SD Native leaders are divided on census data

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Two area tribal chairmen are split in their opinions about the accuracy of census figures for American Indians on their reservations.

Duane Big Eagle, Crow Creek tribal chairman, said he believes an 84 percent American Indian population rate in Buffalo County is accurate. In its most recent count, the Census Bureau counted 1,607 American Indians out of 1,912 Buffalo County residents. The reservation’s boundary is nearly half of the county.

However, Big Eagle thinks numbers in Hughes County are incorrect. The census reported 1,779 American Indians out of 17,022 county residents, or 10.45 percent, live there.

He said the 8.45 percent rate in Hyde County seems high, unless the census counted Crow Creek Tribal School students in Stephan, which is located between Fort Thompson and Pierre.

“I think it’s extremely low based on the Native American population in Pierre,” Big Eagle said, citing those who work for fast-food restaurants and live in low-income housing there.

Some officials in South Dakota are questioning 2010 census data on American Indians in the state, according to The Associated Press.

Herbert Hoover, a University of South Dakota history professor emeritus, said he believes that segment of state residents is undercounted, the AP reported. Hoover said he thinks Indians account for about 15 percent of South Dakota’s total population, not the 8.8 percent cited by the Census Bureau.

Myron Pourier of the Oglala Sioux Tribe told the AP he is skeptical of official census numbers for Shannon County, saying the reservation population has quadrupled recently.

A rural sociologist and demographer with South Dakota State University’s Rural Life and Census Data Center in Brookings said the census historically has had undercounts on the reservations. Mike McCurry said that is especially evident on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where people have tried to avoid the census because of government trust issues. Up until 50 or 60 years ago, the Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted the census on reservations.

Ultimately, federal assistance is based on the number of tribal residents, he said. Reservations rely on federal funding for programs and various projects.

“It is in the tribe’s best interest to have the best number it could,” McCurry said.

On the Crow Creek Reservation, Big Eagle said there is an effort to get accurate numbers. He noted that census takers go from house to house.

“I don’t think we’re far behind as far as keeping up with the census taking annually,” Big Eagle said.

On the Yankton Sioux Reservation in Charles Mix County, the census tallied 31.7 percent, or 2,893 of 9,129 county residents, as American Indian.

Tribal Chairman Robert Cournoyer Sr. said the number should be closer to 3,500, based on the number of enrolled members living on the reservation. Cournoyer noted there is a large segment of the American Indian population that is in transition.

“They come and stay with relatives for a limited time,” he said. “Sometimes, people move around quite a bit.”

The tribe tried to make sure every household was available to be counted, Cournoyer said. He hopes every family was counted, given that two to three families live in a home at times.

In Lyman County — where most of the Lower Brule Reservation is located — census figures show that 38.2 percent of the population is American Indians, or 1,436 of 3,755 residents,

The southeastern tip of the reservation is in Stanley County, where 196 of 2,966 residents, or 6.6 percent, are Indians.

Tribal Chairman Mike Jandreau could not be immediately reached for comment.

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