South Dakota tribes fight to recover from massive winter storm with some members still stranded

After a massive winter storm swept across the country, bringing blizzard conditions and below freezing temperatures, some cities are slowly beginning to recover.

But Native American tribal communities living on South Dakota reservations are still enduring the storm's debilitating consequences.

With many roads still closed and snow drifts up to 12 feet high, some members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe living on the Pine Ridge Reservation remain trapped in their homes, some since Dec. 11, the tribe’s president Frank Star Comes Out told ABC News.

“We were faced with not only the blizzard conditions and extreme cold, but supplies were very limited,” Star Comes Out said. “With a week long of storm conditions, people are running out of food, medication. Water lines were freezing up.”

“Our wood vendors could not get into areas to cut wood, which a lot of our membership depend on,” he added. “Then we had a power outage late in the week.”

Anna Halverson, a councilmember who represents Pass Creek District on the reservation, told ABC News that some residents, including her family members, have even resorted to burning furniture and clothes for warmth.

Re-Member, a nonprofit on Pine Ridge that has worked with the Oglala Lakota people for nearly 25 years, typically operates a winter heating assistance program, delivering firewood to households on the reservation.

But this year, the storm, which buried the organization’s woodpile under snow, has rendered Re-Member unable to reach families in need.

“When [the temperature] is down close to zero, the chainsaws that we use start to gel up. The splitters have a really hard time functioning, and I have staff that needs to be outside to operate that,” Cory True, director of Re-Member, told ABC News. “It's not safe when the air temperature might be zero, but we were in negative 50, negative 60 with windchill.”

Propane companies have also struggled to deliver to families on the reservation, many of whom live in trailer homes that run on propane for heat, True said.

Last week, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem deployed the state’s National Guard to haul firewood from the Black Hills Forest Service to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe, as well as help tribal authorities with clearing roads.

Star Comes Out also issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency, requesting federal aid.

While cities across the U.S. are battling similar conditions, Star Comes Out said tribal communities, in comparison, often lack proper equipment to clear snow from roads and homes. The entire Oglala Sioux Tribe, for example, only had four outdated road graders to begin with before they were also damaged by the storm.

For Star Comes Out, the storm has been a reminder of the systemic challenges plaguing their tribe, which he said is severely under resourced and perpetually in “survival mode.”

“When you cross those borders [onto the reservation], it's a different world out there from living here,” he said.

“We still need more personnel. We still need more funding,” he added. “Right now, all I see is there's a lot of worn-out equipment that we keep putting band aids on.”

Star Comes Out said the tribe's road department has been spread thin amid the storm, servicing all nine districts throughout the reservation. Ideally, he said each of the districts would have their own substation to handle inclement winter weather and summer wildfires.

Tribal communities have also faced unique challenges given their remote location and limited services, already difficult to access even in normal circumstances.

“Our reservation is basically in the middle of nowhere,” Halverson said. “Our nearest Walmart is like two hours away for some of us. For some, even longer.”

There’s also only one dialysis treatment center on the entire Pine Ridge Reservation, which is about the size of the state of Connecticut, Halverson said.

By Halverson’s estimate, hundreds of the tribe’s members, still snowed in at home, have yet to receive any treatment since the onset of the storm.

Halverson and Star Comes Out said there have been countless other medical emergencies the past few weeks, including a man experiencing a heart attack, a woman going into labor, and a starving baby.

An elderly woman was even forced to walk eight miles in the cold since no one could reach her. Others had to be rescued from their homes via sled.

There have been no casualties so far, but Halverson noted not everyone on the reservation has phones or internet, so they won’t know for sure until they can check on all members once the roads fully open.

At least one person, a 12-year-old, from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe died, because they were unable to receive medical treatment, Sioux Falls, South Dakota newspaper The Argus Leader reported.

As his tribe continues to work on aiding and rescuing members, Star Comes Out said he has been heartened to see many volunteers step forward to meet the challenge, including farmers and ranchers who have helped with clearing snow using their farm equipment. Others available to lend a hand can also contact his office, which has been working around the clock through the holidays.

“It's been a huge effort for all of us to work together with what little we have,” Star Comes Out said.

“For years, decades, centuries, we had a lot of struggles in our tribe, with our people. But we always manage to survive,” he added. “Our ancestors taught us how to survive. We’re a fighting people.”