Chairman Garrett Renville urges restored trust, tax transparency and tribal managed care in State of the Tribes address

Garrett Renville, chairman of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, told a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature that rebuilding government-to-government trust must begin with consultation and transparency, and he urged the Legislature to support specific tax reporting, healthcare and housing measures.

Renville said recent actions and statements affecting tribal budgets and authority have eroded trust between tribal nations and the state, and he asked lawmakers to "reset" the relationship by consulting tribes before pursuing legislation that affects tribal budgets and compacts.

He asked lawmakers to back House Bill 1018, which he described as "an act to require the Department of Revenue provide an annual report to tribal governments regarding certain tax collections," specifically seeking an accounting of online sales-tax revenue collected from tribal areas and how much was returned to tribes. "Transparency and trust are vital," Renville said.

Renville also proposed exploring a capital-gains tax exclusion for land sold to tribal interests and returned to tribal ownership, saying such land-back transfers would support tribal agriculture and local economies. He said Sisseton Wahpeton is revitalizing agriculture and wants partnerships with state leaders and businesses to create training, market access and shared resources.

Law-enforcement resources on tribal lands featured prominently. Renville said tribal lands cover a large portion of the state’s geography and noted small officer counts on some reservations: "...the Cokato Creek Sioux tribe has only three officers; Lower Brule has two; [another tribal police force] has two; Rosebud has 14; Sisseton has 14," he said, urging better training and local academies. He thanked lawmakers for an earlier resolution (No. 6011) that supported a regional Bureau of Indian Affairs law-enforcement academy and noted a recent state-hosted tribal academy at the George S. Mickelson Criminal Justice Center had 9 tribal graduates alongside 12 other officers.

On healthcare, Renville urged support for tribal nations’ ability to self-manage care through an Indian-managed care entity, pointing to federal opportunities created by pandemic-era relief funds. He said a tribal-managed-care approach could offer greater coordination, better outcomes and predictability for Medicaid budgeting while generating economic benefits.

Education was another focus: Renville asked the Legislature to restore the Office of Indian Education to the Department of Education and reconstitute an Indian Education Advisory Council with representation from all nine South Dakota tribes. He urged culturally relevant curricula and partnerships between tribal colleges and state universities to boost teacher pipelines and career opportunities for Native students.

Renville asked the Legislature to send a resolution to Congress seeking removal of the language in the 1863 Dakota Removal Act that he said exiled Dakota people from Minnesota; he said Minnesota adopted a similar resolution in 2009 and asked South Dakota to follow. He also called for a state resolution urging reauthorization of the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act to help address tribal housing shortages.

Renville said the nine tribal governments oppose the proposed carbon pipeline projects (referred to in his remarks as "DAPL and KXL"), calling the tribes’ opposition unequivocal: "the 9 tribal governments oppose the carbon pipeline, period." He closed by urging cooperation, saying "let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children."