PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) — The vice president of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe says she would welcome more opportunities to collaborate with the State of South Dakota.

Santee Sioux Tribal Vice President Cynthia J. Allen-Weddel (wed-duhl) gave the annual State of the Tribes Address to a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature Wednesday.

She said the facility helps keep families together on the Santee Sioux Reservation and is an economic engine for the community.

As for future collaboration, Allen-Weddel outlined a proposal to house city, county, tribal, and federal detainees in a new facility on reservation land, calling it a “multi-jurisdictional” solution. She put the cost at $38 to $65 million.

She kidded that if the legislature had any spare millions for the project, the tribe would gladly accept it.

Allen-Weddel also emphasized the importance of the tribe’s involvement in medical marijuana. She said it is an essential economic program that has also helped thousands of patients.