Prior Lake, Minnesota - The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community announced today a $1 million grant to the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska for economic development. This is the third $1 million grant the SMSC has made to them for this purpose.

A testament to survival and resiliency, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is still recovering from loss of Tribal lands and federal termination policies which were inflicted on them during a dark time in America's history. In 1878 the government forced the Ponca to move from their homes along the lush, bountiful wooded Missouri River to the dry, barren landscape of Oklahoma. One-third of their Tribal members perished on the trip, and many of those remaining were sick or disabled. This new terrain with its unfamiliar traditional plant medicines and foods led to further hardship.

It was not until 1881 that a portion of their land was returned to them, and they were allowed to return home. Less than a century later, the Ponca Tribe was one of 109 tribes and bands whose status was terminated as the federal government attempted to break up Indian communities across the country. The Ponca Tribe's land and Tribal holdings were dissolved by an Act of the United States Congress in 1966. Tribal members struggled for more than 20 years to recover from this second major travesty, regaining federal recognition in 1990. Today the Ponca continue to rebuild their reservation, their infrastructure, their very way of life.

"Since 1990 we've developed offices in Lincoln, Omaha, Norfolk, and Niobrara, Nebraska, to provide services for our people. Our clinic is open limited hours, and 2,100 tribal members are currently served. It is estimated we could help over 8,000 Indians from other tribes in our service area if we had the resources," said Ponca Tribal Chairman Mark Peniska.

"There is no Indian gaming in Nebraska so our options are limited as far as resources to help our people. We are continuing on; we are not giving up. If it wasn't for the understanding and graciousness of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Community, I don't know what we'd do. We've asked the state of Nebraska for help, but they refused us. The only one who seems to care is the Shakopee Tribe," he continued.

The SMSC previously awarded two $1 million grants to the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska for economic development. The first $1 million installment was made in December 2004 and the second in October of 2005.

"Without the Shakopee grant we would have absolutely no resources for economic development," he said. "What Shakopee did was give us the opportunity to get to the first step on a multi-year project to benefit our Tribal members. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't be able to move forward. We're trying to be financially independent from the federal government. When the Ponca Tribe is successful, we help others. Right now we help all federally recognized Tribal members with health care in the Omaha area through our health and wellness clinic. We want to be able to do more of that like Shakopee does."

"The Ponca Tribe has an enduring spirit, and we respect that. They have persevered through incredible hardships, and we support and encourage them in their endeavors to help their people," said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks. "We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to assist them."

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