Nearly 20 years have passed since Elitta Gouge told tribal chair Kevin Jensvold that she wanted to seek return of the Upper Sioux Agency State Park to the Upper Sioux Community. Gouge was serving as the tribe’s secretary at the time. It was hard to imagine the return.

When it happened, emotion welled up at Friday’s signing ceremony.

Gouge spoke about the significance of the land to her, recalling it as a place where she has sought respite during some of the most difficult times in her life. She talked about the land as the final resting place of many of their ancestors and the outrage felt by tribal members for having to pay state park fees to visit burial and prayer sites.

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“I sit there sometimes and think, what did our ancestors, what was their intent for that land?” said Jensvold. “... I ended up at the same place every time I pose that question. [They] just wanted us to be Dakota people, to live in our home, to be who we were, to take care of this land and to take care of each other.”