Red Shirt, South Dakota Explained

Red Shirt, South Dakota
Native Name:ógle šá/ógle lúta
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:USA South Dakota#USA
Pushpin Label Position:left
Pushpin Label:Red Shirt
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within the state of South Dakota
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:South Dakota
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Oglala Lakota
Unit Pref:Imperial
Population As Of:2000
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:Mountain (MST)
Utc Offset:-7
Timezone Dst:MDT
Utc Offset Dst:-6
Elevation Ft:2694
Coordinates:43.6675°N -102.8989°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP codes
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank1 Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank1 Info:1262279

Red Shirt (Lakota: ógle šá or ógle lúta[1]) is a small unincorporated Oglala Lakota village southeast of Hermosa in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, United States. It is on the Pine Ridge Reservation, just outside Badlands National Park.

Red Shirt is located just past the east end of SD 40, which becomes BIA Highway 41 at the bridge over the Cheyenne River (boundary between Custer County and Oglala Lakota County and of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The built-up area of the community, including Red Shirt School, is located on the flats of the valley of the Cheyenne River, below the north end of Red Shirt Table, a prominent feature of the landscape of northwestern Oglala Lakota County.

Red Shirt, as are many Oglala and Lakota communities, was named for chief Red Shirt, (Ógle Lúta, ca 1845–1925) whose band settled in the area in the late 1870s.[2]

In 2009, the village consisted of approximately 23 houses (including some mobile homes) in two clusters (Upper and Lower Red Shirt), the Red Shirt School (both the modern (constructed 2005–2008) with two large domes, and the older school buildings), a dance ring, sports fields, several community buildings, and a sewage plant. The community is the closest on Pine Ridge Reservation to Rapid City. Red Shirt is the last community served by the massive Mni Wiconi water project pipeline which pumps water from the Missouri River near Fort Pierre, South Dakota up to the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations. The village is located near the Cheyenne River but outside the Special Flood Hazard Area (100-year floodplain) of the river.

Red Shirt School is part of the Oglala Lakota County School District, and is an elementary school, but also is a campus/coordinating/test center for the Shannon County Virtual High School (SCVHS),[3] which provides instruction via internet and is the only public high school located on the Pine Ridge Reservation.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ullrich, Jan F. . New Lakota Dictionary . 2nd . 2014 . Lakota Language Consortium . Bloomington, IN . 978-0-9761082-9-0. https://web.archive.org/web/20161018034145/http://www.lakotadictionary.org/nldo.php . 18 October 2016 . dead.
  2. Web site: Red Shirt - Oglala / Sioux (Lakota) . www.franksrealm.com . 3 February 2022 . https://archive.today/20120730163101/http://www.franksrealm.com/Indians/tribes/Sioux_Lakota/Oglala/pages/oglala-redshirt.htm . 30 July 2012 . dead.
  3. Web site: Shannon County Schools, SD - Official Website - Red Shirt School . 25 February 2010 . 3 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120303222633/http://www.shannon.ws/index.aspx?NID=121 . dead .
  4. Conversation, Nathan Barton and Melvin (Smiley) Sierra, Administrator, 15 June 2008.