Gov. Kristi Noem Now Banished By Every Single South Dakota Tribe
All nine indigenous tribes in South Dakota have now banned Gov. Kristi Noem from entering their land in response to the Republican’s offensive claims about the roughly 70,000 Native people who live in her state.
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, the ninth and final tribe to take such action, announced its decision Tuesday, after its executive board held an emergency meeting about the matter over the weekend and then met with Noem’s office Monday.
Until Noem issues an apology, “the people of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe stand with our fellow nations,” the tribe’s statement said.
This ban means Noem, who’s been floated as a presidential running mate for presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, is now banned from 20% of her state’s land.
At Monday’s meeting between Noem and tribe leadership, the announcement continued, tribe president Tony Reider “informed the governor that a ban from our territories is imminent and requested that the Governor refrain from making future blanket statements that offend the tribes within the boundaries of the State of South Dakota, some of which depend on state services for the needs of their people.”
The emergency meeting over the weekend “was contentious at times, as some members vocalized their opposition,” the statement noted.
The announcement comes just a week after the Flandreau Santee Sioux told The Daily Beast it didn’t have plans to ban Noem, making it the state’s one holdout until now.
“The governor has her agenda; we have ours,” the tribe’s communications director, Francis Wakeman, said at the time. “We’re just continuing forward. So, we’re not going to get into the issue of banning the governor or anything at this time.”
Tribes began banishing Noem in February after she made comments saying Mexican drug cartels were infiltrating South Dakota’s reservations. The Oglala Sioux Tribe, the largest in the state, was the first to do so, with its president accusing Noem of using “Indian people and reservations … as a basis to create a bogus border crisis” and curry favor with Trump.
But Noem only doubled down on her remarks.
“We’ve got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from the cartels being there, and that’s why they attack me every day,” she said at a forum in March.
Noem also attacked parents on reservations for their children’s struggles.
“Because they live with 80% to 90% unemployment, their kids don’t have any hope. They don’t have parents who show up and help them,” she 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.”
She also called for President Joe Biden’s administration to conduct an audit of all federal funds given to South Dakota’s tribes, saying law enforcement on reservations is “failing to meet basic safety needs.”
Noem, who’s led South Dakota since 2019, has also been under fire since last month when she admitted in her new book to shooting one of her dogs because the pup was aggressive and “less than worthless” for hunting.
