Former U.S. Senator James Abourezk has died. He was born on February 24, 1931 at home in Wood, South Dakota and died on February 24, 2023 at home in Sioux Falls, SD.

A private family service will take place and he will be buried at Black Hills National Cemetery. A public memorial will be held in Sioux Falls in May. In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be directed to the American Indian College Fund www.collegefund.org or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital where James was on the board www.stjude.org

Abourezk was in the U.S. House of Representatives representing South Dakota from 1971 to 1973, and in the U.S. Senate from 1973-1979, when he retired from politics.

He was the founder and first Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in the US Senate, and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is remembered for the major legislation he co-authored and was able to get passed, including the Indian Child Welfare Act, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.

When he was in the US Senate he had two different seat mates on the floor of the Senate, then-Senator Joe Biden and Senator Edward "Teddy" Kennedy.

Abourezk took the University of South Dakota basketball team and a group of South Dakota business people to Cuba, to play their national team, meeting and having several discussions with then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Abourezk and Senator McGovern also went into Wounded Knee in 1973 to help negotiate the standoff between the US Government and American Indian    leaders inside.

Abourezk was the first member of the U.S. Senate of Lebanese descent.  After his retirement, Abourezk co-founded and was the first Chairperson of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, an organization headquartered in Washington, DC with chapters in communities around the nation, which advocated for the civil and human rights of Arab-Americans.

Over the years since his retirement, he continued to advocate for the Indian Child Welfare Act, appearing as a witness in some court cases, appearing before the Congress to testify, and filing supporting briefs in court cases. The Indian Child Welfare Act is undergoing a challenge at present before the United States Supreme Court, in a case that will be decided later in 2023.

Abourezk was also the author of two books, Advise and Dissent: A Memoir of South Dakota and the US Senate , and Through Different Eyes , a dialogue on issues in the Middle East which was co-authored by him and Jewish author Hyman Bookbinder.

Abourezk was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.

Abourezk's parents Charles and Lena Abourezk immigrated from Lebanon.  He is married to Sioux Falls restaurateur Sanaa Abourezk, and has four children, Charles Abourezk, Nikki Pipe On Head, Paul Abourezk and Alya Abourezk.  He also has one step-daughter Chelsea Machado, and many grand children and great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents Charles and Lena Abourezk, and his siblings Chick Abourezk, Helen Ramey, Tom Abourezk, Virginia Nicholson, Abe Abourezk and Josephine Davis.