State Officials Meet With Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Leaders

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Chair J. Garret Renville. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

(KNOX) – Governor Kelly Armstrong, Cabinet leaders and other state agency representatives met  this week with leaders and members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate as part of the governor’s ongoing commitment to strengthen state-tribal partnerships and visit all five tribal nations in North Dakota during his first year in office.

Armstrong thanked Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Chairman J. Garret Renville, the Tribal Council, tribal elders and community members for hosting the meeting at the Dakota Magic Casino convention center near Hankinson. The governor urged tribal leaders and state agency representatives to work together to identify challenges and solutions and not wait for action by the federal government or others to address important issues.

“Waiting for somebody to come in and save the day on any of this stuff means we’re going to wait a very long time,” Armstrong said in his opening remarks. “We can do it here, though, and we can figure out small ways to make big changes, and it starts with meetings like this.”

“Your presence here is important. When leaders come together across governments, we create opportunities not just to talk but to truly understand one another,” Renville said, adding, “We may not always agree, and we shouldn’t expect to, but if we stop engaging, if we stop building the relationship, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past. Governor Armstrong, your visit showed you understand the importance of relationships.”