The Dakota Oyate Challenge, which has been a long-time staple in Huron, is moving to Mitchell in 2024. 

The DOC is a three-day event featuring a boys and girls basketball tournament, hand games, cheer competition, archery and a college fair. The event consists of Native American schools and has been in Huron since 1999 for boys basketball and 2001 for girls basketball. 

But lack of hotel rooms to accommodate fans was the driving force behind moving it to Mitchell, said DOC President and Wakpala School Superintendent Silas Blaine. 

“The city of Huron has really treated us well,” Blaine said. “We have no complaints and they’ve welcomed us with open arms. The concerns that we have are always coming up with our fans. There’s not enough hotel space. We have fans driving as far as four hours away. So they can’t come to watch the tournament because all the motels are booked for the weekend in Huron.” 

Blaine said the event needs around 200 rooms just to accommodate the teams. The DOC Board of Directors also considered Sioux Falls as an option.

The board of directors consists of school administrators from the eight participating schools from Wakpala, Flandreau Indian, Lower Brule, Marty, Crazy Horse, Omaha Nation, Tiospaye Topa and Takini. 

The board of directors have discussed moving it in recent years and Marty Athletic Director George Erdahl suggested the switch to Mitchell. 

“He met with a couple of guys in Mitchell and they gave us a tour and we started talking,” Blaine said. “The board voted to officially move it to Mitchell in 2024.”

The first DOC boys basketball tournament was held in Wanblee at Crazy Horse School in 1989 and was originally called the “All Indian Tournament Class B”. In the following years, the tournaments were moved from year to year as schools took turns hosting the event. 

Wakpala's Lane Cadotte makes a pass against Crazy Horse at the Dakota Oyate Challenge on Jan. 26. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

The shortage of rooms and restaurants caused the board to pick Huron as the annual host. In the past, the tournament grew to a 16-team boys and 16-team girls tournament. The increase proved to be beyond Huron’s capacity and was reduced to 12 teams for both tournaments. It was reduced to eight-team tournaments in more recent years. 

Blaine said the DOC location beyond 2024 is to be determined. 

“We will wait and play it year by year,” Blaine said. “We will see how it goes next year and decide. We will try it out next year and evaluate after the completion of our tournament and then make a decision for the following year.”

Blaine hopes the switch will help with attendance, too. Blaine said this year’s turnout was down due to the weather and fans could also watch online through pay-per-view. 

In addition to adequate hotel space, Blaine said Mitchell’s location along Interstate 90 and more restaurants also factored into the move. 

“We are excited,” Blaine said. “The city of Huron treated us nice. They always worked with us and now we are going to see what the city of Mitchell has to offer.”