Explore the natural beauty and history of northeastern South Dakota where Native American Indians have lived for thousands of years.
The Sisseton–Wahpeton Oyate are two combined bands and two sub-divisions of the Isanti or Santee Dakota (Sioux) people located on the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeast South Dakota. The current enrollment of the tribe is at approximately 13,000 members.
The Lake Traverse Reservation consists of 106,153 acres or 1449.66 square miles and includes the towns of:
- Sisseton
- Peever
- Rosholt
- Veblen
- New Effington
- Waubay
- Summit
The Reservation was established by a treaty in 1863 at Enemy Swim Lake and established in 1867. Initially, it encompassed one million acres. Subsequent allotments awarded 300,000 acres to the 2,700 tribal members, and the remaining 700,000 acres were purchased for non-Indian settlement. The Reservation currently occupies 107,200 acres.