Four of South Dakota's federally recognized Native American tribes have been moved to the reservation by Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican whose name has been floated as a running mate to former President Donald J. Trump. Entry and exit was prohibited. He most recently blocked Noem on Thursday.
Three of the tribes banned Noem this month and banned their governors after she told state lawmakers in February that Mexican drug cartels were based on their reservations and were committing murders there. They joined another tribe that sanctioned them.
Noem further infuriated tribes at a town hall event in Winner, South Dakota, last month when she made comments that suggested the tribes were complicit in the cartel presence on the reservation.
“There are some tribal leaders who I believe personally benefit from the presence of the cartel, and that's why they attack me every day,” Noem said.
The Cheyenne River Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux and Oglala Sioux tribes were the first to ban Noem from the reservation in February. Their reservations have a combined population of nearly 50,000 people and cover more than 8 million acres, according to state and federal figures. The Standing Rock Indian Reservation is the third tribal area to restrict Noem's access, extending into North Dakota.
Tribes say Noem has incited fear and accused herself of recruiting tribal members to participate in criminal activities by mentioning a gang known as the Ghost Dancers during a speech to state lawmakers. They are accused of defaming the country's traditions.
This gang shares its name with participants in the Native American Ghost Dance ritual, a sacred ritual dating back to the 19th century.
“Governor. Kristi Noem's wild and irresponsible attempts to link tribal leaders and parents to Mexican drug cartels are doing nothing to bring people together and solve problems.” “This is a sad reflection of fear-based politics,” said Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairwoman Janet Alkiel. she said in a statement this week.
Noem stood by her comments in a statement to the New York Times on Friday.
“Tribal leaders should immediately oust the Mexican drug cartels that are committing murder, rape, drug addiction, and many other crimes on tribal lands,” she said. “People in our community live with unspeakable horror and tragedy every day, and banishing me for speaking the truth about suffering will do nothing to solve the problem. It may be advantageous for left-wing media, but it's actually meaningless.”
Asked about Ms. Noem's claims that tribal leaders benefit from the presence of cartels on the reservation, one aide said Ms. Noem's recent comments to the Dakota Scout, an alternative newspaper based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, He pointed to his remarks and said he doubled down on cartels and criticized tribes. Dealing with cartels.
“It shows that they are connected to them or are benefiting from them in some way, that they are allowing them to remain in their community,” she said. Ta.
Photos provided to the Times by the governor's office show several men wearing clothing with Ghost Dancer patches at a gang promotion ceremony. The Times could not independently verify the images.
It also released recordings of conversations purported to have taken place between the head of the South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations and leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, in which a representative of the South Dakota Tribal Council revealed which We discussed how they voted to ban her. . Reservation Noem. The remaining votes came from tribal council members living in North Dakota, the governor's office said.
Attempts to contact Tribal Council members allegedly seen in the recording were not immediately successful.
In a social media post Thursday, Noem claimed her comments about cartel activity on reservations were similar to comments made by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last month. did.
“There are cartels in Indian Country,” he said, using an expletive to say there was a lot of “bad” stuff going on.
Tester, a member of the Commission on Indian Affairs, had called for additional law enforcement resources on tribal lands, echoing calls from tribal leaders in Montana for federal help in fighting crime. His comments differed from Noem's in that he did not accuse tribal leaders of being complicit in the rise of cartels on reservations.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Tester, who is running for re-election in a key race for control of the Senate, declined to comment Friday.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe declared a state of emergency in November, which remains in place today, citing an increase in drug-related crimes, assaults and murders on the reservation.
And in January, the tribe accused the federal government of failing to adequately fund law enforcement on the reservation, an area larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined, as required by a long-standing treaty. filed a lawsuit.
The tribe argued in its lawsuit that it receives enough federal funding for just 33 police officers and eight criminal investigators, contributing to the rise in crime. But tribes have pushed back against Noem's claims that cartels are using the reservation to facilitate the spread of illegal drugs, saying the problem existed even when Trump was president.
The growing influence of cartels on tribal lands has drawn attention on Capitol Hill, with at least two congressional committees recently focusing on the surge in cartel-related crimes.
During Wednesday's hearing, Jeffrey Stiferm, a tribal leader in Montana, told the House Oversight Committee that “these drug cartels have access to rural terrain, a history of addiction, lack of law enforcement resources, and legal resources. “This dangerous combination, including the lack of a There are loopholes, sparsely populated communities, exorbitant profits, and tribal reservations are devastated. ”
South Dakota is home to nine federally recognized Native American tribes, and they have raised issues related to sovereignty, support for the now-suspended Keystone XL pipeline, and access to reservation lands early in the coronavirus pandemic. He has had occasional arguments with Noem over this issue.
The chairman of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, which lifted a previous ban against her in 2019, said the governor's political ambitions motivated her action.
In a statement posted on Facebook in February, President Frank Starr said, “The truth of the matter is that Governor Noem wants to use the so-called 'invasion' of the southern border as a 'crisis' for the Republican Party.” It means that there is.” She used the issue as an issue in her campaign, encouraging Trump to choose her as his running mate.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference held in late February, a poll showed Noem tied for first place as Trump's running mate.
The tribe's criticism of Noem began after the governor addressed a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature on Feb. 2 about the wave of illegal border crossings.
“Make no mistake about it, cartels exist on several tribal reservations in South Dakota,” she said. “There have been murders by cartel members on the Pine Ridge Reservation and Rapid City, and a gang called the Ghost Dancers is affiliated with these cartels. They recruit members of the tribe to participate in criminal activities. We have been extremely successful.”
Noem said the state does not have the authority to intervene and provide law enforcement assistance to South Dakota tribes.
On Thursday, Noem announced that South Dakota would begin offering training for tribal law enforcement officers, who currently have to travel to New Mexico to do so.
