By Vicky Wicks

At dusk on a late autumn day, Michael Jandreau arrives at his office after spending the afternoon at a funeral for a man who had been a friend and relative, and his eyes reflect the lingering sorrow and exhaustion that are common in the aftermath of final farewells.

Jandreau is a courteous man, with a characteristically soft voice that remains cordial as he spends a couple of hours in his office talking about Lower Brule—the reservation, the town, and the tribe—and the thirty years he has served as tribal chairman.

Lower Brule lies about sixteen miles north of Reliance off Interstate 90. If you ask people in the town how to find tribal headquarters, they’ll tell you, “It’s up on the hill.”

(Read more in the Spring 2009 Issue…)