars. They haven’t shown us how they have distributed. Obviously we in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains 

don’t get enough of that additional appropriations. 

On top of that, the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not appear to 

have a successful plan to recruit and retain officers. We offered 

some suggestions last year on how they could change that. 

If the BIA increased the full-time law enforcement, and I talked 

about that, up to 25 additional officers, but today they only have 

13. They continue to fail to fill the 12 additional slots that are 

open. As a result, we have fewer public safety officers now than we 

did last year. Part of the problem, we believe, is that there is a 

waiting list in Artesia. Not only is there a waiting list, but if we 

can get our candidates down there, they have to leave their families for four months. We have offered suggestions for how they can 

change that, and that is to create another training facility and 

bring some of their trainers from Artesia up to United Tribes Technical College. And they haven’t done that yet. 

Specifically, as Congress takes up S. 797, the Tribal Law and 

Order Act, we believe it is a priority, absolute priority, that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has flexibility in its officer training, instead 

of saying all officers may go through Artesia, we suggest that the 

BIA send trainers from Artesia to the Great Plans region and provide classroom and field training to State-certified officers. We 

have State-certified officers who are willing to work on reservations. But even though they are State-certified, they still have to 

go down to Artesia for 16 weeks. 

We also have veterans returning home from the military who 

were military police who are willing to work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They require them to go down to Artesia. We think 

that is a fundamental failure of BIA. 

I am going to cut this short. The Bureau of Indian Affairs re- ceived more than $50 million additional dollars in the last two 

years. BIA should be able to provide Indian tribes and Congress 

answers to the following questions: how many officers, telecommunications officers and criminal investigators did the BIA 

hire with this money? How many completed training at the BIA 

Academy in Artesia? How many are waiting for training now? 

Where were law enforcement personnel initial assigned by the 

BIA? How many of these individuals are currently at their initial 

posts? How many requested reassignment or left the BIA? And 

most importantly, how did the BIA determine their placement? Because obviously we have a great need here in the Rocky Mountains, 

the Great Plains region. 

And we have not seen a large increase in the additional numbers 

of officers here. Obviously, even at Standing Rock, we are back to 

less than pre-surge numbers. So where did these initially trained 

officers go to? 

The same is true concerning information about corrections officers and BIA funding for construction, operations and maintenance, 

and O&M for adult and juvenile detention facilities. To date, I am 

not aware of any such report by the BIA to Congress or to tribal 

leaders concerning these matters. I would urge that Congress make 

14 

the above-noted reports a mandatory annual requirement of the 

BIA. 

Thank you, Senator. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. His Horse Is Thunder follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. RON HIS HORSE IS THUNDER, CHAIRMAN, STANDING

ROCK SIOUX TRIBE

Good morning Senator Dorgan and Senator Thune. My name is Ron His Horse 

Is Thunder. I am the Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. I want to welcome you both to Standing Rock. I also want to welcome my fellow Tribal Chairmen 

from the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Regions who have joined me here today 

to speak to you concerning the issue of public safety in Indian country. 

I want to thank you both for convening today’s hearing and for being strong advocates in Congress for the needs of Indian country. You understand that Indian 

tribes cannot reverse the negative impacts of poverty and isolation until we provide 

public safety and other essential governmental services to our members on a consistent and routine basis. 

Almost one year ago I appeared before the Committee to discuss the Tribe’s experience with Operation Dakota Peacekeepers, the emergency response surge that 

brought 37 Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) public safety officers from other reservations to Standing Rock to patrol our eight districts and communities. Last year, I 

reported the positive impact of the operation and offered concrete recommendations 

to secure some of the successes of that operation. I attach a copy of last year’s testimony for the record of today’s hearing. Unfortunately, most of the recommendations 

that I offered were not taken by the BIA, and today I must report that many of 

the successes that I touted last year have eroded. 

A. Need for Comprehensive Holistic Public Safety Program 

I will relate the statistics of the Dakota Peacekeepers Operation and where we 

are faltering today, but at the heart of this matter is the failure of all of us, the 

Congress, the Federal Agencies and yes, even the Tribe, to create a comprehensive 

holistic program to address the public safety needs of our community. Nothing demonstrates this more drastically than the recent suicides at Standing Rock. Since 

January of this year, we have had 9 suicides and 50 attempted suicides. Some may 

think it inappropriate to discuss suicide in the context of public safety. But for me 

suicide is not only a tragedy robbing us of our future, it is the miner’s canary— 

foretelling what lies ahead for us as a community and a Nation if we do not act 

to address our public safety needs in Indian country. 

The number of suicides at Standing Rock is 1,000 times the National Average 

among Native Americans. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has said this is an 

official suicide cluster. Many of those who have taken their lives are children–some 

as young as ten years old. Our Executive Director returned from a 14 year old boy’s 

funeral and she said it was surreal because there were so many children and balloons there. To an outsider, who did not know that our Tribe had lost a young life, 

it might have looked like a child’s birthday party, instead of a funeral. 

We are trying to understand why our children are killing themselves. We believe 

it is related to a sense of hopelessness that people have. They are hopeless about 

their own futures and that of our community. Some of this hopelessness comes from 

not feeling safe and in some cases, not being safe. We as a community have a sacred 

obligation to protect our youngest members. These suicides prompted our elders to 

ask us about the 37 BIA police officers here last year who patrolled and interacted 

with our children, young adults and other residents. When we had the larger law 

enforcement presence people felt safer and that gave them hope. Thus, many people 

feel our return to the pre-surge law enforcement staffing levels has had a tragic and 

devastating impact on our community. 

We know that a larger law enforcement presence is not the only answer to our 

problems, but it is part of the answer. So we urge Congress to continue its emphasis 

on funding public safety needs in Indian country in a holistic matter. There must 

be more resources for police, criminal investigators, telecommunication operators, 

correctional officers, food service personnel, Tribal prosecutors and defenders, resources for the construction of police departments, courts and recurring funding for 

the operation and maintenance of these facilities. 

At the same time, however, there must also be Federal funding for counselors, 

child protection caseworkers and supervisors, and resources for programs to keep 

children out of trouble such as funding for the Boys and Girls Club of America. 

These programs provide positive avenues to channel the boundless energy of our 

15 

youth. In this regard, we are grateful to the North and South Dakota delegation for 

your support of funding for Standing Rock in the FY 2010 Department of Justice 

Appropriations bill for these types of services. 

B. Impact of Operation Dakota Peacekeepers 

The 2008 surge had five goals: (1) reduce crime, (2) target illegal drug activities, 

(3) provide investigative resources to prosecute domestic violence, (4) provide investigate resources to prosecute crimes against children, and (5) develop a strategy to 

promote a safe community on the Reservation. In the first two months of the surge, 

BIA Police made 900 arrests on the reservation. The arrests overwhelmed our Tribal 

court and adult detention facility. The Tribal Court held arraignments seven days 

a week to catch up with the workload. The surge continued in diminishing numbers 

through the end of 2008. 

During the six months of the surge, our Tribal Court averaged 339 arraignments 

per month and the number of complaints received by the BIA Police averaged 350 

per month. By comparison, for the first six months of this year, we averaged 233 

arraignments and 266 complaints per month. The goals of the temporary surge 

should be the goals of policing on our reservation every day. These goals are not 

being met. In fact, we are experiencing a rise in crimes including: domestic abuse; 

child neglect; minors possessing and consuming alcohol, and aggravated assault. 

