Yankton, South Dakota Yankton, South Dakota Yankton is a city in, and the county seat of, Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 14,454 at the 2010 census. Yankton is the principal city of the Yankton Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entirety of Yankton County, and which had an estimated population of 22,662 as of July 1, 2017. Yankton was the first capital of Dakota Territory. It is named for the Yankton tribe of Nakota (Sioux) Native Americans; Yankton is derived from the Nakota word "I-hank-ton-wan" ("the end village"). Yankton is located on the Missouri River just downstream of the
Impact of Native American gaming Native American gaming has created over 300,000 jobs in the United States. Tribes in only 30 states are eligible to operate gaming enterprises because 16 states have no federally recognized tribes, and five states (Massachusetts, Texas, Missouri, Rhode Island, and Utah) prohibit Native American gaming. 224 of the 550 tribes in 28 states operate the 350 Native American gaming enterprises nationwide, and 68% of Native Americans belong to a tribe with gaming operations. According to the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, these enterprises earned $19.4 billion in 2005. As compared to the $4.5 billion earned by Native American