"They Treated Us Just Like Indians"

Nearly a century ago Bennett County, South Dakota was carved out of Pine Ridge Reservation and opened to white settlers. Today Bennett County sits awkwardly between the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Sioux Reservations, with nearly one-third of its land classified as "Indian Country" and the rest considered by many Pine Ridge Lakotas to still belong to the reservation. The county is home to a dynamic population, divided by the residents into three groups"whites," "fullbloods," and "mixedbloods." Tensions between the three groups lurk admid the quiet harmony of Bennett County's everyday rural life and emerge in moments of community crisis. Anthropologist Paula L. Wagoner tells the story of Bennett County, using snapshots of community events and crises, past and present, to reveal the complexity of race relations and identities there. [back cover].