ABSTRACT
Most Oglala mixed bloods quickly lost their land and became a landless group on the margins of Oglala society. The 21 Council and the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) afforded mixed blood Oglala a novel opportunity to challenge the full blood dominated Oglala Omniciye for control over the reins of tribal government. In the 1960s and 1970s, mixed blood Oglalas were able to leverage the power of the IRA government and with BIA support were able to secure the majority of the land base for themselves. A small group of mixed blood ranchers is able to effectively carry out an agenda, which is often at odds with the expressed wishes of the majority of Oglala landowners because of its economic and political power. In that sense, Oglala society on Pine Ridge Reservation is a class society that resembles in striking ways those societies that are characteristic of many areas of the world.
