SMSC wants to put 130 acres in Prior Lake, Shakopee into trust

Shakopee Valley News

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community wants to place more than 130 acres into trust with the federal government.

The tribe submitted two requests to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to place three parcels of land — two in Prior Lake and one in Shakopee — into trust status.

The community already owns the land but by placing it into trust status, the land would become a part of the reservation and be taken off the tax rolls.

Water treatment facility

One parcel of land in Prior Lake — a little more than acre — would be used to house a joint water treatment facility, which was approved by the Prior Lake City Council on Nov. 20. The land at Howard Lake Boulevard and County Road 82 is called Mni Yaskapi Makoce in the application.

“We were aware this request would be necessary as we worked with the (Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community) and Scott County on the joint water agreement,” Prior Lake City Manager Frank Boyles said.

There was no property tax paid on the parcel in 2017. The land is zoned agricultural, which a water treatment plant is an acceptable use for, according to the council memo.

Garden, housing land

The second request includes more than five acres in Prior Lake and more than 120 in Shakopee, known as Wozupi II.

The land would be an extension of the Wozupi Tribal Gardens, which were established in 2010 to provide healthy food to the tribe. The land also has a honeybee population and a house, which would be used for the growing tribal population, according to the request.

“Today, throughout Indian Country, including here, access to conventional foods is far easier than wholesome foods,” says the request to the BIA. “The Indian Country suffers from an epidemic of diet-related illnesses.”

The property tax on the Shakopee land for 2017 was over $10,500 and for Prior Lake, over $1,300, according to the cities.

The city of Shakopee sent a letter to the BIA in December with information regarding the application, such as property tax and zoning. It will likely come before the council as a consent agenda item, which usually doesn’t have any discussion, City Administrator Bill Reynolds said.

The Prior Lake City Council voted Tuesday to send letters with information and comments regarding the applications to the bureau. Councilor Annette Thompson was the only dissenting vote.

“With every application, whether they’re small parcels or large parcels, they accumulate over time,” Thompson said. “It accumulates into large chunks of land. I have concerns about that one.”

The acres in Prior Lake are zoned agricultural.

“The separation of Dakota people from their relatives and land was an important aspect in attempts to destroy Dakota culture,” according to the request. “Today, the need to live in close proximity with relatives on its own inalienable land is imperative as the tribe seeks to restore and sustain its culture.”