Thomas Shortbull
Education Rapid City, SD
Thomas Shortbull was born on December 4, 1946 in Igloo, South Dakota, which was then an army munitions depot. He was the oldest of 10 children of Norman Shortbull and Elizabeth Prue. In 1948, his family moved to Denver, Colorado so that his father could go to art school through the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Federal Relocation Program. This program sought to provide work skills for Indian people who wanted to permanently leave the reservation. From 1952-56, his family lived in Wanblee and Belvidere, South Dakota. During these four years, his family was very poor, because there were limited work opportunities for his father and mother. Everything changed for his family when his father and mother found work at the Black Hills Army Depot in 1956. An asset in his career was the good education he received through the Provo School System, which provided education to the children of Army Depot workers.. His leadership abilities were first seen when he attended the University of South Dakota from 19651970, serving as the President of the Indian club. After receiving his Master Degree in Public Administration
Progressive, Collaborator and Advocate for Native Americans and Education 39
South Dakota Hall of Fame
from USD in 1973, he was selected as the Coordinator of the Task Force on Indian State Government Relations, that studied the problems that existed between the State of South Dakota and its 9 SD tribal governments. In 1974, the Task Force passed progressive legislation that allowed for cooperative agreements between Indian tribes and the State of South Dakota. One of the problems that the Task Force studied was the gerrymandering of the Indian vote in Shannon and Todd Counties which diluted the Indian vote among three different legislative districts. The Task Force report recommended that Shannon and Todd county be included in one voting district, which would produce a strong majority of Indian people in this district. As a result of the South Dakota and national Civil Rights Commissions endorsing this recommendation, the Justice Department required that South Dakota adopt this voting district in order to have its statewide voting districts be approved in 1980. In 1982, the newly created Legislative District 27 elected its representatives, and he was the first elected elected it's representatives. He was the first Senator from this new district, which included Shannon and
