Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC; Dakota: Mdemayaṭo Oyate) is a federally recognized, sovereign Indian tribe of Mdewakanton Dakota people, located southwest of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, within parts of the cities of Prior Lake and Shakopee in Scott County, Minnesota. Mdewakanton, pronounced Mid-ah-wah-kah-ton, means "dwellers of the spirit lake."

The tribe owns and operates Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, and a number of other enterprises. While Scott County is largely rural, it is located within the Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington, MN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. This proximity to a large customer base makes the casino profitable: each member of the tribe receives a payout of around $1 million per year (as of 2012), and the tribe gives large sums to various charitable organizations.

As of 2020, the SMSC reservation and off-reservation trust land totaled 7.99 square miles (5,110 acres; 20.7 km²), all of which is located within or near the original 250-acre (1.0 km²) reservation established for the Tribe in the 1880s. Tribal lands are located in Prior Lake and Shakopee, Minnesota.

Tribal members are direct lineal descendants of Mdewakanton Dakota people who resided in villages near the banks of the lower Minnesota River. A line of leaders known as Chief Ṡaḳpe were spokesmen for their village. The first Ṡaḳpe [pronounced Shock-pay], meaning "six," was named by his people as such after his wife bore sextuplets. The second Ṡaḳpe signed several treaties with the US during the 19th century.

The City of Shakopee later developed near this site and was named for these prominent leaders. The town of Shakopee was named after Ṡaḳpe as well.