This tells us that the larger police presence was a deterrent. 

Thus, if I am asked whether I support a return of the six-month surge on Standing Rock, I do, but I must request that if the BIA renews the surge, it must maintain existing staffing levels from the most underserved Reservations and BIA Police 

Districts, most of which are located in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Regions. 

C. Failure of the BIA to Address Public Safety Staffing Needs 

It is troubling that the BIA cannot fill the 12 additional public safety officer positions added by the BIA to Standing Rock in 2008. In 2009, Congress provided 

$255,077,000 for law enforcement services and in FY 2008 Congress provided 

$228,137,000 for the BIA’s law enforcement program. This represents a $50,623,000 

increase in the area of law enforcement in the last two fiscal years alone. 

It is unclear how the BIA allocated these increased resources among the BIA’s six 

Office of Law Enforcement Services Districts. It appears to us that the BIA does 

not have a systematic methodology for distributing its public safety funds, including 

funds for detention officers and investigators. We do not understand why the BIA 

cannot rely on its own data to fairly distribute among the BIA OLES Districts the 

resources appropriated by Congress. The failure to have a distribution methodology, 

or to consistently implement it if a methodology is in place, is compounded by the 

fact that the BIA does not have a successful plan to recruit and retain public safety 

officers and related personnel required to address Indian Country’s public safety 

needs. While we appreciate and are thankful for Operation Dakota Peacekeepers, 

we are not confident that temporary law enforcement staffing allocations—driven by 

crisis response—is the most effective solution to address long term law enforcement 

needs in Indian country. 

As a result of the data gathered from the last year’s surge, the BIA increased the 

full-time BIA law enforcement positions at Standing Rock to twenty-five. The problem has been the BIA’s failure to fill the 12 additional positions it created. We still 

only have 13 public safety staff and we are losing one criminal investigator. As a 

result, we will have fewer public safety officers than we did last year prior to the 

surge. The BIA cites recruitment and retention challenges for failing to fill the available full-time positions. However, we remain frustrated that the BIA will only put 

officers on the street who have completed the Bureau’s sixteen week training academy in Artesia, New Mexico. Even if we do find people willing to leave their families 

for four months, we understand there is a waiting list to get into the Academy at 

Artesia. Meanwhile, we are aware of number of fully-accredited current or former 

State police officers who want to serve our community. Moreover, I am confident 

there are many war veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan who are certified as Military Police, who want to again serve our community and who are well 

qualified to do so. Nevertheless, the BIA believes it can afford to ignore this pool 

of well qualified individuals when we and other reservations continue to experience 

a public safety crisis. This defies all logic. 

As Congress takes up S. 797 the Tribal Law and Order Act, we believe it is a 

priority that the flexibility for BIA officer training be maintained and enacted. However, we would also urge you to try and find an interim solution to this bureaucratic 

problem now. We suggest that the BIA send trainers from its Artesia academy to 

the Great Plains Region and provide classroom and field training to State-certified 

16 

and former Military Police-trained officers now working for the BIA or interested 

in doing so, so that these individuals can patrol the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and other reservations rather than be limited, as is now the case, to desk duty. 

We have encouraged the BIA to coordinate such training with the United Tribes 

Technical College (UTTC). 

While we believe addressing the BIA’s excuse for the failure to fill the 12 public 

safety vacancies at Standing Rock is vital, we again believe that it is a fundamental 

failure for the BIA not to have or to successfully implement a methodology for the 

distribution of public safety funds. This problem is equally evident on the detention 

service side of public safety. It is our understanding that the BIA cannot report to 

the Interior Inspector General or to Congress how it allocated the millions of dollars 

it receives from Congress for the staffing, operation and maintenance of detention 

facilities in Indian country. Like law enforcement, the BIA again blames recruitment challenges for its staffing shortages in this area. In today’s economy, this is 

simply unacceptable and a dereliction of duty by the BIA to the public safety needs 

of Indian communities. 

In short, the BIA has received more than $50 million more dollars in the last two 

fiscal years for its law enforcement program. The BIA should be able to provide Indian tribes and the Congress the answers to the following questions: (1) How many 

officers, telecommunication operators and criminal investigators did the BIA hire 

with this money? (2) How many completed training at the BIA Police Academy at 

Artesia? (3) How many are waiting for training? (4) Where were law enforcement 

personnel initially assigned by the BIA? (5) How many of those individuals are currently at their initial posts? (6) How many requested reassignment or left the BIA? 

and most important, (7) How did the BIA determine their placement? The same is 

true concerning information about correction officers and BIA funding for construction, operations and maintenance (O&M) of adult and juvenile detention services. 

To date, I am not aware of any such reports by the BIA to Congress or to Tribal 

leaders concerning these matters. I would urge that the Congress make the abovenoted reports a mandatory annual requirement of the BIA. 

D. Conclusion 

In conclusion, I reiterate the following recommendations to the BIA, many of 

which I included in my July 2008 testimony before the Committee. None of the following recommendations were acted on by the BIA last year. I ask for your help 

and the help of this Committee to direct the BIA to make them happen this year: 

1. The BIA should fill all public safety personnel vacancies at Standing Rock 

immediately using detailed personnel so that the BIA Police Department at 

Standing Rock operates at the full staffing level of 25 public safety officers. Detailed personnel can then rotate out from Standing Rock when the BIA has 

hired, trained and housed full time replacement public safety personnel at 

Standing Rock or as close to the reservation as possible; 

2. Grant Special Law Enforcement Commissions to Tribal Game and Fish Rangers so that they may lawfully respond to emergencies; 

3. Bring BIA Artersia Academy trainers to the Great Plains Region to provide 

instruction to former State-accredited police officers and Military Police personnel hired by the BIA, but who have not gone through the BIA’s 16-week 

training academy, so that they may receive interim Indian country training and 

be authorized by the BIA to patrol on Standing Rock; 

4. Install a centralized 911 call center on the Reservation, and ensure that public safety personnel and Tribal Game and Fish Rangers use identical communications equipment to coordinate public safety activities; 

5. Provide construction funds to build on-reservation housing for BIA public 

safety officers and renovate existing BIA police facilities; 

6. establish a pilot program at Standing Rock this summer to educate youth 

about staying out of trouble; encourage Tribal members to pursue careers in law 

enforcement; and offer recruitment incentives to Native Americans to join the 

BIA Police academy. 

I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you again for holding 

this hearing today. 

17 

ATTACHMENT


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The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. We appreciate your testimony and appreciate your hosting this hearing. 

Let me just say that the Indian Affairs Committee has similarly 

requested information from the BIA about accounting for how the 

money was used. We have not yet received that, and that is not acceptable to us. We will continue to press Mr. Ragsdale and others. 

They owe us that, and we intend to get it. 

So let me make a couple of comments and ask questions. The 

surge clearly was successful on this reservation. So we know what 

can work. The officers that were brought in from the surge are now 

gone. And my understanding is that we have had a dip in violent 

crime, although last month there were two homicides on this reservation, and there were four forcible rapes. When I look at the 

numbers, they are beginning to climb back up. 

I know that was not the case in February, March, April. But we 

are beginning to see again an escalation of violent crime. Mr. 

