Tribes call for apology from SD governor

Inflammatory comments made by Governor Kristi Noem at two separate town hall meetings on March 13 prompted three tribes to call for an apology from the governor

Comments made by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem during a March 13 bill signing in Mitchell and later at a town hall in Winner led four tribes to call for her to apologize.

During the two town hall meetings, Noem accused tribal council members of “standing in her way,” failing youth and benefiting from drug cartel operations. Now, tribal leaders from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Crow Creek Sioux Tribe are responding to those allegations.

“Her remarks were made from ignorance and with the intention to fuel a racially based and discriminatory narrative towards the Native people of South Dakota,” said Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Scott Herman in a March 15 press release. “We demand an apology from the governor.”

During a question-and-answer session after signing two new education bills, Noem commented on low graduation rates and low attendance rates due to a “lack of parental involvement.”

“Because they live with 80 percent to 90 percent unemployment, their kids don’t have any hope. They don’t have parents who show up and help them,” Noem said. “They have a tribal council or a president who focuses on a political agenda more than they care about actually helping somebody’s life look better.”

Noem said as of 2022, six of the 11 poorest counties in the United States were in South Dakota: Todd County, which is part of the Rosebud Reservation; Mellette County, Oglala Lakota County and Jackson County, which are part of the Pine Ridge Reservation; Corson County, which is part of the Standing Rock Reservation; and Ziebach County, which is part of the Cheyenne River Reservation. 

“I have tribal councils that are standing in my way,” Noem said. “Because they’ve got control and they’ve got money coming into their pockets, they’re taking from their people and their communities. They’re not benefiting their kids. That’s next on my agenda.”

A majority of Native children in South Dakota are enrolled in public schools off-reservation. Data from the South Dakota Board of Education indicated only 5,013 children, or 25 percent of the state’s Native youth, attended tribal schools for the 2023-2024 school year, 300 fewer than the previous school year. Statewide, one-third of Native students don’t graduate from public high schools and 84 percent are not considered college-ready. 

“If the Governor truly wants to help Native children be more successful, she should stop selling lies about them, our Tribes, our students and our parents,” said Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Ryman LeBeau in a March 20 press release. “She should give our tribes the federal funds that are sent through the State of South Dakota instead of turning them back to the United States government.”

Later that day during a town hall in Winner, Noem again alleged Mexican cartels are operating on tribal lands in South Dakota and are trafficking drugs, children and sex to the rest of the Midwest. She then accused tribal leaders of benefiting from cartel presence. 

Noem has previously alleged that cartels are operating on tribal land, specifically within the Pine Ridge and Lake Traverse reservations. 

After the first cartel allegations were made Jan. 31, representatives from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate held a meeting with Noem to discuss her remarks. The tribe requested she collaborate on a cooperative law enforcement plan with tribal governments. 

The Oglala Sioux Tribe also moved to ban Noem from the reservation a second time. 

In response to the March 13 allegations, the Oglala Sioux Tribe pointed to a 2007 publication from the National Drug Intelligence Center stating that most illegal drug activity in South Dakota moves through Sioux Falls and Sioux City.

“I suggest that Noem as Governor should, perhaps, clean up her own backyard in the Watertown and Castlewood area (where her ranch is located) instead of trying to cast the Sioux Tribes in a false light by insinuating that all the Mexican Drug Cartel trafficking comes to South Dakota population centers like Sioux Falls and Rapid City – from the Sioux reservations,” said Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out in a March 16 press release. 

In 2022 The Oglala Sioux Tribe launched a lawsuit against the federal government to try to get the United States to honor its obligation to provide the reservation with adequate public safety resources. For years, the reservation has experienced high rates of murder, suicide, drug offenses, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, burglary and missing persons cases, according to tribal officials.

The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has also struggled with a lack of police officers, leading to the development of a citizen police force. The tribe is also requesting additional law enforcement personnel and general public safety assistance. 

In the eight months since the citizen police force was established, calls to dispatch dropped by 30 percent to 40 percent and ambulance calls are down 30 percent to 35 percent. Over one dozen employees have been hired by the tribe to aid in the program. 

Tribal leaders said a majority of the guns and drugs brought into reservations are coming from cities like Sioux Falls and Rapid City, not directly into the reservation. 

Ian Fury, chief of communications for the governor’s office, said Noem has attempted to schedule meetings with Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Scott Herman, Crow Creek Chairman Peter Lengkeek and Oglala Sioux Tribe President Star Comes Out, but has not heard back. 

“She is loving all the conversations that she’s having with their community members – she has appreciated their encouragement and support,” Fury said in an email to ICT and the Rapid City Journal. “We would challenge the tribes to prove the Governor’s comment false by banishing the drug cartels from their reservations.”

*This story was updated to include comments from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Dateline:

RAPID CITY, S.D.