In the Wake of Winter Storm Diaz, Tribes Gather to Discuss Resources and Solutions to Emergency Management

Dozens of tribal leaders, FEMA officials, and BIA representatives gathered in Rapid City Tuesday to discuss solutions for emergency management on South Dakota's reservations.

The goal of the seminar was to connect tribal leaders with the resources that are available to them and provide them with the contacts necessary to respond effectively in times of emergency. Senator Mike Rounds (R—S.D.) said knowing who can provide what help and having an established incident command not only makes the response to sudden disasters more efficient but also allows them to prepare ahead of time for upcoming storms.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Scott Herman told the Journal knowing who to contact and having that relationship was somewhat of a process during December's storms.

"It was kind of hard to be able to make the contacts that I needed to make during that last storm," he said. "I got a hold of the Tribal Relations Secretary David Flute, and he kind of put me in contact with the right people. It didn't happen right away; it was a process to it. I'm hoping that maybe the relationship building as far as the state, the counties, even with the federal agencies that we need to be working with."

Rounds spoke early on, praising the tribal leaders for their willingness to hold the seminar and insisting there must be inter-governmental cooperation that still respects tribal sovereignty.

"We're all South Dakotans, but we're also all Americans. And whether you're a member of a tribe, or you're not, you can still work together to get things done," he said. "That's what this is all about — responding in times of emergency. That's what government is all about is responding in times of emergency."

Oglala Sioux Tribe President and Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Association President Frank Star Comes Out agreed with Rounds' sentiments on cooperation and said treaty obligations need to be met.

"We want to work together," he said. "I believe it's not only the tribes working together, but it should be our state officials, so we can work together as one when we have these emergency disasters because that's not happening right now."

The seminar, which was originally to be held in December, was delayed because of Winter Storm Diaz. As a result, the lessons and questions arising from the impact of that storm fostered much of Tuesday's discussion. Diaz — and the extreme cold and additional snowfall that came through immediately after — left citizens across the Pine Ridge Reservation burning clothes to stay warm. Several people on the Rosebud Reservation died, including a 12-year-old St. Francis boy, whose family tried to reach emergency services for hours but had to wait for a snowplow to clear a path for an ambulance.

Star Comes Out explained the biggest challenge to their tribal emergency management is a lack of funding.

"Because of a lack of funding, our programs are choking each other out," he said. "It's causing our tribes to make impossible decisions just to survive."

Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Scott Herman agreed with Star Comes Out's the insistence that more funding is needed and explained they are still trying to get FEMA reimbursement from around $3 million spent out of the Emergency Management Program fund to provide assistance during December's storms. The EPP is funded out of the tribe's general fund. They usually put money into the EPP as needed, but with a lack of resources available during December's storms, Herman said a lot of funding was put in to fill the need.

It's not only a lack of resources, but a lack of manpower as well. Herman explained they don't have the numbers to handle such large disasters, despite having robust emergency program management.

"We just don't have enough resources when it comes to storms," Herman said. "A lot of times, we have to go ask other people for help. Other tribes [came in to] help on the last storm we had. Nebraska tribe came down and helped out. They did some snow removal for us and then they went on. They didn't have the heavy equipment that they needed, but they surely came down and helped out."

Herman said they learned a lot from Diaz and are now looking into grants and federal funding for equipment that can handle large-scale disasters. The tribe used some of their American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase front-end loaders to help remove snow. They're also looking at USDA and EDA disaster funding.

"As far as the money out there to purchase the equipment, we're looking at rural development as far as having some type of grants that can provide funding for equipment to deal with the next storm," Herman said.

Senator Rounds also presented Star Comes Out with a framed copy of the Respect Act, Rounds' legislation that repealed 11 "onerous and really racist" federal policies against Native Americans. The gift included the pen President Biden used to sign the act into law.

Some of those laws included the ability for the federal government to run Indian boarding schools and withhold rations to Native families who wouldn't send their children to such schools. Rounds started working on the legislation in 2015 and said even though the laws aren't in use today, they should be eliminated from federal standards as a symbolic gesture of the damage they caused.

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