A Place to Hang Your Hat
Whether you wear a cowboy Stetson, a farmer’s duckbill cap or a woolen stocking hat, the town of Dupree, South Dakota, offers you a warm welcome and a place to “hang your hat.” In this town, population less than 400, with a good arm you can throw a softball from one end of Main Street to the other. As one resident says, “If you live here, people greet you by name.” If you are a stranger, you won’t remain one long. Someone will walk up to your car, tap on the window and say with a smile, “Come on, have a cup of coffee over here at the Ranch House Caf&#$i;.”
What began as a community in 1910 later became the Ziebach County Seat, a government status that initially guaranteed a thriving business community. However, Dupree struggled in past decades with the same issues that have hit small towns and farming communities across America. As small family farms disappeared, rural small-town economies suffered. Without farm or industry jobs to keep young people local, more and more left home to attend college or find jobs — and never returned. The remaining community survives on determination, neighborliness, and with seven area churches, strong faith.
Recently, the Northwest Area Foundation sponsored a leadership development initiative in the community. As a result, Dupree residents now have a renewed excitement to use leadership to increase business opportunities, spruce up the town in a way that invites visitors to stop, and renew a commitment to build on the cultural richness of being a small community on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation. As one resident explains, “We also learned that leaders across groups, working together, could accomplish more than when we work in isolation.”
A simple example of how this community is taking action started with one woman who wanted the town to look nice for a high school graduation. With self-determination, she began mowing the grassy areas around town that often were neglected. As she mowed and mowed, and never quit, more people joined. Now, after a few years, 25 or so people can be seen mowing and weed-whacking the town in preparation for each community event.
The “mowers'” actions have had a positive, snowballing effect on other cleanup efforts in the town. One man says, “Now when I walk to work, I stop and pick up trash along the way. No one sees me, I just do it.” And groups like the Community Club Main Street Committee are lobbying for trash bins down Main Street along with strategically placed 30-foot dumpsters to aid in the elimination of litter.
Other citizens, who recognized that travelers often flew by on Highway 212 without giving Dupree a second thought, set out to catch their attention and build on the unique aspects of their community. Each of the three exits to Dupree now has a creative display and signage that reflects the history and culture of the town. One exit features two wagon wheels and marks the way to the town’s rodeo grounds. Another exit features a Sioux tipi, reflecting the Native American culture of the town, and points people to Main Street. The final exit boasts an old tractor and marks the Ageless Iron Loop that passes a John Deere themed yard, a tractor restoration business, and other opportunities to see farm equipment from the past.
Dupree is budding with good ideas and a commitment to the future. Its Community Club — open to all — meets monthly and organizes everything from community calendar sales to monthly rummage sales to raise funds to finance activities like a post-prom party, Santa visits and a yearly Easter egg hunt. The Community Club also started the Ziebach County Historical Society, which moved an old church to the north end of Main Street. The Historical Society is in the early stages of purchasing the land on which it sits and restoring the building to its original beauty. It will then house historical artifacts and be a place to host lectures by area historians and for local artisans to sell their arts and crafts to visitors.
With a population comprised of 70 percent Cheyenne River Tribal members, Dupree residents collectively recognize the importance of interdependence as a means for improvement and growth. Tribal and non-tribal members know that in order to grow and retain growth, they need to build on their relationships with each other, and maintain a practice of working towards common goals. To that end, the yearly Dupree Native American Pow Wow is now held during the annual Pioneer Days Celebration and Rodeo during the second weekend of July. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe built their YMCA in Dupree and each Tuesday and Thursday offer a Soup and Social for all community members. And last year, the YMCA also hosted the yearly Easter egg hunt. By combining events, relationships grow and there is a greater draw for cultural tourism dollars to the town.
A Dupree resident says that one of their community assets is wide-open spaces. If you walk to the end of town, you can sit and watch the sun rise, and the sun set, with absolutely nothing blocking your view. But it is the community’s commitment to encouraging wide-open thinking and new leadership that will ensure Dupree a vibrant future and continue to make it a place where people will want to hang their hat, for a day or a lifetime.