There are nine native tribes in South Dakota, and all of them have decided to keep Gov. Kristi Noem off their land.
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe’s executive council did the right thing on Tuesday by saying that the Republican governor could not come to the tribe.
When asked for comment on Wednesday, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe sent a copy of the conversations its president had with Noem before the vote. The readout says that because of Noem’s statements, Flandreau President Tony Reider called an emergency meeting last weekend. “Some members voiced their opposition,” so the meeting was “contentious at times.” Reider then set up a meeting with the governor’s office for Monday. It was “respectful and productive” to talk about that.
“President Reider told the governor that a ban from our territories is coming soon and asked that the governor not say anything else in the future that would offend the tribes that live in South Dakota, some of whom depend on state services to meet their needs.” The readout said, “It was suggested that the Governor clarify what she said and say sorry to all tribal nations for the confusion.” “Until then, the Executive Council and the people of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe will stand with other countries.”
Because of things she said earlier this year, tribes with reservations that go all the way into South Dakota have been taking steps to stop Noem from setting foot on their land since that vote. She said in a town hall meeting that tribal leaders were making money off of drug gangs in the state and putting those cartels ahead of taking care of children on their reservations. Since then, Noem has said again that Native American reservations in South Dakota were full of Mexican drug gangs.
After Noem made those words, other tribes spoke out against him and voted to keep him off their land. The Argus Leader of South Dakota said that people in the area had been putting pressure on the leaders of the Flandreau Santee Sioux to do something about Noem’s statements.
On Wednesday, the governor told CNN that she hoped to work with tribal leaders in the future, but she didn’t say anything directly about the ban.
“I only want to tell you the truth about the real problems people in some parts of Indian Country are facing.” I want to focus on solutions that make our neighborhoods safer for all of our families, help all of our kids do well in school, and lower the number of people who are addicted for everyone.
“We can’t deal with these problems until we deal with the real issue, which is dangerous criminals who keep up the violence and illegal activities in all parts of our state,” Noem said in the statement. “We need to do something.” I hope the leaders of the tribe will use this chance to work with me to show that working together is better for everyone than attacking each other politically.
Both the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe and the Yankton Sioux Tribe decided earlier in May to keep Noem off of their land. This year, the Standing Rock Sioux, the Crow Creek Sioux, the Rosebud, the Cheyenne River Sioux, the Oglala Sioux, and the Lower Brule Sioux all had votes that were nearly the same.
Noem was in the national news because of stories from her new book about killing her 14-month-old wirehair pointer, Cricket, and an unnamed goat. These stories led to the votes. In the book, there were stories about how Noem met with Kim Jong Un, the ruler of North Korea, and had to cancel a meeting with Emmanuel Macron, the president of France. Since then, Noem and his team have said that the story about Kim did not happen and should not have been in the book. The French government has said that Macron and the governor of South Dakota did not meet in that way when she was in Congress.
Noem’s name was on the short list to be Donald Trump’s choice for vice president in 2024 before her book came out. But her reputation has dropped.
Noem hasn’t changed how she talks about Mexican gangs and tribes. Instead, she has frequently said that border security is important and warned that there is a “invasion” of immigrants at the southern border between Texas and Mexico. A press meeting about border security and how it affects South Dakota has been set up by Noem.
In a statement from her office last week, Noem said, “Banishing me does nothing to solve this problem or help those who are going through terrible tragedies.” “I got back home yesterday from the dangerous and deadly war zone along our southern border.” Soldiers from the South Dakota National Guard helped soldiers from the Texas National Guard build miles of border wall in 100-degree heat to protect the American people and keep drugs and people trafficking groups from coming into our country.
Since a few months ago, Noem and other top South Dakota officials have talked about new programs for tribe law enforcement. The state’s attorney general, Marty Jackley, and Noem launched a licensing program in April to help speed up training for local police. Early this month, Noem made Algin Young, who used to be the police chief for the Pine Ridge Reservation, the Tribal Law Enforcement Liaison for South Dakota.
