Updated August 1, 2025

Prepared by our Lakota Advocacy Center Initiative, Native Notes is a monthly newsletter on new and proposed policies impacting Indian Country. Sign up for our newsletter to have these updates delivered direct to your inbox!

SD Senate calls for the repeal of the Dakota Removal Act

SD Senate Resolution 702: Supporting the repeal of the Sioux-Dakota Removal Act.

In 1863 the US Congress passed into law the Sioux-Dakota Removal Act, which authorized the forceful displacement of our Dakota relatives from their homelands. This followed the largest mass execution in US history of 38 Dakota relatives hanged to death in Mankato, and was part of a much larger effort to remove Indigenous peoples, especially Dakota, from the colonial state of Minnesota. In addition to ordering their removal, by this act Congress reneged on previously made treaties and their obligations to these tribes.

SD Senate Resolution 702 was approved urging the US Congress to repeal the 1863 Sioux-Dakota Removal Act, without affecting current property rights or impacting the land given to these tribes in the process of removal. This act authorized the use of force to remove our Dakota relatives from the Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdewakanton, and Wahpakoota tribes from their ancestral homelands. Repealing this act would serve as a symbol, showing a commitment to removing from law measures that were designed to erode tribal sovereignty and the relationships these tribes share with their homelands. 

Tribal nations predate the United States by literally thousands of years. For generations beyond counting, different nations lived in balance with their homelands, cultivating relationships that contributed to healthy ecosystems and abundance for the people. As the United States extended its empire (from sea to shining sea), measures like the 1863 Sioux-Dakota Removal Act were the legal framework for genocide and land theft.

Recent years have seen a growing respect for Indigenous nations, and we commend the South Dakota State Senate for urging the repeal of this blatantly racist act. As the United States nears its 250th year, we hope to see this law, and more of the harmful and discriminatory laws that remain in place, reviewed and removed as part of the process of healing and restitution.

SD Restricts use of eminent domain for carbon oxide pipelines

this bill was Signed into law on march 6, 2025

SD House bill 1052: An Act to prohibit the exercise of eminent domain for a pipeline that carries carbon oxide.

Prohibiting the forced sale of land to create carbon oxide pipelines, SD House Bill 1052 protects landowners from land grabs by pipeline developers. Future construction of these pipelines will require deeper consultation with landowners to develop voluntary easements or land purchases for pipeline construction. 

Carbon oxide pipelines carry carbon dioxide, a non-toxic gas which contributes to climate change when released into the air. This law comes as Summit Carbon Solutions has been working towards approvals for a pipeline that would transfer carbon dioxide from ethanol production in Midwestern states to North Dakota, where it would be buried deep underground as an alternative to releasing the carbon dioxide into the air. Construction of the pipeline is expected to cost $8.9 billion, and already has approval in three states: Iowa, North Dakota, and Minnesota.

By preventing the use of eminent domain for pipelines transporting carbon oxide, the SD State Legislature has chosen to protect landowners. This law is important protection not only for private landowners but especially for Indigenous communities whose lands have long been targeted for extractive infrastructure without consent. It affirms the right of tribal nations and individual Indigenous landowners to say no, and is a meaningful step toward self-determination and environmental justice for Indigenous peoples in SD.

BADGES Act funds tribal response to MMIW Crisis

US Senate Bill 465: Bridging Agency Data Gaps & Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act

Legislative Watch:

This bill awaits hearing in both chambers of Congress. We will provide updates as the bill proceeds

Introduced by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) with Cosponsors John Hoeven (R-ND), Ruben Gellego (D-AZ), and Mike Rounds (R-SD), the Bridging Agency Data Gaps & Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act would directly benefit Native communities by increasing federal accountability and improving coordination with tribal law enforcement and MMIP cases.

An earlier version of this bill passed the Senate in 2024 but did not get a House vote during that legislative session. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto introduced the bill again this year. It awaits both Senate and House votes.


According to bill sponsor Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (R-NV) this bill would:

  • Increase Tribal access to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) by requiring Tribal facilitators to conduct ongoing Tribal outreach and serve as a point of contact for Tribes and law enforcement agencies, as well as conduct training and information gathering to improve the resolution of missing persons cases.

  • Require a comprehensive report on Tribal law enforcement needs.

  • Allow the BIA to conduct its own background checks for law enforcement officer applicants in order to speed up and improve officer recruitment.

  • Establish a grant program to help states, Tribes, and Tribal organizations coordinate efforts related to missing and murdered persons cases and sexual assault cases.

  • Ensure BIA officers and Tribal police have access to culturally appropriate mental health and wellness programs.

This measure is a response to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). Indigenous women and girls face higher levels of physical and sexual violence than the national average, and unlike the general population most of this violence is committed by people from other communities. A 2016 National Institute of Justice report found that “more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime, including 56.1 percent who have experienced sexual violence.”

While 5,712 cases of MMIP were reported in 2016, only 116 were logged in the Department of Justice Database. One plank of the BADGES Act is to improve data collection and ensure that these relatives are seen. Better data collection will inform action and help identify patterns to this crisis. This measure puts resources in Tribal communities to develop our own responses to missing and murdered persons cases, contributing to greater self-determination through community-led responses.

Native Notes

Native Notes is a new project from our Lakota Advocacy Center. We want to empower our relatives to better understand legislation impacting our communities. We believe these newsletters will help new and established community organizers identify and pursue policy change based on our shared values and our traditional teachings.

Wopila ṫaŋk̄a uŋk̄enic̄iyap̄i kṡt̄o (we thank each of you) for reading this!

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DeCora Hawk

Lakota Advocacy Center Director

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Lakota Advocacy Center Coordinator

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