The Lower Sioux Indian Reservation, also known as the Mdewankanton Tribal Reservation, is an Indian reservation

Indian reservation

An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...

 located along the southern bank of the Minnesota River

Minnesota River

The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....

 in Redwood County, Minnesota

Redwood County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,815 people, 6,674 households, and 4,524 families residing in the county. The population density was 19 people per square mile . There were 7,230 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...

, east of the city of Redwood Falls

Redwood Falls, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,459 people, 2,266 households, and 1,389 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,167.1 people per square mile . There were 2,377 housing units at an average density of 508.2 per square mile...

, just south of Morton

Morton, Minnesota

Morton is a city in Renville County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 411 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.U.S...

. The land became part of a reservation after the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux

Treaty of Traverse des Sioux

The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was a treaty signed on July 23, 1851, between the United States government and Sioux Indian bands in Minnesota Territory by which the Sioux ceded territory. The treaty was instigated by Alexander Ramsey, the first governor of Minnesota Territory, and Luke Lea,...

 in 1851, but has now shrunk to a very small size. As of the 2000 census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

, the site had a population of 335, and a land area of 2.705 sq mi (7.006 km²). The community operates Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel

Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel

Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel is a casino and hotel complex located on the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation located along the southern bank of the Minnesota River in Redwood County, Minnesota, just south of the city of Morton. The casino is owned and operated by the . Lodging includes a 379-room...

, which began in 1984 as a bingo

Bingo (US)

Bingo is a game of chance played with randomly drawn numbers which players match against numbers that have been pre-printed on 5x5 matrices. The matrices may be printed on paper, card stock or electronically represented and are referred to as cards. Many versions conclude the game when the first...

 facility. The casino has become a major employer for the surrounding communities. The Minnesota Historical Society

Minnesota Historical Society

The Minnesota Historical Society is a private, non-profit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehood. The Society is named in the Minnesota...

 has an interpretive site on the reservation that discusses the Dakota War of 1862

Dakota War of 1862

The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux. It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota...

.

Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel was the state of Minnesota's first casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

. Jackpot Junction features three bars, three restaurants, an amphitheater

Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...

, and two grand ballroom

Ballroom

A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...

s (available to hold events in at request). Live music is played every weekend, usually country occasionally rock. The casino is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

County Highway 2 runs through the reservation, connecting it to U.S. Route 71

U.S. Route 71

U.S. Route 71 is a north–south United States highway. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstate highways. Currently, the highway's northern terminus is in International Falls, Minnesota at the Canadian border, at the southern end of the Fort...

 and Minnesota State Highway 19

Minnesota State Highway 19

Minnesota State Highway 19 is a highway in southwest and southeast Minnesota, which runs from South Dakota Highway 30 at the South Dakota state line near Ivanhoe and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with U.S...

to the northwest.

External links

• Official website
• Lower Sioux Reservation, Minnesota United States Census Bureau