Part of the movement toward Indian self-sufficiency in the late 1870s
included the establishment of an Indian police force for each reservation,
like the ones shown here, which was formed by the Pine Ridge Agency in
1879.  Fours years later, the Indian police were assigned the additional
duty of serving as judges for the newly established Courts of Indian
Offenses.  Secretary of the Interior Henry Teller had hoped these courts
would curb such Indian practices as the Sun Dance and polygamy, but
instead the y were more concerned with providing local tribunals fro
bringing petty offenders to trials.