ABSTRACT
The grazing unit system and the allocation process figure largely in the development of the grossly inequitable land tenure pattern on the reservation. Perhaps there was a quid pro quo-if the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) would support the status quo in land and treaty matters, the federal government would support repressive regimes on Pine Ridge Reservation. The Ordinance placed the responsibility on the BIA, but the head of the Land Operations Office said he was leaving it up to the Oglala Sioux Tribe Allocation Committee. Oglala’s often attribute differential access to the reservation land base to a network of cattle interests with connections in the BIA. Mixed blood control over the Allocation Committee plus their kinship and business connections with key personnel in the BIA Land Operations and Realty offices give them the edge. In 1998, at the Indian Land Working Group’s annual meeting in Poison, Montana, representatives from 41 tribes, including members of the Lakota Landowner Association.
