Lower Brule Agency

Waylon Black Crow
Acting Superintendent

Mailing Address:
Bureau of Indian Affairs
190 Oyate Circle
Lower Brule, South Dakota 57548

Physical Address:
Bureau of Indian Affairs
190 Oyate Circle
Lower Brule, South Dakota 57548

Telephone: (605) 550-1932
Telefax: (605) 473-5016

Tribe Served:
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
Boyd Gourneau, Chairman
187 Oyate Circle
Lower Brule, South Dakota 57548

Telephone: (605) 473-5561
Telefax: (605) 473-5606

Trust Land Base: 156,917 acres

Estimated Tribal Enrollment: 3,410 members

The Lower Brule Agency is located at Lower Brule, South Dakota, and services the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and Reservation. The reservation covers 404 square miles in Lyman and Stanley counties in central South Dakota, bounded on the northeast and east by the Missouri River, which was closed by the Big Bend Dam in 1963. On the east and north side of the reservoir, Lake Sharpe, is the Crow Creek Reservation. The Lower Brule Reservation population is 1,664 and tribal membership is 3,410. The Agency headquarters is located in the Lower Brule Tribal Administration building, newly constructed in 2001, staffed with 15 permanent employees. The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe is the largest employer on the reservation, operating many BIA and IHS programs, the Golden Buffalo Casino & Motel, Tribal Farm, propane plant, popcorn processing plant, a construction company, and hunting enterprise.

ON RESERVATION:

• Trust Acres
  • Tribally owned 140,463.47 acres
  • Individually owned 16,454.00 acres
    Total trust 156,917.47 acres
• Fee/Deeded Acres (taxable)
  • Tribally owned 7,860.63 acres
  • Individually owned 880.00 acres
  • Non-Indian owned (approx.) 61,003.00 acres
    Total fee 69,743.63 acres

OFF RESERVATION

• Tribally owned in Fee status (taxable) 25,790.43 acres
• Tribally owned in Trust status 3,524.34 acres
  Total Off reservation 29,314.77 acres
• 100 Farm/Pasture leases - 88,253.37 acres – 4 non-Indian F/P leases
• 8,000 acres under 56 center pivot irrigation systems operated by Lower Brule Tribal Farms
• 25 Range Unit Operators - 84,402.77 acres - All Indian operators
• An Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP) is in the planning stages and will provide future guidance to the Tribal Council.