Policing Strategies and Native American Marijuana Politics

• In Event: Police and Minority Relations

Abstract

The research conducted on Native Americans tribes, particularly on reservations, often characterizes the high poverty, low employment, lack of education, and discrimination faced within these communities. There is a large gap in the research that provides insight into how Native American communities prosper, particularly in divergent political and legal environments. Flandreau, South Dakota is home to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe (FSST). In 2000, officials from the town of Flandreau together with officials from FSST created the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), establishing a police force whose jurisdiction included the town of Flandreau and FSST reservation lands. This innovative collaboration received national recognition. In 2015 the tribe officially terminated the JPA amid their highly publicized decision to legalize growth and distribution of recreational marijuana on reservation land. To understand the factors that prompted Flandreau and FSST to initiate and terminate the JPA, interviews are being conducted with key informants. Data collected from the interviews will likely provide insight into occurrences that unfolded during the 15-year period that were left out of local reporting. Further, this project aims to illuminate the difficulties faced by Native Americans when attempting to pass legislation on sovereign land, which diverges from laws governing their bordering towns.

Author

• Michael Lynch, Dakota State University