Prior Lake, Minnesota - A $50,000 grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community will help provide better health care for members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The donation to the Porcupine Health Clinic will be used for general operating expenses for the health clinic which also provides dialysis services to tribal members. The Porcupine Clinic supplements the under-resourced Indian Health Service. The Pine Ridge Reservation has higher rates of diabetes than the American Indian population as a whole and all other races.

"The Porcupine Clinic offers services locally that previously were only available in Pine Ridge or Rapid City. Local accessibility means that more people in need will actually receive regular and consistent services. Truly the Center saves lives. The community members of the Porcupine District are grateful to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community for assisting us in our health endeavors," wrote Floyd White Eyes, Board Chairman about a previous SMSC donation.

Donations to the Porcupine Clinic Health Board from the SMSC totaling $246,000 since 1997 helped fund construction of the Dialysis Center. The water system was improved, dialysis chairs and other medical equipment were bought, and the building was furnished. Through the assistance of the SMSC, the clinic was also able to gain certification as a Rural Health Clinic enabling it to receive third-party billing and become self-sustaining. The Porcupine Clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota received $20,000 in fiscal year 2006 from the SMSC for transportation services for dialysis patients. The grant covered a van and fuel to transport patients from their homes on the vast reservation to the clinic for dialysis. The Clinic provides dialysis for up to 14 patients at the same time. The SMSC donated $25,000 in 2002 and $50,000 in 2003 to the Porcupine Clinic.

"The members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Community have made a commitment to help other Tribes recover from centuries of oppression and the resulting poverty. We understand how important it is for members of the Porcupine District to have quality health care available close to home," said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks. "It is important for us to help other Tribes whenever we can."

The Oglala Sioux Tribe is a member of the Great Sioux Nation which consists of seven campfires, including the Mdewakanton and Teton bands of Sioux. The Oglala Sioux Tribe is one of the seven distinct and sovereign bands of the Teton. The Oglala Sioux Tribe has approximately 17,775 tribal members. The Pine Ridge Reservation is a territory that covers over 1.7 million acres in southwestern South Dakota and is home to more than 20,800 Native Americans.

In July 2005 the SMSC awarded a $38 million loan to the Oglala Sioux Tribe for debt consolidation and an expansion of the Tribe's Prairie Wind Casino and Hotel. In the past the SMSC has made grants totaling more than $453,700 for projects benefiting the Oglala Sioux Tribe, including $103,700 for trucks and road equipment, $250,000 for the Bennett County Activity Center, $75,000 for refinishing the gymnasium floor at Crazy Horse School, $15,000 to the Eagle Nest District for an ambulance building, and $10,000 for propane tanks for tribal members.

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