Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community (SMSC) is a federally recognized Indian Tribe located in Prior Lake and Shakopee, Minnesota. Tribal members are direct lineal descendants of Mdewakanton Dakota people who resided in villages near the banks of the lower Minnesota River. Chief Sakpe, [Shock-pay], which means the number six, spoke for a village that was located near what is today the town of Shakopee, which was named after him.
The SMSC presently owns more than 3,300 acres of land, all of which are located within or near the original 250-acre reservation established for the Tribe in the 1880s.
As the largest employer in Scott County, the SMSC is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Playworks, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, The Meadows at Mystic Lake, Dakotah Meadows RV Park, Dakotah Meadows Mini-Storage, the Shakopee Dakota Convenience Stores, the Dakota Mall, and Mazopiya, a natural food market. The SMSC is also a partner in Koda Energy, a joint venture with Rahr Malting of Shakopee to produce heat and electricity by burning agricultural by-products and grown energy crops. The SMSC also owns the Mystic Lake Store, a retail store at the Mall of America.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton utilize their financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a charitable giving program which comes from a cultural and social tradition to assist those in need. Over the past 13 years, the SMSC has donated more than $192.7 million to charitable organizations, Indian Tribes, and Native American organizations. The SMSC has also made more than $389 million in loans to other tribes for economic development projects. Since 1996 the SMSC paid more than $6.6 million for shared local road construction projects and an additional $5 million for road projects on the reservation.
