Sioux tribe set to reap a whirlwind of green profit

James Doran in New York
The Observer, Sunday 15 March 2009

The Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux Indians from South Dakota are poised to sign a $400m (£286m) deal with a big Boston energy firm to build a massive wind farm across their 1m-acre reservation. It is hoped the deal will transform tribal economics nationwide and drag many Native Americans out of poverty.
The tribe has teamed up with Citizens Wind, the commercial arm of a Boston group called Citizens Energy, a not-for-profit organisation set up by congressman Joseph Kennedy, the nephew of President John F Kennedy.
Citizens Wind believes the scheme will take about three years to complete and will provide 120MW of electricity to the grid, enough to supply 50,000-60,000 average households.
More importantly, the project will provide much-needed jobs and income for the Cheyenne Lakota Sioux, and a blueprint for other tribes to follow.
"To our people, the four winds are four brothers, they are our relatives," said Eileen Briggs, the director of the Cheyenne Lakota Sioux renewable energy corporation Tate Topa, which translates as Four Winds Energy.
"We have a cultural relationship with the wind. We say the wind will take care of us and, with this project, it is."
Native American economic success is commonly linked to gaming and casinos, as many tribes have embraced the American love of slot machines to their advantage. But as the economy continues to decline, even the biggest US casino companies are suffering massive declines in revenue and profits.