PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota’s Shannon County will officially become Oglala Lakota County on May 1.
County voters last November overwhelmingly approved the move, and this year’s state Legislature passed a resolution to make the name change. Gov. Dennis Daugaard on Wednesday officially proclaimed the new name, a step required by law.
The county currently is named for Peter Shannon, a chief justice of the Dakota Territory Supreme Court who later helped negotiate land deals with the Lakota. Shannon isn’t well thought of among many American Indians.
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