The Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community of Prior Lake will give a $1 million grant for fiscal year 2007 to the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska.

The grant will support community programs and economic development.

“You have been so generous with your support for the Santee Sioux Nation’s attempt to build a new future for its children, to care for its elderly, and to reach for goals that just a few years ago would have been unreachable,” wrote Santee Tribal Chairman Roger Trudell.

The grant will fund land purchases in the amount of $200,000. The nation is looking for land within the boundaries of the original reservation to purchase to restore their land base.

From time to time, tribal economic enterprises need funds to repair, upgrade, and maintain so $90,000 will be used for business improvements.

A medical clinic in desperate need of attention will be expanded with a $250,000 grant. The remote clinic currently provides care and treatment to tribal members that are far from modern medical centers.

Youth programs will be supported with $100,000. The nation is committed to providing its youth with a place where they can have access to computers, video games, and recreational activities. Adult guidance and counseling in the drug free zone helps youth face life’s challenges.

“These support systems will only pay huge benefits to the tribe as our kids grow and mature in a place where drugs and alcohol are not tolerated,” wrote Chairman Trudell.

A portion of the donation, $200,000, will go toward construction of a community swimming pool. The existing pool is old, small, and has several large cracks in the bottom that cannot be repaired without digging up the entire system. A new pool will help provide exercise classes in conjunction with the wellness center for the elderly and those diagnosed with diabetes.

The Buffalo Interpretive Center will receive $75,000 to help provide services and support the buffalo herd. The elderly program will receive $35,000 to continue to assist elderly tribal members who live on fixed incomes.

Since Midwestern winters can be brutally cold, $50,000 of the grant will be used for energy assistance. The Santee Sioux Tribes administer a federal energy assistance program called LIHEAP that provides emergency funds for electricity, propane, fuel oil, wood, and plastic sheeting for windows. LIHEAP stands for Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program.

A Dakota nation, the Santee were forcibly removed from Minnesota after the Dakota Conflict of 1862 first to Crow Creek, South Dakota, and then to an isolated area in northern Nebraska along the Missouri River. Health care, social services, education, employment opportunities, infrastructure, and other human services generally taken for granted have not been historically available to them. The Santee have maintained close social ties to the SMDC since the late 1800s.