Chairman, is that your assessment? And I would ask the chief as 

well. But two homicides and four forcible rapes on a reservation 

this size in one month seems quite extraordinary. 

Mr. HIS HORSE IS THUNDER. Mr. Chairman, thank you for citing 

those statistics. We do believe, yes, that violent crime is on an increase again on this reservation. I question the Bureau’s response 

to that, and especially since we are coming up on the 4th of July 

and there are going to be a number of celebrations on this reservation. And we know what happens during celebrations, there is 

going to be an increase. 

And I question the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ delegation of their, 

or assignment of their police officers. Because I had been told that 

at least we had two canine units on this reservation, drugs are a 

problem, absolutely a problem, and they contribute to our—we 

have two canine units on this reservation and they have both been 

detailed to Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills. We need them 

here, especially during a time of celebration, a time when there is 

going to be more drugs on this reservation, I guarantee you. And 

to have those units off this reservation doesn’t make any sense. 

The CHAIRMAN. Chief, my understanding was that drugs were 

targeting this organization, drug peddlers and organizations, and 


701b6.eps
23 

that the surge really drove most of that out. Are you beginning to 

be concerned about it coming back in? And answer if you would my 

inquiry about violent crime, two murders, or two homicides and 

four rapes in the month of May on a reservation this size does 

seem to me to be startling. 

Mr. HAYES. In regard to the homicides, that entailed a vehicle accident, and that is something that I think can be attributed to Operation Dakota Peacekeeper. Because we had a period of time 

where we were averaging a fatality every month, every month and 

a half, that type of a percentage. But then when Operation Dakota 

Peacekeeper came about, for approximately almost a year and a 

half we went without one fatality, no vehicle fatalities, throughout 

that whole period. And unfortunately, we did have one, we had this 

one and in another one we had two people who unfortunately died 

in a vehicle accident. 

The CHAIRMAN. But it is classified as homicide or manslaughter? 

Mr. HAYES. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. So is that vehicular homicide or manslaughter? 

Mr. HAYES. Correct. 

The CHAIRMAN. But is it the case of the BIA records showing, I 

would ask the other Chairs who are here, in this fiscal year, 92 

crimes, 89 of them alcohol-related. In the last fiscal year, 195 

crimes, 188 alcohol-related. Obviously there is a very close correlation between alcohol and criminal activity. Do you see that in your 

law enforcement work, I assume? That is what the BIA is reporting. Other Chairs, do you have observation about that? Most of the 

criminal activity is accompanied by either alcohol or drugs? 

Ms. PEARSON. Yes. Drugs and alcohol play a big part in this. 

Someone mentioned earlier, our reservations are targeted by these 

drug pushers. I do know that there has been, we are watching for 

them, anyway, let’s put it that way. I can’t really give you specifics 

on it or anything on it. But it is something that we need to get off 

our reservations, and we don’t have the people to keep these folks 

from coming in. Right now, the way our laws are, they can come 

there and they can do something, but we can’t charge them in our 

courts, either. So we are prime ground for this. 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me ask, several of you have raised the issue 

of Artesia, the training program in New Mexico. It seems to me 

that we have a school or training program in Artesia that will take 

about 150 people a year and they graduate about half of that, 75 

a year, for the tribal police force, which makes no sense at all. The 

BIA police force has a training facility that puts out 75 people a 

year, it has a 50 percent wash-out rate. One of the things we are 

trying to do, I just put the first funding in recently for United 

Tribes, we are trying to establish a BIA training center in the 

Northern Great Plains here at the United Tribes, because that 

serves North and South Dakota and about, I think 20 to 30 other 

tribes. 

So we are working on that. But it seems to me that Artesia just 

isn’t working. You can’t have 150 slots a year, graduate only 75 

and believe that takes care of the training for the BIA law enforcement contingent. That is just not acceptable. 

Chairman His Horse Is Thunder, you indicated 9 suicides since 

January and 15 attempts. As you know, I sent some staff from the 

24 

Indian Affairs Committee down to the reservation. We have been 

interviewing and talking to people, because we do have to begin to 

work with you and others to address that in a very aggressive way. 

Suicides come in clusters, and that is of great concern. 

I want to ask all of you, if I might, Senator Thune will remember 

that the U.S. Attorney from South Dakota was here the last time 

we held this hearing, I believe in August. I think he indicated he 

had assigned someone to this reservation, or assigned Assistant 

U.S. Attorneys to go to the reservations in South Dakota, which I 

think included this reservation, because it is on both sides of the 

border. The question is, does that relationship still exist with the 

U.S. Attorney’s office? The reason that is important is, that is who 

is required to prosecute violent crimes, and we have this very high 

rate of declinations, declining to prosecute. 

Do you still have that relationship with the U.S. Attorney’s office 

in South Dakota? And is there a similar relationship, do you have 

a presence on your reservations with the U.S. Attorney’s office in 

North Dakota? 

Mr. HIS HORSE IS THUNDER. The U.S. Attorney from South Dakota who initiated that was Marty Jackley. I think he was the first 

one who actually had good relationships with tribes in South Dakota. The unfortunate thing with the change of administration is 

that Mr. Jackley is no longer there. So we will have to wait and 

see who is assigned to the U.S. Attorney’s office for South Dakota 

and whether or not they will maintain that good relationship that 

we had. 

The North Dakota U.S. Attorney, on the other hand, has never 

set foot on this reservation that I am aware of, nor has he had a 

working relationship the same as Mr. Jackley tried to have with 

the tribes. 

Ms. PEARSON. Well, our State’s attorney, we have had visits from 

their office. I must say that even the judges came up and met with 

us in our headquarters. 

The CHAIRMAN. You are talking about the local State’s attorney? 

Ms. PEARSON. Yes. They want to work with us, and I am glad 

for that. But the only thing that disturbs me is that it depends on 

how you profile your cases before they would do anything. And that 

is sad. Because there are a lot of these that should be taken care 

of, and go on with that, you continue and people get the impression 

that, well, I can do it and I will get away with it. 

The CHAIRMAN. The U.S. Attorney’s office, have they been 

present on your reservation? 

Ms. PEARSON. They in fact brought Judge Erickson and Judge 

Palvey out to visit. I was very thankful. 

The CHAIRMAN. Chairman Marcellais? 

Mr. MARCELLAIS. To the best of my knowledge, I don’t believe the 

U.S. Attorney’s office has been out to Turtle Mountain. But I would 

have to follow up on that. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Packineau? 

Mr. PACKINEAU. They have been, but not nearly enough. It would 

be nice to have a more visible presence, if he comes up, and le them 

know that we have support. It just takes a long time for anybody 

to get prosecuted and that is, like somebody else had said earlier, 

25 

they take so long that a lot of times some of those don’t even get 

prosecuted. Therefore, some people just give up. 

I want to touch on a question you asked earlier. You said that 

a lot of our, the alcohol-related, I think we need more money for 

addiction services. And especially in Fort Berthold, we need something for our juveniles. We have an increase in juvenile activity 

there, but a lot of times we cannot hold them or keep them. And 

if we do, we need somewhere where they can go to maybe get some 

services. A lot of it is mental services they probably need. Or 

maybe some addiction services also. But we don’t have that right 

now. What we would like to do is get some money to maybe create 

some sort of regional juvenile center. It really needs to be done 

here in North Dakota. I am sure if it is happening in Fort 

Berthold, it is happening in the rest of the reservations. 

