Ben Reifel

Ben Reifel
Wíyaka Waŋžíla
InterimCommissioner of Indian Affairs
In office 1976–1977
President	Gerald Ford
Preceded by	Morris Thompson
Succeeded by	Forrest Gerard (as Asst. Sec. of the Interior for Indian Affairs)
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromSouth Dakota's1stdistrict
In office January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1971
Preceded by	George McGovern
Succeeded by	Frank E. Denholm
Personal details
Born	Benjamin Reifel (1906-09-19)September 19, 1906 Rosebud Indian Reservation,South Dakota,U.S.
Died	January 2, 1990(1990-01-02)(aged 83) Sioux Falls, South Dakota,U.S.
Nationality	RosebudLakota United States
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Alice Janet Johnson ​ ​ (m.1933; died1972)​ Frances Colby ​ (m.1972)​
Children	Loyce Nadine Reifel
Alma mater	South Dakota State College(BA) Harvard University(MPA, PhD)
Profession	Federal civil service

Benjamin Reifel(/ˈraɪfʊl/RIFLE;September 19, 1906 – January 2, 1990), also known asLone Feather(Lakota:Wíyaka Waŋžíla), was aLakota Siouxpublic administrator and politician. He had a career with theBureau of Indian Affairs,retiring as area administrator. He ran for the US Congress from theEast Riverregion of South Dakota, and was elected as the first Lakota to serve in the House of Representatives. He served five terms as aRepublicanUnited States Congressmanfrom the (now obsolete)First District,from 1961 to 1971.

Early life and education

Reifel was born in alog cabinnearParmelee, South Dakota,on theRosebud Indian Reservation.He was the son of Lucy Burning Breast, aLakota Sioux,and William Reifel, ofGermandescent. Ben Reifel was enrolled in theRosebud Sioux Tribeand his Lakota name means "Lone Feather" in English.He attended aTodd Countyschool as well as the Rosebud Reservation boarding school as a child.He graduated at the age of sixteen from the eighth grade, speaking both English andLakota.

For three years Reifel worked on his family's farm before entering the School of Agriculture, a vocational high school inBrookings, South Dakota.After finishing high school in 1928, Reifel enrolled atSouth Dakota State College.He paid his own tuition for his first four years of schooling. He took out one of the first loans offered toNative Americanstudents under a Merriam Report-recommended Indian education program. Reifel graduated with a B.S. in agriculture in 1932. He was elected the President of the Students' Association during his senior year.

Career

Following his graduation in 1932, Reifel was hired by Hare's School inMission, South Dakotaas an adviser for boys. He began working at theBureau of Indian Affairs(BIA) in 1933; he was assigned to thePine Ridge Indian Reservationas a farm agent to theOglala Lakota.After a year, he was promoted to field agent at thePierre, South Dakotaregional headquarters.

Reifel's duties included promoting the new programs of theIndian Reorganization Act,signed by PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltin 1934.Allotmentof reservation lands was ended, to enable tribes to hold communal lands and better preserve their territories. Under the new law, tribes could reorganize self governments. They were encouraged to write constitutions and to use models of elected government proposed by the BIA, rather than the life chiefs previously supported by the clans.

The American Indian people had endured hard times during theGreat Depression,as well as the drought that causedDust Bowlconditions in some parts of theGreat Plains.Reifel was largely successful in garnering support for the Act. He started at Pine Ridge and later made his way to otherreservationsin South Dakota, ensuring that the programs of the Bureau were effective in the South Dakota reservations.

World War II

Reifel's BIA career was interrupted byWorld War II.In 1931, he had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in theUnited States Army Reserve.In March 1942, the Army ordered Reifel to active duty, and he served until July 1946. He was promoted to the rank oflieutenant colonel.

Postwar career

After being discharged, Reifel continued working for the BIA. He was selected as a Tribal Relations Officer and later promoted to the position as Superintendent of theFort Berthold Indian Reservationin North Dakota.

Harvard

In 1949 Reifel was awarded a scholarship to study public administration atHarvard Universityunder aCivil Service Commissionprogram for management development of career government officials. He earned his master's degree in 1949.He received aJohn Hay WhitneyFoundation Opportunity Fellowship and completed his Doctorate in Public Administration in 1952.Following his graduation, Reifel returned to the BIA.

He worked briefly at its national headquarters inWashington, D.C.before returning to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation as Superintendent. Reifel later served as Superintendent at thePine Ridge Indian Reservation.

