187 Oyate Circle
Lower Brule, SD 57548
605-473-0561
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe's homeland knows no boundaries. Their territories were the lands in between the Rocky Mountains and the Great Lakes Area which are within the basin of the Missouri River. These lands have long been their settlement. It is where they, the Kul Wicasa Oyate people who are an immense group of related families within the Lakota Nation and are called Sicangu have always lived thousands and thousands of years ago. The tribe began to resettle in the cottonwood forests and grasslands along the Missouri River Valley as well as the rolling grasslands that extend up to the Black Hills before the end of the nineteenth century. The reservation is now what they call home. It is where they have grown to be more than just another Indian Tribe, but a community in their own right. When they first had their contact with the American negotiators in 1804, the contact proved to be the start of the conflicts and predicament. The United States government then forced the tribe to accept the treaties which resulted to the loss of the territories of the tribe. The treaties were forcefully given to them and so the tribe did not have a choice but to sign. This happened in the years between 1851 until 1963, during the midst of the Treaty Making Period of the United States. The tribe lost most of their lands, majority of which had long belonged to their ancestors. The lands of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe have long been subject to treaties. Just recently, after one hundred fifty years of struggling for the protection of their lands, the tribe has gained the land which is considered as a checkerboard of what they used to own. Their lands were divided into several types of ownership namely the land that belonged to the tribe or its tribal members, the land held in trust by the United States government which includes the trust lands, tribal lands and allotted lands and then finally, the land which has been removed from the trust and is now owned righteously by the tribal and the non-tribal people also known as free lands. However, there is one problem that existed which is the lack of the boundary markings. The lack of markings made it hard for the tribe to recognize the lands that they own, the lands under trust and the free lands. The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe is currently settled in a reservation area dedicated to them. The reservation area is filled with rolling short grass lowland, along with hills and buttes. These lands are over the western horizon extending to the Black Hills. Their reservation area is filled with mountains and valleys. Their climate is mostly warm, but some rain showers also support the plants that are natural in the area. These plants are the wild plums, chokecherries, cedar and some other shrubs where the Indians gather their food. In their area, several medicinal plants and important food sources can also be found. The nearby river is also always available for their use. The tribe is now engaged in banking, convenience store businesses, food packaging and a gas station.
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