Prairie Island Indian Community

Prairie Island Indian Community (Dakota: Tinta Winta) is a Mdewakanton Sioux Indian reservation in Goodhue County, Minnesota, along the Mississippi River. Most of the reservation now lies within the city of Red Wing, which developed after this land was set aside.

The reservation was established in 1889, with boundaries modified after that time. The federally recognized tribe has lost much reservation land to the requirements of two major federal projects of the 20th century. The United States Army Corps of Engineers was authorized by Congress to construct Lock and Dam No. 3 along the river to improve navigation, and took over reservation land to support this. Later, the federal government authorized construction in 1973 of the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant nearby, taking more reservation land for this project.

The main reservation lies within the city of Red Wing. Off-reservation trust lands are located both within Red Wing and in Welch Township in northern Goodhue County, as well as in Ravenna Township in eastern Dakota County. These nearly double the total landholdings of the tribe. The reservation had 199 residents as of the 2000 census, including its trust lands. Its total land area is 1.6689 sq mi (4.3225 km², or 1,068.1 acres). The tribe operates Treasure Island Resort & Casino on its land near the Mississippi River north of Red Wing.

In the 21st century, the Prairie Island Community opposed renewal of the federal license for the nuclear plant, but it was approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2011. The plant's owner and operator, Xcel Energy, has stored radioactive waste in above-ground steel casks on the site. As this area is in the floodplain of the Mississippi River, the Prairie Island Community and others feared that seasonal flooding could damage the casks, resulting in contamination of this important river.

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