SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Republican congressional candidate Neal Tapio is calling for an end to the Native American reservation system.
The first-term state senator from Watertown is proposing a breakup of the reservation system and instead creating block grants of federal benefits for tribal members. He says the current system has “destroyed the futures of four generations of Indian children.”
There are nine tribal nations in South Dakota. State Secretary of Tribal Relations Steve Emery, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, tells the Argus Leader that tribal members and governments in South Dakota would be “very opposed” to Tapio’s plan.
Tapio, former Public Utilities Commissioner Dusty Johnson and Secretary of State Shantel Krebs are vying for their party’s nomination in the June 5 U.S. House primary.