Biography
Grove was adopted as a baby by Leo and Delores Istas of Miller,SD in August of 1970 during the Indian Adoption Project,and is Lakota Sioux and African American descent. [3] Her biological mother gave her up for adoption after her sister hid her in Yankton and talked her out of aborting her. [4]
Grove grew up in Miller and then moved to Lower Brule with her husband from Sioux Falls area and founded a church called the Hope Center. Grove and her husband have worked with community members on issues like food sovereignty and they have planted a large community garden on the church grounds. [5]
After the 2016 United States presidential election she was a researcher for the First Step Act and worked directly with President Donald Trump’s Urban Revitalization Coalition and was the lead co-author for his 13-Point Urban Revitalization Plan. [6]
In the 2024 South Dakota Senate election,she became the first Republican to represent the 26th district in a decade. [7] Tamara Grove who is representing Lower Brule beat incumbent Democratic Senator. Shawn Bordeaux of Mission on Election night 2024. She defeated him with a tally of 57%-43%. [5] Senator Tamara Grove is South Dakota's first African American Native female elected to the SD Senate in the SD legislative history. She is an advocate of drug reform. [8] She has worked for the anti-cannabis group Protecting South Dakota Kids. [9] South Dakota senate passed a resolution asking that the Dakota Removal Act be rescinded and the bill was sponsored by Sen. Tamara Grove. [10] A new bill was aimed to require that the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings,a set of Oceti Sakowin life lesson teachings,be taught all in South Dakota classrooms. This was another bill proposed by Grove. When introducing this bill,Grove said "this is a step towards a reset that tribal leaders have called for in a wake of strained relations with former Gov. Kristi Noem." [11]
Tamara Grove,who represents tribal areas,told her fellow lawmakers that HOPE is used within tribal borders,but that is very underutilized statewide. She has talked about it as a sort of mini-drug court,which is what she is fmailar with in tribal courts. On the senate floor,Grove said,"The prison population is expected to keep growing." This vote was a very big moment for her as this was another bill that Grove has sponsored. [12]
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