| The culmination of the Pick-Sloan Plan and the advent of federal Indian termination policy resulted in the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe seeking federal withdrawal in 1957. This move, however, ran counter to South Dakota Sioux tribes' opposition to state jurisdiction and general opposition on behalf of tribes on a national level. Prior to tribe's request of self-termination, the Lower had yet to receive adequate remuneration for damages and dislocation for inundation the Fort Randall Dam caused. As termination on both the federal and state levels were in full-swing and more flooding on the way from the future construction of the Big Bend Dam, out of desperation the Lower Brule caved to the demands of federal Indian policy and sought to self-terminate to negotiate a more substantial compensation package.;Up until this point in history, federal Indian policy sought to effectively limit the responsibility of the federal government through the implementation of social engineering programs that were couched in the language of "rehabilitation." Employing a tribal attorney and negotiating as a newly organized tribal government under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, the Lower Brule historically tried to insert its own interests in the development of the Missouri River to no avail. Years of negotiating with congressional officials and state leaders led to the ultimate decision for the tribe to seek self-termination, as they saw no other way out. Federal and congressional leaders also poorly informed the Lower Brule to make the decision for federal withdrawal.;The historical experience of loss and the knowledge that the Lower Brule had absolutely no control over the construction of the Pick-Sloan dams and the flooding of their vital bottomlands contributed greatly to their fateful decision in 1957. This narrative documents the historical loss the tribe experienced under the historical forces of U.S. settler colonialism. Guiding the forced removal of Natives from their land were ideological beliefs that this would force Native peoples to assimilate into U.S. society and directly coincided with the aims of termination policy. |
