Wakpala, South Dakota

Wakpala, South Dakota
Unincorporated community
Wakpala Wakpala
Coordinates: 45°40′36″N 100°32′18″W / 45.67667°N 100.53833°WCoordinates: 45°40′36″N 100°32′18″W / 45.67667°N 100.53833°W
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
County	Corson
Area
• Total	18.7 sq mi (48.5 km^2)
• Land	18.7 sq mi (48.5 km^2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km^2)
Elevation	1,726 ft (526 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	234
• Density	12.5/sq mi (4.8/km^2)
Time zone	Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	57658
Area code(s)	605
FIPS code	46-68180[1]
GNIS feature ID	1269112[2]

Wakpala is an unincorporated community in Corson County, South Dakota, United States, on the west side of the Missouri River, north-northwest of Mobridge. Although not tracked by the Census Bureau, Wakpala has been assigned the ZIP code of 57658. Wakpala is within the boundaries of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, and its name loosely translates to "creek" in the Lakota language,^[3] with Oak Creek running south on its eastern edge.

Chief Gall (Phizi) is buried at Saint Elizabeth Episcopal Cemetery here and Chief Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) is possibly buried under a concrete bust bearing his name a few miles south of town in the Mobridge area. Sitting Bull was originally buried at Fort Yates, North Dakota but an effort was made to exhume his bones and rebury him at the present site, but some individuals assert that the bones moved are not his.

The annual Wakpala Wacipi (dance or powwow) is usually held on a weekend in late August.

References

1. "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
3. Federal Writers' Project (1940). South Dakota place-names, v.1-3. University of South Dakota. p. 66.