Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

CRST Telephone Authority/Lakota Technologies    Seidcon    Layer One

The Cheyenne River Sioux Indian reservation was originally a part of the Great Sioux Nation, which was set aside under the Treaty of 1868. The area occupied by the Sioux (Lakota, Dakota and Nakota) was so great that for better administration the Federal Government deemed it advisable to recognize general divisions of the Sioux people. The four bands of the Lakota on the Cheyenne River Reservation in 1891 represent: the Minneconjou, Sans Arc, Blackfeet, and Two Kettle. 

Today the Cheyenne River Reservation is located in the two organized counties of Dewey and Ziebach, and is comprised of over 2.8 million acres, similar in size to the state of Connecticut. The tribal headquarters is located in Eagle Butte, South Dakota and an 18 member Tribal Council including three Executives, govern the tribe. Primary and general elections are held every two and four years, and coincide with the US National Election cycle.

According to the 1995 Bureau of Indian Affairs Report on Service Population, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has approximately 11,825 enrolled members, of which 8,510 live on or adjacent to the reservation. The same report shows 3,310 non-members residing on the reservation for a total Indian population of 11,820. The 1990 Census reported a total of 2,643 non-Indian persons living on the CRST reservation. The grand total population of the Indian and non-Indian is approximately 14,463. A labor analysis reflects that the Indian labor force within the reservation is 6,516 and the resulting unemployment rate is over 5,000, or 75%.

CRST Telephone Authority

The C.R.S.T. Telephone Authority was established in 1958 by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as a 100% Native American owned telecommunications company. The company operates separate from the tribe, under its own Board of Directors.

The C.R.S.T. Telephone Authority offers many valuable services for our customers from basic telephone service to robust internet solutions.

Lakota Technologies

Lakota Technologies, Inc. is engaged in Information Technology services to both Governmental and commercial customers. This technology transfer includes call center operations, help desk services, data entry, data conversion (including text and graphics), document imaging, automated records management, scanning and other related IT functions.

From January 2000 – September 2002, LTI completed data conversion work for the National Library of Medicine. LTI's Data Conversion Division, which includes graphics and text, currently operates with Dell workstations with Windows 2000 operating systems networked to two Dell Power Edge file servers running Windows 2000 server. All workstations are also equipped with software to perform digitization of various textual and graphical data.

With regard to LTI's call center/help desk efforts, in 2000 LTI entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Computer Generated Solutions, Inc. (CGSI), located in Dallas, Texas. Through this MOU, LTI was able to train several individuals through CGSI's Dallas Regional operation in call center specific work. Beyond that, with the completion of the new facility, LTI has also completed a pilot project internally with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. This pilot project was a labor survey covering the two formal counties that form the Cheyenne River Reservation.

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CRST Telephone Authority/Lakota Technologies    Seidcon    Layer One