The CHAIRMAN. And your tribe is engaged in the self-determination execution of law enforcement, is that correct? You are contracting for law enforcement? 

Mr. PACKINEAU. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. And you also are having problems with that, I 

think you described the problems in your testimony. 

Mr. PACKINEAU. Exactly, Senator. And it all goes back to the lack 

of money. We took it over because we were putting so much money 

into the program anyway. And it is not really getting any better. 

We would like to see more technical support. Especially, we are at 

a learning stage here, we need more technical support from the 

BIA and just a little bit more help to make that transition more 

complete. 

The CHAIRMAN. We are trying to do a couple of things. Number 

one, with the legislation that we want to get passed on law enforcement, we want to connect the local law enforcement folks, the 

States’ attorneys and the county sheriffs, with the reservations and 

the tribal police and the reservation, the law enforcement apparatus. We want the U.S. Attorneys to have a better connection, because they are the ones that are going to have to prosecute the violent crimes. And there is a high rate of declining on those prosecutions. 

Again, I remember and was impressed by what the South Dakota 

U.S. Attorney had done, to actually assign Assistant attorneys to 

come to the reservations routinely, sit down, talk about things. 

That is exactly what should happen. My hope would be that would 

continue in South Dakota, and my hope is that it would begin in 

North Dakota, because that is very important. 

Let me call on Senator Thune for questions. 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

As Senator Dorgan mentioned, there are several things his bill, 

of which I am a co-sponsor and I think we have 17 bipartisan cosponsors for, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009. It was put together, I think, with a lot of consultation from tribes and law enforcement, and trying to determine what some of these issues are 

that we need to be addressed to improve upon the public safety and 

law enforcement issues on the reservations. I hope we can get that 

through the Congress. 

There is also this Emergency Fund for Indian Safety and Health 

on which we worked a year ago as an authorization, Senator DorVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:45 Apr 07, 2010 Jkt 054394 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\54394.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
26 

gan in his position on the Appropriations Committee has some 

funding for that consistent with that authority to help beef up law 

enforcement on the reservations. So I would describe those as both 

sort of major initiatives that are designed to deal with the longterm problem. In the near-term, I last week contacted the BIA and 

then also the Interior Department just to suggest that they need 

to make sure that they got manpower and resources out here to 

keep up with what got started last year and what I think was very 

successful. You have all alluded to the progress that we made with 

the surge, with Operation Dakota Peacekeeper. And my fear is that 

if we don’t sustain that commitment that we are going to reverse 

field and lose a lot of ground that has been made. 

So there are a number of things that we are working on that will 

address what I think many of you have alluded to as a manpower 

and resource issue and what BIA continues to tell us is something 

they need. So we are trying to address those issues. 

But I am particularly concerned about this public safety issue. 

Because to me, this is fundamental to everything else. You cannot 

have kids who learn in classrooms if they are worried about their 

safety. You cannot attract economic development or jobs to your 

communities if people are worried about public safety. So it is the 

predicate upon which everything else is based. We have to get this 

right. And I am interested in, Chairman His Horse Is Thunder, the 

correlation to suicides. Nine suicides since January, and 50 attempts? That is tragic, it is breathtaking when you think about 

that. I think that hearkens back to some degree, as you mentioned, 

to the absence of public safety. If people are worried about their security and fearful about their future, they are more inclined to take 

steps like that. But it is a statistic that really is, it is stunning, 

and it is something we just have to change. 

I think what I saw with the surge and with Operation Dakota 

Peacekeeper was a sort of a commitment to community policing 

and beef up law enforcement presence, people get more involved in 

addressing some of the smaller crime issues and those help prevent 

larger crime issues. So I just hope that we can get the BIA to continue to step up. I am struck by the statistics, as I look at these 

charges, of where the biggest needs are. And they are up here in 

the upper plains. So we have shortages in terms of law enforcement and the highest crime rates are in reservations here in the 

upper plains. And I think it directly correlates to the fact that we 

don’t have enough manpower out here. 

A couple of quick questions. One, I want to come back to this 

training issue. I don’t know, Mr. Chairman, if this is something 

that we can address. Is that a liability issue? Why is it that you 

can’t take returning veterans who have experience as military police or other law enforcement experience and put those people to 

work on the reservations, rather than waiting for them to get into 

this line to get through the training facility down there, which 

sounds like it is backed up? There is a waiting line, we have this 

desperate need for more law enforcement officers and personnel on 

our reservations. Yet we can’t get them through the training. 

I understand there are other issues with regard to retention and 

people out here, housing, all of which have to be addressed. But I 

can’t imagine why we wouldn’t be able to figure out a way to get 

27 

people trained more quickly, so they can get out on the job. Many 

of you mentioned that in your testimony. I guess I am curious as 

to, is that an issue that BIA says that if they don’t go through this 

particular training facility that there are liability issues that the 

BIA has to deal with? And how does that work with 638 contract 

law enforcement? Why can’t we get around that? 

I think part of it is creating a second training facility up here 

where we can get more people in. But that shouldn’t be a deterrent 

to us being able to get people out here and in positions. Anybody 

want to speak to that? 

Ms. PEARSON. I would like to add something. I understand the 

qualifications that they require, but I guess I can’t understand that 

either, because the people that come out of the military are trained. 

You have some of them that went through Quantico. What better 

training than that can you get? 

But at the same time, Artesia, we had an officer back home that 

was one week, I believe, away from completing his training. And 

because his mother died, he went home. And you have to start the 

course all over again. Didn’t make sense. To me, I always say this, 

if that was my money, boy, I would spend it where it was supposed 

to be and I would have someone over to do something else. It is 

really crucial. I just don’t think we need to go that far. And I hope 

you folks can go back and supported the United Tribes training 

center that they want to develop and open. Because I think we 

need it here. 

I did go to a graduation down in Artesia one time and I noticed 

that most of the graduates were from the upper plains, upper Midwest. They had 30 some of them come out of Pine Ridge alone. 

That is a lot. So you have most people that actually come from this 

part of the Country, but they have to go down there, and they are 

sitting down there for four months away from their families. These 

things like this cause family issues as well. Not only do they try 

to provide for their families, but it always takes away from their 

families, the sacrifices. 

Thank you. 

Mr. HIS HORSE IS THUNDER. Senator, on that point, I can’t speak 

about the Bureau in terms of whether or not they believe it is a 

liability issue and that is why they have to go to Artesia. I do know 

this, I have been told a number of times that the only real difference between Artesia and State training, State-certified officers, 

is about a two-week course on Federal jurisdiction in Indian Country. That is about the only real difference, is that. So if you had 

State-certified officers that could go through a two-week training 

on jurisdiction in Indian Country, I think that should suffice. 

But you also asked another interesting question in terms of 638 

contracting, those tribes which 638 their police force. I know that 

The Three Affiliated Tribes, and I really don’t want to speak out 

of turn, but Chairman Levings was here yesterday, and we were 

talking about 797. We were taking about it yesterday and he made 

an interesting comment. Chairman Levings said this. He said that 

when they 638’d their police force up there that there were a number of BIA officers who came over with the contract, who decided 

they would leave the BIA and they would stay with the tribe under 

the 638 contract. 

