STATE-TRIBAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES

The first meeting of the 2001 interim of the Legislature's State-Tribal Relations Committee was called to order by Senator Arnold Brown, acting presiding officer, at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12, 2001, in Room 412 of the State Capitol in Pierre, South Dakota.

A quorum was determined with the following members answering the roll call: Senators Arnold Brown, Patricia de Hueck, Richard Hagen, and Ronald Volesky; and Representatives Stan Adelstein, Jean Hunhoff, and Barry Jensen. Representative Thomas Van Norman arrived following the roll call. Senator J.E. "Jim" Putnam and Representative Paul Valandra were unable to attend.

Staff members present included Tom Magedanz, Principal Research Analyst, and Phyllis Petersen, Senior Legislative Secretary.

A list of guests present during all or part of the meeting is on file with the master minutes.

(NOTE: For the sake of continuity, the following minutes are not necessarily in chronological order. Also, all referenced documents are on file with the master minutes.)

Senator Arnold Brown explained that the committee did not have a returning chair or vice chair and that the Executive Board had recommended that Senator J.E. "Jim" Putnam serve as chair and Representative Stan Adelstein serve as vice chair.

Senator Brown also commented that the presentation on demographic information listed on today's agenda will be heard at the July meeting so that the information can first be provided to the redistricting committee.

Senator Brown turned the gavel over to Vice Chair Adelstein, who asked for suggestions for study topics.

Mr. Curtis Carroll, tribal attorney for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Eagle Butte, asked the committee to consider a study of child welfare and protection and foster care for Indian children. The study would include agreements and cooperation between state and tribal entities on child placement and child welfare issues and activities.

Senator Ron Volesky requested that the committee study racial profiling by law enforcement personnel in South Dakota. (Document 1). He introduced a bill during the last legislative session (SB 70) to establish a procedure to gather the data necessary to track and identify possible racial profiling, but the bill was defeated. He said that eleven states currently require this type of data collection. Senator de Hueck asked whether the Governor's office is conducting such a study this summer. Mr. Charlie McGuigan, Attorney General's office, said the Attorney General, the Unified Judicial System, and the Department of Corrections are cooperating in a study requested by the Governor on racial bias in the criminal justice system. The Government Research Bureau at the University of South Dakota will conduct the study, and a final report is expected at the end of the year. There were committee questions about the nature of this study. Representative Hunhoff requested that a brief summary of the study be sent to committee members.

Representative Van Norman requested a study of the nursing home moratorium issue. He suggested a limited exemption to allow the Oglala and the Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to build nursing homes. He also asked the committee to consider creating tribal delegates to the state legislature.

Mr. Webster Two Hawk, Commissioner of Tribal Government Relations, Mr. Ken Rost, Mr. James Jandreau, and Mr. Doug Hofer, Game, Fish and Parks, briefed the committee on the management of Bear Butte State Park. Mr. Two Hawk distributed a map of Bear Butte State Park and information on the Bear Butte Forum held last month in Sturgis (Document 2). Bear Butte became a state park when the state purchased 1,000 acres of the mountain and 800 acres around Bear Butte Lake in 1962. Mr. Hofer said that purchasing private land around the mountain to protect the area from being developed by businesses or undesirable activities is a high priority in the department. The park is heavily used by hikers and worshippers, which makes it difficult to avoid conflict between the two groups. Four different entities own land on or near the mountain: private individuals, tribal governments, the federal government, and state government. The Bear Butte Forum, which was held in Sturgis last month, addressed concerns for preserving the integrity of the mountain, protecting the spirituality of the mountain, and educating the public on use of the mountain. In attempting to keep recreational and religious activities separate, the Department of Game, Fish and Parks plans to close the upper parking lot and have the hiking trail begin at the Visitors Center, where educational programs would be available. The ceremonial trail and the hiking trail will be separate. June is an important spiritual month, so hiking will be limited during that time. Limits will also be placed on the number of overnight religious campers, and the camping area may be relocated to nearby land owned by Indian tribes.

Mr. Two Hawk informed the committee on the purchase of Spirit Mound near Vermillion. The Department of Game, Fish and Parks will manage the land. They are making improvements now and will eventually reseed the land to native grasses and develop informational trails. It is the one spot in South Dakota that Lewis and Clark mentioned specifically in their journals. Mr. Hofer will keep the committee informed of the master plan for Bear Butte and on progress at Spirit Mound.

Ms. Sara DeCoteau, Tribal Health Coordinator, and Ms. Audrey German, Physician Recruiter, Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, and Mr. Richard Huff, Indian Health Service (IHS), asked the committee to study the issue of Indian Health Service physician licensure. They would like the committee to introduce legislation to amend state law so that Indian Health Service doctors can treat IHS patients in private hospitals, nursing homes, emergency rooms, and home health agencies. The Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe will be getting a replacement health facility, which will not have an emergency room or inpatient capacity, and the tribe hopes to enter into agreements for the cooperative use of private facilities in the area. Currently, physician licensing criteria vary for IHS physicians and physicians licensed by the state. Another part of the problem is that IHS physicians treat individual patients in the IHS facility but cannot provide follow-up care to the same patients in non-IHS facilities because they are not licensed in South Dakota. The licensing issue also has implications for the recruitment of physicians to South Dakota reservations (Documents 3 and 4).

Ms. Jean Koster, South Dakota Peace and Justice Center, and Ms. Mary Ann McCowan spoke in support of the study of racial profiling in South Dakota. Ms. McCowan described a series of meetings with the Pierre police department that have been helpful in addressing this situation.

Mr. Webster Two Hawk stated that he also supports the study of racial profiling. He is convinced that racial profiling exists and said Indian people are stopped for such things as having something hanging from their rearview mirrors.

Vice Chair Adelstein had to leave the meeting before adjournment but said he is interested in studying IHS physician services, continuity of care, qualifications of IHS physicians, allocation of funds for health care, and racial profiling.

Senator Brown resumed the duties of chair.

Senator Volesky suggested that racial profiling be discussed at a two-day meeting, possibly in August, and that this meeting be held on one of the reservations. He also stated that a briefing on the executive branch study on racial bias in law enforcement, which is being conducted by the Government Research Bureau at the University of South Dakota, could be included at this meeting.

Representative Van Norman suggested that the meeting on these issues be held in Pierre and that the Department of Health, Department of Social Services, and the South Dakota Healthcare Association be invited.

The State-Tribal Relations Committee will hold its next meeting on July 9 in Pierre and will hear testimony on Indian health care and on demographic information from the 2000 census.

The committee adjourned at 2:35 p.m.

All Legislative Research Council committee minutes and agendas are available on the South Dakota Legislature's Homepage (http://legis.state.sd.us).