Healing Begins With Clinic Groundbreaking

The healing process has taken a big step forward. That's how the chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa,...  More »

The healing process has taken a big step forward. That's how the chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikira Tribes described the turning of some shovels-full of dirt near New Town today. Marcus Levings says the start of construction on a 20-million dollar health care facility for the tribes fulfills a promise made decades ago by the US government. He's referring to the flooding of thousands of acres of tribal land in the formation of Lake Sakakawea in the 1950s. The flood washed away Elbowoods - the town that contained the main clinic for the people of the three tribes. Levings says the start of the rebuilding of the clinic is also rebuilding relations between the tribes and the US government. (Marcus Levings, Tribal Chairman) "Today is one of those opportunties for our federal government and tribal govenrment to work on making ourselves whole once again. It's a time of healing. It's a time for making things right with our Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikira ancestors and our future generations." The new Elbowoods Health Care Facility will be about four times the size of the current clinic on the reservation and will include services not available before such as 24-hour-a-day emergency medical services.  « Less