In 1955 he was promoted as the Area Director of the Aberdeen Area Office inAberdeen, South Dakota.He was responsible for numerous employees and the application of federal programs and policies for American Indians of a three-state region:Nebraska,North Dakotaand South Dakota. He served as administrator up until three years before his retirement.

Political career

Ben Reifel (RosebudLakota), U.S. Representative from South Dakota's 1st Congressional District, 1961–71.

South Dakota's congressional delegationin the87th U.S. Congress.
L-R:Ellis Y. Berry,Joseph H. Bottum,Karl E. Mundt,and Ben Reifel.

In 1960, Reifel retired from the BIA and ran forCongressinSouth Dakota's 1st congressional district.At the time it included all of the counties east of the Missouri River, colloquially known as East River. (The district was redrawn in 1931 to include 21 counties in the southeast part of the state.) Reifel was elected by a substantial margin; he was the first person ofLakotaorSiouxdescent to serve in the US Congress.During the 1960s, he was the onlyAmerican Indianin Congress. He served for five terms as Representative from South Dakota.Regarded as a "conservative Republican", he was a thinker who prepared himself well on legislative matters.He could always give a substantial and thoughtful basis for his stand on issues.

In Congress Reifel held several committee assignments. In his first term, he was appointed to the House Agricultural Committee; in his second, to the House Committee on Appropriations. He served as the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations subcommittee on Interior Department Affairs. He worked hard for farming interests in South Dakota and the Plains states in general, opposing cuts in farm support programs, pushing theOahe Damto supply water forirrigation,and similar matters.

At the same time, he continued to work vigorously for American Indian education, with significant accomplishments. Opposingsegregation,he believed that the key to ending the isolation of the Native American people was in educational programs that enrolled American Indian and non-Indian students together in modern progressive facilities (as was recommended by the 1928 Merriam Report), rather than keeping children in Indian-only boarding schools. Reifel supported theCivil Rights Act of 1968and an increase in theminimum wage.

Reifel was instrumental in getting theCenter for Earth Resources Observation and Science(EROS) of theUS Geological Surveylocated in South Dakota. In addition, he gained support to keepEllsworth Air Force Baseas an active military base in the state.On a broader national level, he was instrumental in securing passage of legislation to create theNational Endowment for the Humanitiesand the National Arts Council.

In 1970 Reifel decided not to seek reelection. While he intended to retire in 1971, he remained active, accepting an appointment by PresidentRichard Nixonas chair of theNational Capital Planning Commission,which has oversight over federal projects in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. He next served as Special Assistant for Indian programs to the Director of theNational Park Servicein the Department of the Interior. He also served as Interim Commissioner of Indian Affairs during the last two months of theFord administration.

Later years

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Reifel was a member of the Masons, Rotarians, and Elks. He also served on the National Council of the ProtestantEpiscopal Churchand the National Council of theBoy Scouts of America.He also served as national president of Arrow, Inc., a Native American service organization.

In 1977, Reifel became a trustee of the South Dakota Art Museum inBrookings.He served terms as the board president in 1982–83. He established the first Native American collection at the Art Museum in 1977, donating most of his personal collection.

Legacy and honors

• 1956, Outstanding American Indian Award.
• 1960, awarded the Annual Indian Achievement Award from the Indian Council Fire.
• 1960, received theSilver Antelope Awardfrom theBoy Scouts of America,as well as the Gray Wolf,Silver BuffaloandSilver Beaver Awardsin Scouting.
• 1961, received theDistinguished Service Awardfrom theDepartment of the Interiorfor his career with the BIA.
• The Ben Reifel Visitor Center in Badlands National Park was named in his honor.
• Reifel received honorary doctorates fromSouth Dakota State University,theUniversity of South Dakota,andNorthern State College.
• A dorm on the South Dakota State University campus was named after him and opened in 2015.
• 2018, became the namesake of a new middle school in theSioux Falls School District.

Marriage and family

On December 26, 1933, Reifel married his college sweetheart, Alice Janet Johnson ofErwin, South Dakota.They had a daughter, Loyce Nadine Reifel. She married Emery Andersen. Alice Reifel died ofpneumoniaon February 8, 1972.

Ben Reifel remarried on August 14, 1972 to Frances Colby ofDeSmet, South Dakota.He died ofcanceron January 2, 1990.

See also

• List of Native Americans in the United States Congress
• List of Native American politicians

External links

• United States Congress."Ben Reifel (id: R000152)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• "Benjamin Reifel Papers",Archives, Library of South Dakota State University