In Gov. Kristi Noem, tribes clash over checkpoints: How we got here and what's next, Lisa Kacske reports in the Sioux Argus Leader:
The two tribes have gained support for their positions since Noem's threat of legal action on Friday. Tribal members have been urged to contact the Governor's Office to support the checkpoints, and tribal members gathered at the checkpoints on Sunday in support of them. Delbert Hopkins Jr., who represents Sisseton-Wahpeton's Enemy Swim District, also asked the South Dakota Tribal Relations Department to support the two tribes, noting that a checkpoint worked to curb the coronavirus outbreak in the Enemy Swim housing.
That's good news. In Death. We're on it: SD Gov. Noem wants to open tribal checkpoints, shut down sovereignty, we noted the earlier news of the Enemy Swim District housing:
On May 1, Danielle Ferguson reported in the Argus Leader article, 'It will be our Smithfield': Tribal leaders worry of COVID-19 spread on Lake Traverse Reservation:
Leaders of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe in northeast South Dakota are worried about rapid spread of COVID-19 on the Lake Traverse Reservation because people aren't following social distancing recommendations.
The reservation has the most COVID-19 cases of all South Dakota tribes, said Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate public information officer Tom Wilson. At least five have been confirmed in the district, three of which are in one household in the Enemy Swim District.
"It's giving the community a scare," Wilson said Friday.
The reservation has an indefinite stay-at-home order, but some people haven't been taking it seriously, he said.
In a Facebook Live event Thursday, tribal chairman Donovan White said people in the reservation's seven districts need to stay home . . . .
The Watertown Public Opinion reported on May 4 in COVID-19 cases hit Enemy Swim housing site:
One teenage boy is on a ventilator at a Sioux Falls hospital and another four Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate members have confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to Tom Wilson, spokesman for the tribe task force dealing with the coronavirus.
The outbreak has occurred in a tribal housing area near Enemy Swim Lake. A checkpoint has been established at the entrance to the development, and tribal officials are restricting who can enter or leave.
Wilson said all tribal members are under a 24-hour curfew except those with essential jobs or having to travel to grocery stores for supplies.
He said the source of the current outbreak has not been identified. He said there have been previous confirmed cases in and around Sisseton but didn’t believe those were the cause of the latest cases. . . .
That being the case, we respect the actions of our Lakota neighbors to the West--and wish the Governor could do the same. As Harold Frazier said, no one should "apologize for being an island of safety in a sea of uncertainty and death."
The Sota Iya Ye Yapi, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate's newspaper includes coverage of the dispute on pages 14-15 of this week's issue.
As we noted in our earlier post, State Representative Tamara St. John, archivist for the SWO, is the only Republican to sign the letter discussed by Aliana Beautiful Bald Eagle n the West River Eagle story, State Legislators to Noem- State has no jurisdiction over the highways running through Indian lands, cite 1990 ruling and Dakota Free Press blogger Cory Allen Heidelberger on Monday in 17 Legislators Defend Tribal Coronavirus Checkpoints.
Photo: Some of the SWO buffalo herd on the tribe's Emily Swim Buffalo Farm. While we enjoy going over with our beau, a tribal elder, to watch the bison and their calves this time of year, but we're staying away until the tribe lifts its restrictions. Via the March 11 Dakota News Now article, Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe preparing for Coronavirus (the tribe dropped the word "Sioux" from its name some years ago).
The Dakota News Now report includes this fascinating video about buffalo that were used to feed tribal members during the emergency:
More history of the Dakota tribe's herd can be found in a 2017 Bismarck Tribune article, Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe works with feds to expand buffalo herd.
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