28 

The Bureau said that those police officers weren’t good enough. 

As soon as the tribes took it over, those police officers, a couple of 

them, I don’t know how many of them, who were adequately 

trained for the BIA law enforcement office, when they transferred 

over to 638, somehow they weren’t qualified. And the Bureau 

wouldn’t allow them to maintain those officers under the 638 contract. That is crazy. So it doesn’t, I think in a way that they were 

attempting to send a message to the rest of the tribes saying, don’t 

638, because we are going to make it hard for you. 

Senator THUNE. That just seems like a terrible barrier, and one 

we ought to be able to get around. Mr. Chairman, I think some of 

these questions that Chairman His Horse Is Thunder raised about 

where BIA is allocating resources are really good questions. Because we have increased funding in the last few years, and where 

are they directing it? Because it is pretty clear to me that the biggest deficiencies in the number of law enforcement personnel are 

in these areas that are in the greatest need. 

Let me just ask one question of everyone here, if I can. We know 

the direct impacts of crime, theft, injury, those are pretty apparent. 

But I am wondering if you could speak to some of the indirect impacts that high rates of crime and poor public safety have on communities. I was visiting with the mayor of McLaughlin earlier 

today. I think when the surge was implemented, there was a lot 

of illegal drug activity going on in some of the communities. They 

were able to knock that out, which I understand now, and I think 

the Chief referenced this too, is starting to come back. But what 

are some of those indirect impacts of not having adequate public 

safety, notwithstanding, obviously, the direct impacts which we are 

all fairly aware of? 

Ms. PEARSON. In my testimony, I explained there that we had a 

strategic plan done. In surveying the whole community at Spirit 

Lake, in all four districts, the number one concern was substance 

abuse. And we had like our law enforcement and stuff deliver 

issues to us. But from all the people that were surveyed, of the four 

districts, the number one concern was substance abuse. 

And I didn’t get to read any of the surveys, I don’t belong there, 

that is supposed to be confidential. But there are people that are 

willing to come forward and admit it. But again, they are afraid, 

because we don’t have enough protection services for them. But it 

is a great concern, because it is involving their children and grandchildren. But they are scared to come forward. It has been a concern for many years. They have finally been able to put it on paper 

and get somebody’s attention. And they have gotten our attention. 

Because I want to do something with that strategic plan. 

I do believe, Senator Dorgan, there might be a copy of that in 

your office. I believe I sent that. But it has a big impact on our 

community. And it is not only just the community, it is all ages of 

the community. 

Mr. MARCELLAIS. First of all, the military, I keep saying, you 

have resources within the Federal Government that can be utilized. 

I think sharing resources between the military and the tribes, say, 

detailing MPs or whatever out to the reservations, they are in the 

military, they are government employees. Why can’t they come out 

29 

to the reservations and provide their services? I don’t know if there 

is a shortage in the military for MPs, but that is a suggestion. 

The other thing, the impact, talking about the drugs, at one time 

we had three canine units up in Turtle Mountain, and I think we 

are down to one now. When we had three canine units, it didn’t 

eliminate the drugs, but it cut them back. I think the other thing 

is, the drug traffickers know that reservations are limited or don’t 

have enough law enforcement. So naturally, they are going to migrate to the reservations. Because there are a lot of police officers 

in other communities that are going to stop that. So that is my 

comment. 

Mr. PACKINEAU. I just want to say that there is probably a rise 

in all areas of crime. But that is a direct result of the lack of funds 

to adequately supply enough officers in different areas. I know in 

Fort Berthold, we have six different districts. And in some of the 

districts, we only have one officer on duty for the whole segment. 

And that covers the rural areas, too, because we are rural up there. 

And everybody knows that police officer’s schedule. So they know 

when he is sleeping, they know when he goes 20 miles out or wherever, and that is when the crime occurs. So we need just more 

money to do law enforcement, of course, you guys know that also. 

One other thing I was going to say, up in Fort Berthold, if we 

get a push on the county sheriffs to cross-deputize their law enforcement and our law enforcement, and of course, we are going to 

have to distinguish where their jurisdiction is and what it is, but 

it can be done. We have sat down, we have had State Highway Patrol come down, we have had many meetings. It seems like after 

one meeting, everybody says we are going to have another meeting, 

and it just never formulates. 

It would really help if we had cross-deputization. That would 

help our lack of officers. That would really help. 

And you were asking the question earlier about Artesia and 

what-not. It is BIA regulations, there we are. And again, BIA regulations, it is just more and more steps you have to follow and do, 

and that is why, BIA regulations. They have to follow the regulations. 

Senator THUNE. This maybe, Mr. Chairman, the indirect impacts 

of lack of public safety, the question was the direct impacts, but 

just some of the indirect impacts. 

Mr. HIS HORSE IS THUNDER. One of the indirect impacts, you see 

the mayor of McLaughlin and a number of his council as well, that 

last year, for the first time, I met the mayor, and for the first time, 

I met his council. I think they were very pleased, both the Indian 

community felt safe and the non-Indian community felt safe. And 

I think as the numbers started to decrease with the surge, both 

communities, both Indian and non-Indian communities, feel a little 

bit less safe. Feeling a little less safe escalates or brings back the 

tension, the racial tension that has always existed on the reservations. 

I think when you have good public safety, those racial tensions 

start to ease and we start to communicate with each other more 

readily. So if I could point to one indirect, that would be that the 

tensions are starting to increase again. Well, you see the mayor 

here, and he is amenable to having conversations on what we can 

30 

do better. But that is one of the indirect effects of having less public safety. 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. What I would like to do is ask the mayor of 

McLaughlin, who is with us, to perhaps say a word, if you would 

give us your perspective. And I will ask the tribal judge, Judge 

Zuger, to give us his perspective. Then we will entertain a few minutes. If you will be brief, we would be glad to hear if you have a 

perspective on this. As I indicated, both Senator Thune and I have 

another schedule today, so we have to leave in a bit. 

So, the mayor of McLaughlin. 

STATEMENT OF HON. ARNOLD SCHOTT, MAYOR, MCLAUGHLIN, 

SD 

Mr. SCHOTT. Chairman Ron, Lieutenant Hayes, Special Agent 

Dave Barnes, all the BIA officers, I appreciate what you have done. 

Our community looks better, Senator Thune, Senator Dorgan. 

What Ron just said is the truth. We have come together a long 

way since last summer. I have a good council, very good council. 

We are working together. In fact, we had a cleanup, we combined, 

Fort Yates sent a few prisoners down to help clean up. We had a 

wonderful time. Both cities saved money by just cooperating and 

cleaning up. 

But I appreciate what you have done for our community plus 

Standing Rock. We have come a long way, we have a long way to 

go. Drugs is a very big issue. When the surge came, the drugs left. 

When the surge pulled out, they were back. And we need to work 

on that. These little kids, I see them, from my shop, that I am concerned about that have a whole life ahead of them, they are getting 

drugged. I am also the coroner of Corson County. Five suicides in 

the month of June. Dave Barnes and I have been at these suicides. 

And something has to be done. We have to get rid of alcohol and 

drugs. That is our main thing. 

As far as the city council and Lieutenant Hayes and Ron, we 

have come a long way and we are working together. We signed a 

form, they cooperate with us and we cooperate with them as far as 

the Indian and the white are concerned. And it has helped. But 

like everyone says, we need a lot more funding, we need police. Too 

big a reservation for these fellows. They have to be all over them. 

