Missouri River and other Water Rights Issues::

Introduction

"This dam provides a striking illustration of how a free society can make the most of its God-given resources" - President John F. Kennedy at the formal dedication of the Oahe Dam, South Dakota. August 16, 1962.

"Water that flows through the Great Sioux Reservation is Indian water. Water is very important for Indians. One day water will be as valuable as silver or gold" - Oglala elder, Johnson Holy Rock.

At a time when treaties were being signed between Indian nations and the United States, and everywhere land was being ceded with the guarantee that remaining Indian territory would remain so unless voted against by the Indians themselves, the right to water flowing in, into and alongside these lands was seldom an issue. It was simply implied by both sides of the treaty negotiations that land also included water and air. As time progressed, however, water and land unravelled and have become discrete entities within the discourses of the water-scarce west. Water has become an ambiguous issue with argument raging as to whom owns which water resources. Indian water rights have been the major axis around which fierce conflict has spun and such conflict has dominated Lakota political and social history during the twentieth century. Against such a largely antagonistic backdrop, this article attempts to navigate a course through the history of dams and Lakota water rights along the Missouri River.

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