Relations between South Dakota tribes and Republican Gov. Kristi Noem have long been strained, but they have become even more contentious recently as Noem has pointedly criticized tribal leaders, accusing some of profiting from drug dealing and questioning their commitments to children on reservations
In speeches at community forums, Noem has slammed leaders of the tribes in the state as being more interested in hurting her politically and profiting from drug cartels than improving the lives of children and others amid persistent poverty on reservations.
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,” Noem said at a forum last month in Winner. “But I’m going to fight for the people who actually live in those situations, who call me and text me every day and say, ’Please, dear governor, please come help us in Pine Ridge. We are scared.”
Even for tribal leaders accustomed to rocky relations with the governor, the accusations left them stunned.
“How dare the Governor allege that Sioux Tribal Councils do not care about their communities or their children, and, worse, that they are involved in nefarious activities?” said Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out, whose tribe earlier this year banished Noem from the Pine Ridge Reservation and is suing the federal government for more law enforcement resources to tackle crime on the reservation.
Or as Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire put it in a statement, “Governor Kristi Noem’s wild and irresponsible attempt to connect tribal leaders and parents with Mexican drug cartels is a sad reflection of her fear-based politics that do nothing to bring people together to solve problems.”
