Editing Sioux (section)

===1930s–1960s: Reorganization Act and Relocation Act===
The [[Indian Reorganization Act]] (IRA) sought to overturn many of the policies of the Dawes Act by reversing the traditional goal of cultural assimilation of the tribes into American society. The IRA "ended land allotment, prohibited non-consensual land seizure, recognized tribal governments, encouraged the writing of tribal constitutions, and empowered Native people to manage their own resources".<ref name="MNopedia 2020">{{cite web | title=Indian Reorganization Act in Minnesota | website=MNopedia | date=April 16, 2020 | url=https://www.mnopedia.org/thing/indian-reorganization-act-minnesota | access-date=April 16, 2020 | archive-date=July 21, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721001711/https://www.mnopedia.org/thing/indian-reorganization-act-minnesota | url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1934 and 1945, the tribes voted on their government constitutions. The [[Yankton Sioux Tribe]] is the only tribe in South Dakota that did not comply with the IRA and chose to keep its traditional government, whose constitution was ratified in 1891.<ref name="Pritzker 2000 p.341">{{cite book | last=Pritzker | first=Barry | title=A Native American encyclopedia: history, culture, and peoples | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=Oxford New York | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-19-513877-1 | oclc=42683042 | page=341}}</ref> The [[Spirit Lake Tribe]] and [[Standing Rock Indian Reservation|Standing Rock Tribe]] also voted against the IRA.<ref name="ND studies IRA">{{cite web | title=Section 3: Tribal Governments | website=North Dakota Studies | url=https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iv-modern-north-dakota-1921-present/lesson-4-alliances-and-conflicts/topic-1-indian-citizenship-and-indian-reorganization-act/section-3-tribal-governments | language=de | access-date=April 16, 2020 | archive-date=April 29, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429065251/https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iv-modern-north-dakota-1921-present/lesson-4-alliances-and-conflicts/topic-1-indian-citizenship-and-indian-reorganization-act/section-3-tribal-governments | url-status=live }}</ref> Because their constitution are not written under the authority of the IRA, they had to established tribal corporations which are managed separately from the tribal government in order to apply for loans.<ref name="ND studies IRA"/> In Minnesota, the IRA recognized the Dakota tribes as communities, allowing them to reestablish their reservations and to repurchase land lost during the [[Dakota War of 1862]]. The Lower Sioux and Prairie Island reservations formed constitutions in 1936, the Upper Sioux formed as a community in 1938 and wrote a constitution in 1995, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton officially formed an IRA government in 1969.<ref name="MNopedia 2020"/>

Despite the IRA giving more land rights to the tribes, the federal government seized thousands of acres of land through the [[Flood Control Act of 1944]] by creating the [[Oahe Dam]]. As a result of the dam's construction the [[Cheyenne River Indian Reservation]] lost {{convert|150000|acre|abbr=off|lk=off}} bringing it down to {{convert|2850000|acre}} today. The [[Standing Rock Sioux Reservation]] lost {{convert|55993|acre}} leaving it with {{convert|2300000|acre}}. Much of the land was taken by eminent domain claims made by the Bureau of Reclamation. Over and above the [[land consumption|land loss]], most of the reservations' prime agricultural land was included in the loss. Most of the land was unable to be harvested (to allow the trees to be cut down for wood) before the land was flooded over with water.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Carrels | first=Peter| year=1999 | title=Uphill Against Water | publisher=University of Nebraska Press | isbn=0-8032-6397-X}}</ref> One visitor to the reservations later asked why there were so few older Indians on the reservations and was told that "the old people had died of heartache" after the construction of the dam and the loss of the reservations' land.<ref name=bord2>{{cite web |url=http://www.dickshovel.com/bord2.html |title=The Indians Are Getting Uppity |work=Ilze Choi |publisher=dickshovel.com |access-date=April 5, 2009 |archive-date=February 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212173830/http://www.dickshovel.com/bord2.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2015, poverty remains a problem for the displaced populations in the Dakotas, who are still seeking compensation for the loss of the towns submerged under Lake Oahe, and the loss of their traditional ways of life.<ref>{{Cite web|title = No Man's Land: The Last Tribes of the Plains. As industry closes in, Native Americans fight for dignity and natural resources|url = http://www.msnbc.com/interactives/geography-of-poverty/nw.html|access-date = 2015-09-28|last = Lee|first = Trymaine|website = MSNBC – Geography of Poverty Northwest|archive-date = May 18, 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200518175101/http://www.msnbc.com/interactives/geography-of-poverty/nw.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

The [[Indian Relocation Act of 1956]] encouraged many tribal members to leave their reservation homes for cities. Some tribes had a dramatic loss of population: the [[Yankton Sioux Tribe]] fell to only 1,000 members living on the reservation in the 1950s; the [[Santee Sioux Reservation]] lost 60 percent of its population (by 1962, only 2,999, mostly elderly people remained).<ref name="Gibbon"/>
Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] and Johnson's [[War on poverty]] brought new schools, roads, health clinics, and housing to the reservations.<ref name="Gibbon"/>