The city of White Shield has grown exponentially over the past 10 years and with that growth comes new needs.

In 2018, there were 250 people in White Shield. Now, only two years later that number has nearly doubled.

“Someone that hasn’t been to White Shield in the last 10 years, when they come now they will not recognize the place,” said Mark Fox, Chairman of Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation.

The Three Affiliated Tribes chairman was among many others at the grand opening for the White Shield bus garage. There was also a tour of the new public safety building, head start school and community center. Chairman Fox says the projects are meant to revitalize rural areas of the tribe.

“We had limited development and that limited development essentialized in the New Town area.
And so when you do that, that’s the only place you do initial development on, infrastructure and things of that nature. Well, then that’s when everyone starts gravitating towards that center,” added Chairman Fox.

Councilman Fred Fox says not only will the projects help keep things local, but it will also provide a new sense of security.

“It does take an hour to an hour and a half to get here to White Shield if something does happen and then another hour and a half to take them back,” said Councilman Fox.

Currently, their tribal law enforcement is housed in New Town, which is over 50 miles away, and they use Garrison’s Fire Department which is 25 miles away.

The new public safety building will include ambulance service, detention center, a fire department and will also house the McLean County Sheriffs Deputies in the area.

Councilman Fox added, “Having that is really vital for White Shield.”

A community center is also in the works. It will include a movie theater, an indoor swimming pool and a fitness center. All the projects together cost more than $35 million, a price tag that both Councilman Fox and Chairman Fox say is well worth it.

The bus garage is already complete and ready to be used by the school district. The head start building will be done in December, and the public safety building and community center will be completed next Spring.