Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation

The Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation (WLCC) is the wholly owned economic development arm of the Wakpamni Lake Community government, a subsidiary municipal tribal government of the Oglala Sioux Tribe located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota. The corporation was established by the community's leadership through WLC Resolution 12-04 to address severe economic hardship and to "promote the general economic development and welfare of the people of the Wakpamni Lake Community," as stated in its Articles of Incorporation (Article V, Sec 5.1). WLCC operates within a context of extreme poverty. According to the corporation's own community portal, Oglala Lakota County is among the poorest counties in the United States, with over 51.9% of residents below the poverty line, per capita income around $8,768, unemployment in the 80% range, and a high school dropout rate of over 60%. Because tribal governments generally lack a tax base—tribal land is federal trust land and non-taxable, and the population is too small and impoverished for an effective income tax—WLCC, like other tribal corporations, must compete in the private commercial marketplace to generate governmental revenue. Structurally, WLCC is a western-style corporation designed to be understandable to the business world, but the organization states that all of its work is directed to be carried out within traditional tiospaye structures and the Lakota framework. Its stated purposes include generating community governmental revenue, improving community infrastructure, increasing community self-sufficiency, expanding opportunities for community members, encouraging job creation, preserving and promoting Lakota culture and the Wakpamni Lake Community, and assisting in protecting the health, welfare, and well-being of the community. As a tribal economic development corporation, WLCC follows what the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development describes as a best practice in Indian Country: creating a separate tribal corporation that participates in private commerce while protecting the tribal government and tribal treasury from the unpredictable nature of business. WLCC is wholly owned by the Wakpamni Lake Community government and is not publicly traded.

The Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation (WLCC) was created by the leadership of the Wakpamni Lake Community, a subsidiary municipal tribal government of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, through WLC Resolution 12-04. The resolution established WLCC as a wholly owned tribal economic development corporate arm tasked with promoting the general economic development and welfare of the people of the Wakpamni Lake Community, as codified in the WLCC Articles of Incorporation (Article V, Sec 5.1). The corporation was formed in response to dire economic conditions. According to its community portal, Oglala Lakota County—which lies entirely within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation—is among the poorest counties in the United States, with over 51.9% of the population below the poverty line, per capita income around $8,768, unemployment in the 80% range, and a high school dropout rate of over 60%. The community's leadership established WLCC to address these statistics and to better provide for the welfare of residents. WLCC was structured as a western-style corporation so that it would be understandable to the western business world, but the organization states that all of its work is directed to be done within traditional tiospaye structures and the Lakota framework. Its mandate includes generating community governmental revenue, improving community infrastructure, increasing community self-sufficiency, increasing opportunities for community members, encouraging job creation, preserving and promoting Lakota culture and the Wakpamni Lake Community, and assisting in protecting the health, welfare, and well-being of the community. The rationale for creating a separate tribal corporation follows what the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development describes as a best practice in Indian Country. Because tribal governments generally have no tax base—tribal land is federal trust land and non-taxable, the population is too small and impoverished for an effective income tax, and state governments have litigated sales tax jurisdiction—tribal nations must compete in the private commercial marketplace to generate basic governmental revenue. Creating a tribal corporation serves two primary purposes: it protects the tribal government and tribal treasury from the volatile nature of business, and it allows the nation to participate in private commerce. WLCC operates as the wholly owned economic development arm of the Wakpamni Lake Community government and is not publicly traded.

• Wakpamni Lake Community leadership establishes the Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation (WLCC) through WLC Resolution 12-04 as a wholly owned tribal economic development corporation.

• WLCC Articles of Incorporation (Article V, Sec 5.1) task the corporation with promoting the general economic development and welfare of the people of the Wakpamni Lake Community.

A tribal economic development corporation that generates governmental revenue and promotes community welfare while operating within traditional Lakota tiospaye structures.

1. 1eWakpamni.com | Community Portal — Corporationewakpamni.com
2. 2eWakpamni.com | Community Portal — FAQsewakpamni.com
3. 3Wikidata — Wakpamni Lake Community Corporationwikidata.org