This week’s CAIRNS Etanhan Wotanin column reprints four articles that appeared in South Dakota newspapers, on March 20, 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago. They cover voting rights, federal termination of Indian tribes, and the importance of conducting research to learn more about discrimination in South Dakota. The column, “This Day in American Indian History - March 20,” can be read now by clicking here, or later this week in the Lakota Times newspaper.

The image above is of the front page of the March 20, 1922, issue of the Lead Daily Call, a newspaper in Lead, South Dakota. Non-Indian males could vote in South Dakota since 1889, when the state joined the Union. Women could vote in the state after December 4, 1919, but American Indians were prohibited from doing so until the 1940s, and in some counties, including Todd, Oglala Lakota, and Washabaugh, American Indians were disenfranchised until 1974, according to researchers Schroedel and Aslanian. Voting rights continue to be a contentious issue in our state today.