Overview - Common Questions

Wakpa Sica Site Rendering

What is the Reconciliation Place Project?

The Reconciliation Place Project is authorized by a federal law passed in 2000 (Title IV, Omnibus Indian Advancement Act, PL 106-568) and is designed to have five components:

How did the Legislation come about?

The legislation is mainly the result of the efforts of the Wakpa Sica Historical Society. The Wakpa Historical Society is an organization located in Ft. Pierre, SD. It was established in 1988. It is made up of both Indians and non-Indians. One of its principal goals is to advance reconciliation and cooperation between Indians and non-Indians, their institutions, and their governments.

This legislation had supporting resolutions (from Tribal Councils and/or Tribal Chairs) from eleven tribes in the project area.

The project is also supported by the entire South Dakota Congressional delegation, the Governor of South Dakota and the Boards of Commissioners in Stanley and Hughes Counties and the mayors of Ft. Pierre and Pierre.

What does the logo represent?

The development of our logo is described here.

Where are the components of the Reconciliation Place Project to be located?

The permanent home of the Reconciliation Place Project is to be located along North Hwy 1806 on acres of trust land located outside of Ft. Pierre at the confluence of the Bad and Missouri Rivers (see attached map.) This is the exact location of the historic meeting between Chief Black Buffalo and other leaders of the Sioux Nation and the members of the Lewis and Clark party.

The land on which the Reconciliation Place is to be built includes 12.61 acres previously owned by Stanley County which transferred it to the Wakpa Sica Historical Society in 2002. The Wakpa Sica Historical Society in turn transferred this land to the United States in trust for the Sioux Nation. The placement of this land in trust for the Sioux Nation is recognized and required by the authorizing federal legislation.

The placement of this land in trust for the Sioux Nation is of great historical and cultural significance. It is the first time that land that was once a part of the Sioux Reservation as established by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868-but currently outside the boundaries of any reservation-has been returned to the Sioux Nation.

Initial ground preparation and general construction began in the summer of 2002. The groundbreaking was attended by over 100 people, both Indian and non-Indian. There was also a ceremony performed by Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the Original Lakota Sacred White Buffalo Calf Peace Pipe.

What is the Sioux Nation Supreme Court component of the Reconciliation Place Project?

The federal legislation does not describe this portion (or any of the five enumerated components) of the Reconciliation Place Project in any detail whatsoever. To date, efforts have been directed at establishing a Sioux Nation Judicial Support Center to provide assistance to the existing tribal courts of the eleven tribes named in legislation. This assistance has largely been in the area of training and legal research (performed by law students at the University of South Dakota & University of North Dakota Schools of Law.) The Judicial Support Center is understood as the necessary foundation for the formation of any Sioux Nation Supreme Court.

The efforts of the Sioux Nation Judicial Support Center are expected to continue to strengthen and to advance existing tribal courts. There is no plan for any of the work in this area to replace existing tribal courts. These activities will also form the backbone for the (potential) development of a Sioux Nation Supreme Court. Much planning, discussion, and research remains to be completed in order to continue to move forward in this area.

How is the Reconciliation Place Project to be governed?

This is a critical question. The authorizing federal legislation does not address the issue of governance. It is the intent of the Wakpa Sica Historical Society that the Reconciliation Place Project be governed by an entity completely independent and separate from the Wakpa Sica Historical Society. Of course, the formation and governance of any Sioux Nation Supreme Court would be completely in the hands of the Sioux Nation Tribes. The Board of Directors of the Wakpa Sica Historical Society is clearly on record to this effect.

Initial planning-in consultation with the participating Tribes and other interested individuals and groups-is currently underway to develop a plan that will ensure effective and representative governance of this unique and innovative project.

In many ways, the issue of the governance is the test of reconciliation itself. Can diverse people and institutions and governments come together to forge a mutually agreed upon plan to manage and share responsibility in this potentially path breaking effort in the Northern Plains? Although much hard work remains in this area, the Wakpa Sica Historical Society continues to believe that valuable progress is being made and that an effective blueprint for responsive and responsible governance will soon be forthcoming.

How is the Reconciliation Place Project funded?

The federal Reconciliation Place legislation authorized (but did not appropriate) funds in the amount of $18.2 million. All of these funds are for the building and construction of the Reconciliation Place. The legislation contains no money for the programs to be carried out by the Reconciliation Place Project.

The FY02 $1.75 million grant was to complete Schematic Design documents for the entire project; to prepare 95% Construction Documents for the Cultural Center; and prepare 100% Construction Documents for the Wolakota Center. All utilities (power, water and sewer) have been brought to the site. Building over excavation and engineered fill operations are completed and ready for foundation work. We have completed the final concept designs for the cultural exhibits, our environmental assessment, and a cultural attraction plan. The streets and alleys at the site have been vacated by the City of Ft. Pierre. We refer to this grant and its expenditures as Phase I.

The Wakpa Sica Historical Society was awarded a grant in FY03 of $2.68 million to construct the Wolakota Center. The Wolakota Center is a free standing, concrete column supported structure which is essentially the lobby area of the future completed building complex. The Wolakota Center provides a sheltered gathering area complete with stage and display walls, a comfort station, an outdoor festival area, an interpretive area with a Native Planting Circle, a half circle of seven lodge-size tipis honoring "Oceti Sakowin", the Seven Council Fires, and a Native Prairie Interpretive Area. This work is referred to as Phase II and will be completed by the Fall of 2004.

Phase I and Phase II are planned, integral portions of the overall project. The next phase involves obtaining funding to construct the Judicial Center and Cultural Center parts of the complex and to complete the overall facility. Congress recently appropriated $2 million dollars for FY04 to begin construction on the buildings.

There is, of course, no guarantee that Congress will appropriate any additional money. The Wakpa Sica Historical Society remains cautiously optimistic about continued funding for buildings and construction. The expected completion date of all construction-if funding continues at the current levels-is in the year 2009.

Even if federal funding is received to complete building and construction, there will also be funding issues related to operating the programs—cultural, legal, and economic—that are the heart of the Reconciliation Place Project. To date, the Project has received limited U.S. Justice Department funding for its efforts to work with the existing tribal courts of the Sioux Nation Tribes and to explore the issues relative to the potential establishment of a Sioux Nation Supreme Court.

The Reconciliation Project does not receive any Tribal or State Funding.

Funding has never been easy for projects in Indian Country and in that regard the Reconciliation Place Project is no different. Only time will tell, But if hard work and commitment make a difference, there is reason to be hopeful.

What is it about the Reconciliation Project that makes it different from other projects?

The Reconciliation Place Project is unique in several different ways. First, it established a physical place-in a historically significant locale of Indian and non-Indian commercial contact in the early part of the nineteenth century-for projects of cultural preservation, innovative dispute resolution, judicial development and economic development planning. These projects are to be developed both within the Sioux Nation and through cooperative efforts with non-Indian institutions and other governments.

Second, the Reconciliation Place Project creates not only a unique effort between people and their institutions, but also a bridge that joins the historical and cultural past of the Sioux Nation to the challenges of a new century. The Reconciliation Place Project legislation is the only piece of federal legislation of the past 100 years that expressly recognizes an entity known as the Sioux Nation.

It is a good thing with which to help build a hopeful and meaningful future.