A tribally-owned grocery store scheduled to open by mid-December in Mission is expected to bring lower grocery prices and more healthful food choices to the people of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. Turtle Crossing Grocery Store is a $2.9 million, 26,000-square-foot store owned by the Rosebud Economic Development Company, an entity of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

When finished, it will have a deli, a bakery, a pharmacy and - most importantly on a reservation where diabetes is a health care epidemic - an entire aisle devoted to healthful and traditional foods to combat the disease, according to Perry DeCory, Rosebud Sioux tribal news editor.

"It will have an aisle dedicated for diabetics, filled with the foods that are recommended for good health," DeCory said. He said the store hopes to carry buffalo meat and wasna, a dried buffalo and berry mixture that is a traditional food staple for Lakota people.

Construction began in May at the store site, which is located along U.S. Highway 18 about one-fourth mile west of Mission.

"The walls are up, the windows are in, and Monday, Oct. 6, is the scheduled day for the floors to be poured," DeCory said. The building's exterior is brick and cut stone block. Inside, floor tiles will feature Lakota symbols and aisle signage will have the names of grocery items listed in Lakota, with English translations beneath. "Beans, eggs, beef stew - anything that can be translated into our language, will be," he said.

Construction is about one week ahead of schedule, but the grand opening, planned for December, is contingent on the Mni Wiconi water system being extended to the site. "The only problem they're having right now is with the Mni Wiconi water line. We're waiting for that to be connected," he said.

Right now, the pipeline comes to within 1.5 miles of the site, turning north toward White River at the junction of U.S. Highways 18 and 83.

DeCory expects the store to bring lower prices to a community that currently has two privately owned grocery stores. "Right now, they shop at Buches in Mission and at a shopping center on Main Street. We want to provide more affordable, lower-cost food at better prices," DeCory said.

The new store will employ 80 people. Three hundred people have already applied for those jobs.

The grocery store was built with part of a $3 million loan and a $1 million grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, Minn. Part of those funds also paid for a wireless broadband project. The Minnesota tribe uses financial resources from gambling and non-gambling enterprises to fund a charitable giving program that has donated more than $132.5 million to charitable organizations and Native American tribes over the past 11 years.

Contact Mary Garrigan at 394-8424 or mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com