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Public service announcements &

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The Community Education Department at Enemy Swim Day School will be sponsoring the 2nd annual Backyard Bash on Thursday July 15.

The event will take place on the school grounds from 5:30 - 7:30. A picnic suppler will be provided as well as lots of activities. Sweet G-s Inflatable

will be there for bouncing and climbing pleasure. There will be baseball and t-ball games, a watermellon feed and seed spiting contest too.

What better on a hot July evening than a water park and we will have one of those too so bring towels and cloths to play in the water.

If all of this seem a bit much on a hot July evening then just bring your lawn chairs and blankets to sit and listen to the music, and catch up on the

latest news with friends.

Everyone is welcome to attend the Backyard Bash Thursday July 15 from 5:30 - 7:30 at Enemy Swim Day School.

Monday, June 28, 2010

SMSC Annual Wacipi Details Announced

August 20, 21 and 22, 2010

Shakopee, MN – Each August hundreds of dancers and singers from across the country gather at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community annual Wacipi (Pow Wow). This year the event will be held on Friday through Sunday, August 20, 21, and 22, 2010. The Wacipi will be held at the Pow Wow Grounds on the SMSC reservation, on Dakotah Parkway, just south of County Road 42 between County Road 83 and County Road 17. The annual event is open to the public.

The Wacipi is a social gathering where friends and relatives come together to celebrate their culture and way of life. A Wacipi is a homecoming of sorts, with many choosing to return every year to enjoy the dancers in their regalia, the singers at the drum, good food, and booths with arts and crafts for sale. Traditional moccasin games will also be played by Native American teams. The word Wacipi [wah-chee-pee] in the Dakota Language translates as "they dance." A more common meaning is "Pow Wow."

SMSC Vice-Chairman Glynn A. Crooks is the Chairman of the Pow Wow Committee. “We invite the public to attend our annual Pow Wow and see for themselves the beauty of our culture,” he said. “We have hosted this event for many years and are honored to welcome our guests, friends, and relatives.”

Danny Seaboy (Sisseton Wahpeton/White Earth Ojibwe) and Wallace Coffey (Comanche) will serve as Masters of Ceremonies. They will explain to the crowd what is going on in the dance arena, and drum groups will sing special songs for each style of dance. In addition to Grand Entry Songs, a Flag Song and Veterans Song will be sung before intertribal and competition dancing begins at each dance session.

Arena Directors are Juaquin Hamilton-Youngbird (Sac and Fox) and Rusty Gillette (Arikara and Hidatsa). Juaquin is a Southern Straight dancer while Rusty is a grass dancer. Moccasin Game Coordinator is David Flute (Sisseton Wahpeton). Sound Man is Dale Roberts (Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribe).

Held outdoors in a traditional dance arena, the Pow Wow will feature Native American vendors with arts, crafts, beadwork, jewelry, quillwork, and Native American foods for sale, including frybread, wojapi (berry pudding), wild rice, hominy soup, buffalo burgers, Indian tacos, and much more.

Host drums are Mazakute from Santee, Nebraska, and Wahpekute from Sisseton, South Dakota. Invited drums are The Boyz (Minnesota), Pipestone (Wisconsin), Wild Rose (Washington), Stoney Park (Alberta), Prairie Island (Minnesota), War Scout (Utah), Bad Nation (South Dakota), Sizzortail (Oklahoma), Wild Band of Comanches (Oklahoma), and Thunderhill (Oklahoma).

Grand Entries will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Fireworks will be held at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 21, 2010, at the Pow Wow Grounds and an interdenominational church service will be held on Sunday, August 22, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. at nearby Tiowakan Spiritual Center.

A dance exhibition at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, will be held as a preview to the Wacipi on Thursday, August 19, 2010. Times for this dance exhibition are 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

For more information on the Wacipi call 952-445-8900 or go to www.shakopeedakota.org. Information may also be found at www.facebook.com/smscwacipi2010. For information about booths, call 952-496-6176. The SMSC Pow Wow Grounds are located at 3212 Dakotah Parkway, Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372.

About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for all of the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a charitable giving program which comes from a cultural and social tradition to assist those in need.

Over the past 13 years, the SMSC has donated more than $180.8 million to charitable organizations and Indian Tribes. Since 1996 the SMSC paid more than $6.6 million for shared local road construction projects and an additional $5 million for road projects on the reservation.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota, is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Playworks, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, The Meadows at Mystic Lake, and other enterprises on a reservation south of the Twin Cities.