And like Ron said, they know, the people know where the BIA police are. 

So I appreciate what has been done. We need help. Thank you 

very much. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Mayor, thank you very much. 

If you will give that to Judge Zuger, we would like to hear from 

Judge Zuger. 

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM ZUGER, CHIEF JUDGE, 

STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBAL COURT 

Mr. ZUGER. First of all, I want to amplify what has been said 

about the training in Artesia. In my conversations with the BIA 

here at the local level, they are superb to work with. There seems 

to be an arrogance at higher levels. The State training facilities are 

fine. The Federal training facilities are fine. Mr. His Horse Is 

31 

Thunder’s comment about the difference being two weeks in jurisdictional training is absolutely correct. My understanding is that 

Artesia is where it is because it was picked up as military surplus. 

It is physically very isolated. People I have talked to say that one 

of the primary problems is sending young people down there, they 

become homesick, they are completely out in the middle of nowhere. The State facility at BSC and United Tribes have put together a superb training programs. 

Secondly, what has not been addressed here, and I would like to 

address that point, is the jurisdiction over criminal offenses is inadequate. I will give you one example that has not been mentioned 

yet, is white on Indian crimes. The State does not have jurisdiction. 

The U.S. Attorney’s office is isolated up in Bismarck. There needs 

to be State jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit crimes 

against Indians. 

The CHAIRMAN. As a tribal judge, again, I am asking this question because I was so impressed with what South Dakota did, have 

you had contact with the U.S. Attorney’s office? Are they coming 

down here? Are they connected at all? Because they have responsibility. 

Mr. ZUGER. The only contact I have had was with Marty Jackley, 

who was superb. Drew Wrigley has a terminal attitude problem. 

We have not had any significant cooperation. We have had to dismiss numerous rapes, because we can’t get the rape kits back. The 

Federal Government takes them and we can’t get them back and 

we end up having to dismiss. 

The CHAIRMAN. Dismissing rape charges because you can’t get 

the rape kit back? 

Mr. ZUGER. Yes. The FBI takes the rape kit and we can’t get it 

back. So we end up, we have our prosecutor here too, if you want 

to talk to him. I think he can verify this. We can’t even do a tribal 

prosecution, because they have the evidence, we can’t get it back. 

The CHAIRMAN. On that point, they have the evidence, they decline to prosecute, but they won’t give you the evidence? 

Mr. ZUGER. Either they decline or they just don’t get around to 

it. It is one or the other, Senator Dorgan. 

Then we have another problem, in the event they decide to do 

another surge, and that is, I got a call last night from Titus White 

Body, our shift supervisor. We had people who were scheduled for 

delayed check-in. We have a capacity of 48 in the jail. We had 80 

people in there as of 8:30 last night. We have a number of people 

up at the regional facility up at Rugby. We simply don’t have a 

place to put them if we arrest them. 

Then finally, I know the two of you have to leave, I want to address support facilities. They say in real estate, location, location, 

location. In tribal crime, it is alcohol, alcohol, alcohol. And I understand there is a meth problem as well. Ninety-nine percent of our 

problems are alcohol. We have no place to have any meaningful 

treatment. 

I had a gentleman who we sentenced to a very long term. And 

he began to cry, and he said, thank you, this is going to give me 

a chance to try to get this monkey off my back. We do not have 

facilities to treat these people. We have to try to work with the 

States. North Dakota has a more comprehensive human services 

32 

budget. We have an easier time in North Dakota. But we need a 

place for people to get some alcohol treatment. Those are the things 

I wanted to address, Senator Dorgan and Senator Thune. 

The CHAIRMAN. Would you be willing to put together some anecdotal evidence of that for Senator Thune and myself and for our 

Committee, so that we can follow through on that? 

Mr. ZUGER. Yes, and I would fax it to Mr. Harte. I made the mistake of sending something first class last year, and apparently the 

anthrax check greatly delayed its receipt. 

[Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. I appreciate that. 

On the issue of law enforcement training, I put in just a half a 

million dollars now that is going to be on its way to the United 

States to start this process. Because what we want to do is create 

a second Artesia to be on the northern great plains. United Tribes 

is a perfect place for it. It is the right location, the right facility. 

It is a combination of some, how many tribes, David? 

Mr. GIPP. Sometimes up to 70. 

The CHAIRMAN. And 20 to 30 States. So we are going to work, 

all of us in the northern plains are going to work to make this happen, because the current system is not functional. It is not solving 

the needs. 

I think what I would like to do is ask if we can have David Gipp 

say a word about that as we try to wrap up. David Gipp, as you 

know, is President of the United Tribes Technical College and I 

think does a great job for all of us. 

STATEMENT OF DAVID M. GIPP, PRESIDENT, UNITED TRIBES 

TECHNICAL COLLEGE 

Mr. GIPP. Thank you, Senator. Senator Thune, Senator Dorgan 

and all the tribal officials that are here. 

It is a paramount issue, as you well know. And we look forward 

to doing what we can to provide any kind of training. We have 

done law enforcement training, in fact, for nearly 40 years. We do 

a certified program already that is post-board, recognized by the 

State of North Dakota. 

We now have in place, after seven years of negotiation, or awaiting, I should say, an MOU with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on 

cooperation between ourselves and Artesia. It isn’t quite what we 

want at this point in time, but it is a beginning, in which we allow 

for some specialized training to begin to occur on our campus in association with Artesia. So it is a step in the right direction. But it 

is hardly yet at home base. We think that much, much more can 

be done at this point. 

So we appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Congress to provide some 

additional assistance to augment the very training that you talked 

about. Because we think that basic law enforcement training could 

and should be done on the northern plains. And we can serve anywhere from a minimum of 20 to up to 70 different tribes. That is 

the part of our history in the past 40 years that we have been in 

service. 

I just want to add one additional point to the legislation that you 

are looking at on reform in Indian Country for law enforcement. 

That is, the question was asked by Senator Thune about training 

33 

and what additional things and steps that could be done. I would 

hope that the Congress would look very clearly at why Artesia is 

in fact the lock-gate for those who enter into law enforcement on 

our reservations. It is the last vestige of what I call colonial rule 

over tribes. Because they control who can and can’t provide law enforcement on our tribal nations’ reservations. They have that 

locked up by authority through their CFRs. I believe it is even 

ensconced perhaps in law or through appropriations itself. So Congress needs to examine that. 

The second thing that I would hope Congress looks at is the issue 

of allowing and assuring that tribes have the right to determine 

the standards and the accreditation that they need for their own 

people. That is the real fundamental issue that they need to have, 

is a clarification of that authority. Because they do have it. The unfortunate thing is that they get lockstep with Bureau of Indian Affairs rules and regulations, and even Quantico, as far as that goes. 

Much of those kinds of things are not tailored to the needs of Indian tribes and tribal nations. 

So I hope you will look at that authority more closely and assure 

that tribes can and will be able to carry out those functions in a 

way that the research and those kinds of things that need to be 

done can be done by us and others within Indian Country. 

The CHAIRMAN. That is a very important point. I also want to say 

that there needs to be minimum standards. Because in order for 

a tribal police force to access the criminal data base and do the 

things that are necessary to integrate in with other law enforcement, there needs to be minimum standards. We could not have 

500 separate tribal government standards that don’t respect minimum standards in order to be integrated into the system. 

