Ben Reifel

Ben Reifel (1965)

Benjamin "Ben" Reifel (born September 19, 1906 in Parmelee , Todd County , South Dakota , † January 2, 1990 in Sioux Falls , South Dakota) was an American politician . Between 1961 and 1971 he represented the first constituency of the state of South Dakota in the US House of Representatives .

Early years

Ben Reifel was born to a German-American father and an Indian from the Sioux tribe in the Rosebud Reservation near the town of Parmelee. He attended public schools in Todd County and then until 1932 South Dakota State College , where he studied agriculture. He then worked for the federal government in the Office of Indian Affairs ( BIA). He started his career on the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation for the Pine Ridge Agency . He then worked as a field agent at the BIA's local headquarters in Pierre , the capital of South Dakota. At that time, there was a major shift in US policy towards the Native Americans. If the time before Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency was marked by the break-up of the Indian reservations, the Indian Reorganization Act 1934 led to a change in this policy. The reservations were given more responsibility and self-determination, the downsizing of the reservations was stopped, and traditional councils of elders were to be replaced by elected tribal governments. It was Ben Reifel's task to present these new concepts in the reservations and to draft a constitution for the respective reservations with the tribes. He was very successful and was able to convince many tribes of the new form of government.

During the Second World War he served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army . After the war, he returned to work for the Indian Authority, at the Fort Berthold Agency in North Dakota . There he took him to the superintendent, the head of the base. In the meantime he studied administration at Harvard University until 1952 . He ended his career with the BIA as Superintendent of Pine Ridge, near his home.

Political career

Reifel became a member of the Republican Party . In 1960 he was elected to the US House of Representatives to succeed George McGovern . He was the first Sioux Indian in the US Congress. There he completed five legislative terms between January 3, 1961 and January 3, 1971. During that time he was the only Native American in Congress. At times he was a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Budget Committee. In 1970 he did not stand for re-election.

After the end of his time in Congress , Reifel withdrew into retirement. He died in January 1990. Ben Reifel was married twice and had a daughter from his first marriage.

Web links

• Ben Reifel in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)