Spirit Lake Tribe

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The Spirit Lake Tribe (In Santee Sioux: Mni Wakan Oyate, formerly Devils Lake Sioux) is a Sioux tribe and its reservation is located in east-central North Dakota on the northern shores of Devil's Lake. Established in 1867 in a treaty between Sisseton Wahpeton Bands and the United States Government, the reservation consists of 1,283.777 km² (495.669 sq mi) of land area primarily in Benson County and Eddy County. Smaller areas extend into Ramsey, Wells and Nelson Counties. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1998, there are 5,086 enrolled members of the tribe, while according to the U.S. 2000 census, 4,435 members were living on the reservation. The unemployment rate was at 47.3% as of 2000. The largest community on the reservation is Fort Totten.

The tribe currently operates one casino, the Spirit Lake Casino. Formerly, the tribe owned two smaller casinos which were closed in 1996 to make way for the larger facility. The reservation also contains the Sullys Hill National Game Preserve, Fort Totten State Historic Site, and is home to the tribal college, Cankdeska Cikana Community College.

1 Communities
2 See also
3 Notes
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Communities

Fort Totten
St. Michael
Crow Hill
Wood Lake

Privately owned businesses on the reservation are few. They include such small, local operations as Paul's Grocery. Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc., which had over a million dollars in federal contracts in 2006 and is the only private company providing professional and technical employment. Wireless access is also hard to come by. Fort Totten is the reservation's economic and government center. The tribal administration, tribal college and Spirit Lake Consulting offices all have their headquarters in Fort Totten. Also on the reservation is a Vocational Rehabilitation program, which works to assist the tribal members in finding employment.