Mr. GIPP. I agree with you, Senator. What I think Congress 

should do is enable tribes to be able to develop those standards, 

though. That is what I am getting at. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Gipp follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DAVID M. GIPP, PRESIDENT, UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL

COLLEGE

This testimony is submitted for the record in the above entitled hearing. I want 

to thank Senator Byron Dorgan for holding the hearing within the boundaries of the 

Standing Rock Nation, of which I am a citizen. As stated at the hearing, I want 

to reiterate my support for a Northern Plains Law Enforcement Academy located 

at Bismarck at United Tribes Technical College, and I thank you again for your support for this issue. 

But also, I want to emphasize that one essential component to law enforcement 

in Indian country, and I believe a lesson that continues to be learned from efforts 

like Operation Dakota Peacekeeper, is that Tribal governments should be empowered and be provided the resources by the legislation to develop their own principles 

and values for law enforcement and law enforcement training that meet all appropriate federal law and standards. 

Several studies have shown that tribal sovereignty works to assist in tribal economic development and to benefit tribal citizens. The same is true for any aspect 

of self-government. Ensuring that Tribal governments have the flexibility to progressively evolve based upon local community ideals is the cornerstone of community policing philosophy. This, of course, is not inconsistent with federal standards 

and serves to advance tribal sovereignty and the ability of Tribes to govern themselves. 

The reasons to promote community based law enforcement programs in Indian 

country are several—among others: 

1) Tribes often have different legal systems than the U.S. and states; 

34 

2) there are different jurisdictional aspects to law enforcement in Indian country; 

3) there are often different tribal cultural norms for law enforcement efforts; 

and 

4) there are often different tribal standards for application of criminal laws and 

resolving disputes. 

In my view, the unique nature of Indian communities requires an approach to policing that promotes ‘‘Contemporary Policing with Traditional Values’’. Thus, it is 

preferable for tribes to maintain their distinct identity and promote their culture 

and values while complying with general accepted principles of law enforcement. 

This philosophy can be attained and will be promoted by the United Tribes Technical College as we seek to develop educational and training programs that help 

tribes realize safer communities through the implementation of modern policing and 

effective policing techniques. For example, the Navajo Nation has its own law enforcement academy for Tribal law enforcement officers. Their officers police with an 

understanding of the tribe’s unique customs and expectations. 

This is the goal of the Northern Plains Law Enforcement Training Center that 

we envision for the campus of United Tribes Technical College. This effort can, in 

the end, provide the kind of law enforcement officer well-versed in tribal policing 

that is so much needed on the Standing Rock Reservation and on many other reservations throughout the upper Great Plains, and throughout Indian country. 

Tribes now have the capacity and leadership to take on this essential task. The 

legislation you have proposed in S. 797 goes a long way to help Tribes meet these 

goals. My preference is that the legislation should empower Tribal Nations to continue to improve the self-government effort began under the Indian Reorganization 

Act of 1934. Specifically, in Title III, Section 301(a), which amends Title 25 United 

States Code, Section 2802(e)(1), I would rewrite the new subsection (A) of Section 

2802(e)(1) as follows (new language is italicized): 

(A) The Secretary shall, in consultation with federally recognized Indian tribes, establish appropriate standards of education, experience, training, and other relevant 

qualifications for law enforcement personnel of the Division of Law Enforcement 

Services who are charged with law enforcement responsibilities pursuant to section 

2803 of this title, and shall recognize as fulfilling the requirements of this subsection 

the standards of education, experience, training and other relevant qualifications for 

law enforcement personnel as developed by any federally recognized Indian tribe that 

meet the relevant Peace Officer Standards and Training. 

These changes basically incorporate the recognition of tribal standards of law enforcement training that are so essential to effective law enforcement in Indian country. The standards Tribes might develop are not intended to reduce the standard 

of training required, but are instead meant to enhance that training to make it relevant to law enforcement efforts in Indian country. 

As always, Senator, on behalf of the United Tribes Technical College community, 

I want to thank you for your work in Indian country and on the Senate Committee 

on Indian Affairs. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about 

this testimony. 

35 

Attachment 

The CHAIRMAN. A couple of additional folks, then we are going 

to have to wrap up. 

STATEMENT OF DANIELLE YONON, DIRECTOR OF RESOURCE 

DEVELOPMENT, GRAND RIVER AREA BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB 

Ms. YONON. Thank you. My name is Danielle Yonon. I am the 

Director of Resource Development for the Boys and Girls Club of 

the Grand River area. We operate in three sites on Standing Rock. 


701b7.eps
36 

We are not a tribal program, but a community-based program. Last 

year, we had 514 enrolled children and youth. 

I think to this discussion and consultation, policing and law enforcement is key for a safe community. But creating a safe community is also prevention. And an ounce of prevention equals a pound 

of cure. Our agency is focused totally on youth development. With 

the recent tragedies, the epicenter was at McLaughlin. Seven of the 

nine suicides directly affected and impacted our club, our staff, our 

children. 

And I think in this discussion, there also has to be a human face 

and a human reality put on that tragedy and the cost and the toll 

that it has taken in our community. One of our staff members was 

also one of the seven. The youngest was 13. We were able to bring 

in someone to do the emergency and grief counseling with our staff. 

If we weren’t able to do that, that kind of tragedy would cripple 

our organization. 

There is an immediate need and there is a gap in services with 

that. On the second suicide, there was a community healing ceremony. We are taking the children over. Some of the children 

walked and 17 of the children discovered the third suicide. 

Those children, after a week we realized there was a coordinated 

response to it. They went to the school, the school wouldn’t let 

them in, because prayer isn’t allowed in school. After a week, it 

was our staff who realized that 14 of the 17 children were at the 

club and nobody had talked to them. They had not received any 

kind of professional counseling or help. We were able to meet that 

need. 

Our response to it, that there has to be a strategic, systematic 

plan and approach to deal with the youth development, not only to 

those immediate tragedies, but for the long-term prevention. 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me thank you for your work, and to say that 

the Boys and Girls Club is extraordinary. 

Ms. YONON. I do have a recommendation. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right, please. 

Ms. YONON. My recommendation is that, without the investment 

in the children and youth, you are going to be coming back next 

year and in 10 years talking about the same issue. If the investment had been made 20, 30 years ago, the magnitude of the problem might not be as big as it is now. The investment wasn’t made. 

Youth development, tribal youth development requires a single 

source funding protected by Federal legislation, much like Head 

Start. That kind of investment and protection is going to provide 

prevention and the development that the communities need. That 

would be my recommendation. 

We have some work done on that. We can provide that. We have 

worked with the tribal chairmen. There are things we can provide 

to support that kind of thing. But that is my recommendation. And 

these kids, the kids that we work for and the families that we work 

for, this is their voice. Without a champion, without someone to 

stand up and say that this needs to be done, it is not going to 

change. 

The CHAIRMAN. The legislation that we have talked about this 

morning, that Senator Thune and I have worked on is S. 797. It 

has two programs for youth in it. One is a SAHMSA program, the 

37 

other is Department of Justice, in order to provide a funding 

stream for youth programs. I totally agree with you and understand the urgency of it. As you know, I have held three hearings 

on teen suicide on Indian reservations. We are continuing to work 

on this. 

