Tribes take giant step to regain He Sapa

The Black Hills have been broken since at least 2002. 

The white race stole the ground, plundered the resources, continue to pollute waterways and deplete watersheds, and have encouraged ponderosa pine to infest lands once dominated by aspen and sage. But, the de facto repatriation of one tiny parcel to an Indigenous community is hardly monumentizing gone wrong. In fact, it could be a giant leap toward reconciliation.

Today, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz and the Great Sioux Nation tribal representatives signed a Memorandum of Understanding for co-stewardship of the Black Elk Wilderness on the Black Hills National Forest in Mystic, South Dakota.

“Establishing this agreement will enhance consultation, collaboration and co-stewardship of the Black Elk Wilderness with the Great Sioux Nation Tribes,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “This agreement focuses on active management for recreation, habitat improvement, wildlife benefit, invasive species mitigation and wilderness management.”

The agreement enhances opportunities for tribal guidance, knowledge, and consultation regarding wilderness management, resource protection, recreation, and cultural interpretation, at the discretion of the tribe and as applicable and permitted under federal law. It also ensures tribal interests of preservation, site protection, wilderness integrity, and cultural practice and access are heeded.

“These MOUs are important because our Lakota children are our most important resource for the future of our Nation, and we want our kids to have a chance to visit our sacred lands, plant trees and enjoy Mother Earth, where our ancestors once roamed free,” said Boyd Gourneau, chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

“Our most sacred lands are the Black Hills, and Black Elk Peak is tied to Black Elk, our Holy Man and it is an honor for us to care for these lands at Black Elk Wilderness,” said Wayne Boyd, treasurer for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.  “We welcome the jobs and opportunity for our kids and the chance to teach our culture and history to our neighbors.”

Tribes represented in the agreement include: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and Yankton Sioux Tribe.

The Black Elk Wilderness was congressionally designated in 1980 and spans 13,534 acres in the center of the Black Hills National Forest in western South Dakota. This historic partnership serves as a model for future co-stewardship agreements. The U.S. Forest Service and the Great Sioux Nation will continue to work closely together to implement the agreement, with upcoming joint initiatives. [press release]

Xitter is a shit hole

NEW: Data shows out of the top 100 most-viewed X accounts posting about politics in February 2026, 74 were conservative-leaning and 26 were liberal-leaning. 📉 Keep reading for why...

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— Kyle Tharp (@kylewilsontharp.bsky.social) March 26, 2026 at 8:31 AM

Olson watching the SDGOP imploding

Editor's note: like Liz May, South Dakota's favorite former teevee anchor-turned author, Shad Olson is watching the South Dakota Republican Party turning to shit.

"Toby Doeden should have spent his money supporting good conservative legislative candidates instead of running for governor."

That's the running "true fighters" narrative, now that many more smart and seasoned conservatives are begging Jon Hansen to see what was true, even before the Hansen-Lems campaign jumped Toby Doeden's formal campaign announcement date and Scott Odenbach seethed and fumed in Chamberlain last July about Doeden's presence in the race.

The Hansen-Lems ticket will split the conservative grassroots and give Dusty Johnson his best possible pathway to victory in the June primary. Because that was always the plan. Because ALL OF THEM are backed and supported by AFP and AIPAC.

All except the businessman outsider from Aberdeen.

But then, I wrote exactly that in February of 2025 and have repeated it ad nauseam, while the pipeline sheep dreamed their sleepy delusions about the true reasons for a Jon and Karla ticket.

Today's narrative, now that a great many others are making impassioned appeals for conservative unity as our only chance to show the establishment phonies to the door...

"Toby should have spent his money supporting legislative candidates instead of running for governor."

Yes. Morons. Now some facts. He has. He is. And he will.

It was only Toby Doeden's cash and support from Dakota First Action that allowed the "Freshman 15" conservative legislative class to sweep out the establishment incumbents and punch tickets for Pierre in 2025.

Including $50,000-plus in one State Senate district primary alone, allowing Carl Perry to stave off the Schoenbeck-Dusty Johnson RINO, Katie Washnok. (How's ole Carl expecting to fare against Ms. Washnok this time, without that kind of backing?) Good luck to you, Mr. Perry.

Doeden's PAC is spending $2-million in the 2026 legislative primaries in hopes of repeating the trend, in addition to bankrolling his own campaign. A campaign pledge announced at the same Chamberlain strategy session where Jon Hansen asked Scott Odenbach's permission before speaking to the group. (Real alpha, that guy.)

Anyone believing in some stupefying zero-sum game where Doeden's run for governor was coming at the expense of assisting another grassroots groundswell of actual conservative legislative candidates doesn't know fava beans from the hole they're planted in.

As I've maintained repeatedly and will until the end of time: South Dakota conservatives are too stupid, and now, too fractured to win.

All by design.

So, welcome one and all to the Tea Party Era, Part II. No political power. No access to actual policy influence. And lots and lots of rah-rah rallies and patriot commiseration events, full of energy but devoid of substance or ability to inflect the political universe.

"Scott Pressler came to South Dakota and scolded John Thune's obstruction of the SAVE Act.

ZERO impact on who controls the machines or counts the votes.

2000-era White House policies beget 2010-era political irrelevance for the GOP.

And lots of halting and meandering Rumble podcasts featuring painfully inarticulate, obviously confused and visibly miserable cultists, explaining to the room why running a Governor's campaign to nowhere, with zero money, to upend the state's most generous conservative political donor, was the "good and righteous" thing for South Dakota.

If Hansen-Lems were ever interested in that, they wouldn't have assisted in driving the wedge and sent out their battery acid-and-razor blades surrogates to set the scars.

A Dusty victory in June would and will complete the most stunning act of political subterfuge and betrayal in the history of South Dakota.

And, oh, how very different it all might have been...