This press release and other information may be downloaded from the SMSC website at www.shakopeedakota.org.

HERSETH SANDLIN STATEMENT ON MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATION

Washington, DC-Today, the President declared a major disaster exists in parts of South Dakota affected by flooding that began in March. Thirty counties across South Dakota will be eligible for federal aid because of this declaration.

“The spring flooding our state experienced caused significant damage to rural areas across South Dakota,” Rep. Herseth Sandlin said. “This presidential disaster declaration will help aid the ongoing recovery, and I will continue to work with state and local officials, as well as tribal leaders, to assist in these efforts.”

Rep. Herseth Sandlin recently joined Senators Johnson and Thune in writing the President to support Governor Rounds’ request for a disaster declaration. She held eight community meeting in April to discuss ways South Dakota can improve its ability to respond to the current flooding and mitigate the effects of future flooding.

Counties eligible for assistance include: Aurora, Beadle, Brown, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Clark, Clay, Codington, Day, Edmunds, Faulk, Grant, Hamlin, Hanson, Hutchinson, Hyde, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lyman, Marshall, McCook, McPherson, Miner, Roberts, Sanborn, Spink, Sully, Turner, and Union Counties.

Herseth Sandlin Announces $7.9 million for Rosebud Sioux Housing

April 19, 2010 - Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin announced today that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is releasing $7.9 million to the Sicangu Wicoti Awayankapi, the Rosebud Sioux tribal housing authority. The funds come from an annual funding formula through the Indian Housing Block Grant program (IHBG), and represent a critical investment in housing on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation.

“There are significant housing needs on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation,” said Rep. Herseth Sandlin. “This targeted investment will help ensure more families on the Rosebud Reservation can raise their children in safe and adequate housing.”

Recently, Rep. Herseth Sandlin joined with her colleagues in the House of Representatives to request increased funding for the IHBG and Indian Community Development Block Grant programs. Recognizing a resolution passed by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in February, Rep. Herseth Sandlin acknowledged the continued challenges facing Indian Country.

“Sadly, in many parts of Indian Country, the federal government has failed to provide the resources to tribes to meet basic housing needs. That is why I joined with other concerned members of the House of Representatives to request full funding of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act. It is important we provide more resources to address the backlog of need to renovate, replace, and expand the housing stock on many reservations,” said Rep. Herseth Sandlin.

The $7.9 million IHBG funds were included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed by President Obama on December 16, 2009 and cover funding for Fiscal Year 2010. The funding increase requested by Rep. Herseth Sandlin would affect spending for Fiscal Year 2011 beginning on October 1, 2010.

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HERSETH SANDILN ANNOUNCES $29M FOR SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BONDS

Washington, DC-Today, Rep. Herseth Sandlin announced that the state of South Dakota will receive $29,797,000 in allocation authority to issue qualified school construction bonds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Qualified school construction bonds can be used to finance the construction, rehabilitation or repair of a public school facility or for the acquisition of land where a school will be built.

“This long-overdue financing option will be quickly used by schools across the state to update their facilities, ultimately improving the educational experience of young people in South Dakota,” Rep. Herseth Sandlin said. “School construction meets the goals of the stimulus by not only creating jobs, but also investing in the future of our country, our children.”

Created by the Recovery Act, qualified school construction bonds help state and local governments obtain low-cost financing for much needed public school improvements and construction. Investors who buy these bonds receive Federal income tax credits at prescribed tax credit rates in lieu of interest. These tax credit bonds essentially allow state and local governments to borrow without incurring interest costs.

The Recovery Act provided for the issuance of $11 billion of qualified school construction bonds by states and large local educational agencies in 2009 and $11 billion in 2010. The 2010 allocations include $6.6 billion of bonding authority to the 50 states and the remaining $4.4 billion of volume cap to 103 large local educational agencies under a statutory formula tied to levels of federal education grant funding.

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“The Dakota Way ”

A Talking Circle

To be held every Friday

5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

In the Meth Prevention Office

Located in former TZ School Building

Agency Village

For more information please call or email

Crystal 698-3070

The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Health Care Center

Hours of operation are: 8am-8pm; Monday –Friday ; Saturday and Sunday 1pm-5pm.