I sent a staff person down three weeks ago to this reservation. 

We are now going through what the mayor of McLaughlin and others of you have described to try to see what we can do here to begin 

to address this. It seems to me a cluster has developed that we 

have to address. Your recommendations are certainly important. 

John Harte, from my staff, who is the policy director of the Indian Affairs Committee, will remain here after this hearing is completed to meet with any of you and all of you. He has some time. 

So I regret that Senator Thune and I have other schedules. I am 

going to have to leave in a bit. 

We do have Michael Jandreau, Chairman of the Lower Brule 

Sioux Tribe, who wishes to say a word. 

I would like to ask your cooperation, however, because both of us 

have to leave. If you will just be very brief. We appreciate very 

much, Mr. Chairman, your being here as well. 

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL JANDREAU, CHAIRMAN, LOWER 

BRULE SIOUX TRIBE 

Mr. JANDREAU. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak with you. 

I agree pretty much with all the testimony that you have heard 

here. I would like to address the fact that we haven’t had a facility 

at Lower Brule for three or four years now. We have not been able 

to staff that facility because of restrictions that seem to be there. 

We have passed action to allow and to request that anyone qualified would be considered to be hired by the BIA, regardless of what 

their ethnicity is. 

We have had to tribally hire people who meet the standards who 

are not Indian people. And we have been tempted to get them hired 

by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and we have found them to be rejected by the Bureau, even though they qualify, they wish to be employed there and we just need the service to deal with a complex 

such as we have. Without full staffing, full qualified staffing to 

meet the standards, regardless of their ethnicity, they must be allowed that opportunity if we are going to succeed. The process of 

culturally sensitizing these people, however, is our responsibility. 

Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Would you be willing, with your tribal council, to 

put together a statement about the specifics of what you have just 

described and send to my Committee, myself and Senator Thune? 

Mr. JANDREAU. Sure. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. 

And finally, the last word. 

STATEMENT OF VALERIE HILL, ENROLLED MEMBER, 

STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE 

Ms. HILL. [Greeting in native tongue.] My name is Valerie Hill. 

I am an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. 

38 

I am here, I have been to several of the times you have been 

coming to our reservation, Standing Rock, to hear what is going on. 

During the last three or four times, I have heard someone from 

Congress coming down to the tribal building to hear the common 

people, me. The common people that don’t have jobs, that don’t get 

paid by the Federal Government. We are never heard, our issues 

are never heard. 

I would like for some time for you or someone from Congress, 

Senate, to come down and listen to the people, the common people. 

Because we don’t get paid to say all these nice things that you 

heard. We want to tell you the truth about what is going on here 

on our reservation. My hat is off to all these police officers here. 

Because when you had that big surge, it destroyed the respect that 

our officers once had by bringing in other officers. 

You talk about how successful it was. What you did was get the 

people that smoke, not the people that sell, not the people that 

manufacture. They were still in operation during that whole surge. 

They are still in operation today. The only people that got arrested 

were the ones that use. The people that make it never even got 

touched, because they are non-native. Just like Judge Zuger said, 

when it comes to our tribe, our reservation, we are not protected 

from the non-native. I had to go to court, and I had to stop going 

to ceremonies, I couldn’t go to the tribal building, I couldn’t go to 

the courthouse, I couldn’t go nowhere, because a non-native took 

me to court in my court, tribal court. That is wrong. 

When I asked, well, where do I take her, where can I take her, 

our own judge told us, bring it back here. Little do they know, they 

don’t have jurisdiction over non-natives. 

There is a lot of things that are going on, our landowners, you 

have the landowner program, Congress approved the landowner 

payment to landowners, 40 acres or more. I got a list of that, as 

passed all around through Standing Rock. Lot of people on that list 

that didn’t even own 40 acres. Lot of people that didn’t even live 

down there. A lot of people that weren’t even 60. Some of them lost 

over 1,000 acres and only got $20,000. Others got 31 acres and got 

$40,000. 

This landowner stuff, and they are going to be sending another 

one. The Dorgan bill, I just got a piece of paper a couple days ago 

about the Dorgan bill. You read that Dorgan bill, again, the landowners are left out. 

And you know, most of these landowners are full blood. Treaties 

were signed with full blood. 

The CHAIRMAN. What is the Dorgan bill? 

Ms. HILL. It is from Mike Watson, whoever, engineering, through 

Everett Iron Eyes, Senior, to Chase Iron Eyes, and it is a draft 

Dorgan bill. And it deals with landowners, our landowner issues 

here on Standing Rock, supposedly the landowner issues. But if 

you read this, there is nothing in there for the landowner. 

These are issues that we, the people, would like for you to hear, 

because our council don’t hear us. Thank you, Senator Dorgan, and 

I will respect the people here. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. I am not aware of the Dorgan bill, but I will be 

very interested in learning what I am doing. 

[Laughter.] 

39 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me say one thing to you, if I might. First of 

all, you spoke your piece and I appreciate that. That is part of the 

reason Senator Thune and I come here. And we have on other occasions, you talked about hearing the people, I have been on this reservation and I have met with high school students at my request, 

and I was the only adult in the room, just to talk to them about 

their lives. 

You don’t know about that, because I didn’t tell you and the 

press doesn’t know about it, because I didn’t tell them. I just came 

down here and sat down with a bunch of teenagers, just myself, to 

say, tell me about your lives, tell me what is going on. One of the 

reasons I did that is because this suicide situation is unbelievably 

staggering. We have to fix it. We have to find a way to deal with 

it. 

So I appreciate the work that all of you are doing. I appreciate 

you speaking your piece today. That is part of what this is for. I 

really appreciate your work with kids, I mean, that is the Lord’s 

work. I appreciate the leadership of these tribes trying to do the 

best job they can. And we are going to work as hard as we can to 

try to address these issues. 

Senator Thune said it very well: much of what is important in 

our lives starts with public safety. If you don’t feel safe, if you feel 

threatened, the rest of your life is very difficult. We need to make 

sure there is a level of public safety on Indian reservations that 

most Americans take for granted. They wake up every day and 

take for granted there is a police officer out there protecting them. 

That has not been the case on Indian reservations. 

Let me finally say to those who are standing here with their uniforms on, thanks for your work. You work in the dark and the midnight hours and all day long, and we thank you. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. We too often take you for granted, but all of us 

care a great deal about what you do. You risk yourselves and your 

lives to provide for the public safety. 

Senator Thune, thank you for joining me today, and to the tribal 

chairs who have testified and tribal council member Packineau, 

thank you very much. 

Let me again say to all of you that John Harte, who is the Policy 

Director of the Indian Affairs Committee, is going to stay for a bit. 

If you have issues you want to visit with John about. 

Let me finally say, as the Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, we will continue to work on this issue, continue to work 

with Senator Thune and others to try to make progress. This hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, the hearing was concluded.] 

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A P P E N D I X 


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PREPARED STATEMENT OF THERESA TWO BULLS, PRESIDENT, OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE


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PREPARED STATEMENT OF CROW CREEK SIOUX TRIBAL COUNCIL MEMBERS: RANDY

SHIELDS, SR., THOMAS THOMPSON, SR. AND NORMAN THOMPSON, SR. 


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Æ 


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