Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe | Economic Development

Economic Development

Our president, Anthony Reider is our Economic Development leader, his vision has lead our investments beyond our community in an effort to expand our investment portfolio, directing resources that have a vital impact on our nation.

History

In the beginning we started out small, selling cigarettes from an old trailer home located not too far from our present day Administration building. A motel was added as well as our first convenience store called the First American Mart. Durmg the late 1980's we began to explore our options of starting a gaming facility. In 1990, that dream became a reality with the opening of Royal River Casino, located in a building dedicated to printing press at one time. The success of our casino catapulted our nation in a new direction and providing not only economic success for our nation but boosting many of our members out of poverty.

Success

The success gaming brought to our nation allowed for buying back acres of land that once belong to us but lost over the years. Investment in land purchases and the transfer of our purchased land into Trust status, allowed for a brief venture into agriculture and eventually owning our own buffalo herd. Today, we have expanded our investment portfolio to include a housing development in nearby Sioux Falls, SD, retail shops, Blue Ammonia in West Virginia, and cannabis operations in the state of New York as well as at home. We continue to expand our portfolio by investing in our infrastructure. We are forever changing and growing, while improving the lives of our membership.

Cannabis

Cannabis legislation changed in South Dakota during July 2021, at which we opened our doors of our medical dispensary, Native Nations LLC. Since then we have expanded our expertise to assist other native nations explore, develop and operate their own dispensaries. We have also expanded our opportunities to the state of New York under the name of Native Nations New York, where we plan to process and distribute cannabis to state run dispensaries in accordance with their regulations and laws.

Royal River Casino & Hotel

We began our Gaming Enterprises in 1988 after the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Our nations became the first to incorporate a Class III gaming operation to our already established Class II Bingo Hall. In 1990, after years of negotiating with state and federal regulatory authorities, we opened Royal River Casino in a newly renovated building that was originally designed to house an outdated printing press. We opened the doors with just 250 gaming devices, 239 Slot Machines, eight Blackjack Tables and a three poker tables. Our award winning restaurant and bar was incorporated into the design and served us well for many years.

In 1997, we opened at our current location which included the addition of a 60 room Hotel, a Bingo Hall and a multipurpose room and Entertainment Venue. The multipurpose room hosted regional and national meetings, banquets, and gatherings of all types and also served as the properties premiere entertainment venue. National and regional acts continue to perform in the Royal Room. We continued to reinvest in the property adding an RV Park as well as another 60 rooms to our existing hotel in the early, bring the total number of rooms to 120.

Convenience Stores

During the late Seventies early Eighties, we started our first economic ventures with a small smoke shop that was run out of mobile home; converted into a smoke shop. Cigarettes were offered for sale at a much reduced price due to Tribal Ownership, giving this one product a competitive edge that continues today. Our smoke shop was one of the first ventures that provided employment to our community. From those early days we built and opened the First American Mart located on Broad Avenue where our Health Center is currently located. In addition to cigarette sales convenience items were offered for sale and became our first grocery store for many members. Eventually Class II slot machines and Pull Tabs were offered for sale; moving closer to our Class III Gaming ventures.

During the nineties we moved the First American Mart to it's present location on south Veterans Street for ease of access to the casino and it's guests. We eventually expanded our portfolio and purchased the Prairie Junction Truck Station located on Interstate I-29 at the Madison / Colman exit.