Last Thursday, Bluestem had posted Noem calls for audit of tribes; ICT News/Rapid City Journal reporter finds the receipts.
As readers may remember from Bluestem posts like Winner, Noem links tribal leaders to cartels, Malice: she's on it. Tribal leaders insulted after Governor Noem claims they "are personally benefiting from the cartels being here" and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Chair responds to Noem's latest linking tribes to drug cartels.
Noem's been more than dog whistlinng anti-Indian stereotypes since her border crisis speech to the South Dakota state legislature at the end of January in which she claimed Drug cartels have infiltrated reservations.
Since I posted at the end of March, there's been a swirl of news here in South Dakota about this crusade and the tribes'' reactions to it.
On Tuesday, Noem issued a statement to the press, Gov. Noem to Tribes: "Banish the Cartels."
Also on Tuesday, Associated Press's Jack Dura covered the issue in Tribes blast South Dakota governor's claim that leaders are benefitting from drug cartels (used in this link by ABC News).
At the South Dakota Searchlight, Joshua Haiar reported on Wednesday in Tribe worries about police staffing, not cartels, officials tell congressman:
WAGNER — Yankton Sioux Tribe officials said Wednesday they know where the drugs on their tribal lands are coming from.
“Not the cartels,” said Justin Song Hawk, a former tribal police officer.
Other members of the Ihanktonwan Oyate — as the tribe is called in the Dakota language — chuckled in response. The comment was a reference to Governor Kristi Noem, who’s alleged repeatedly in recent months that Mexican cartels are bringing drugs to tribal reservations, and has accused tribal leaders of benefitting from the activity.
Song Hawk’s comments came during a meeting with South Dakota Republican U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson about the tribe’s law enforcement needs. The tribe, headquartered in southeast South Dakota, is one of nine Native American tribes in the state.
Tribal Chief of Police Edwin Young said drugs are coming from cities including Sioux Falls, and the primary drug is methamphetamine. He also told Johnson about several problems his department faces.
Young said he has one day off per month and has been working that schedule since December. He said there are only three officers, and the tribe needs about 12. . . .
Read the rest at the Searchlight.
On Thursday, the Center Square's Merrilee Gasser reported in Tribe president says Noem's approach to tribal relations is not working:
(The Center Square) - Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said Gov. Kristi Noem should examine how she is handling tribal relations after the governor called Mexican drug cartel presence in Indian country “a problem across the nation.”
In a statement sent to The Center Square, Star Comes Out said Noem’s current approach to tribal relations is not working for her or the tribes.
“A better approach would be to reinstitute the previous Board for the South Dakota Indian Affairs Office with a representative from each of the nine Tribes,” said Star Comes Out. “This has worked in the past. It would ensure better communications between the Tribal governments and the State government and ensure that Tribes’ interests are heard, not just the State’s.” . . .
Star Comes Out says inadequate funding for law enforcement is not unique to the Biden Administration and has existed for decades – something the tribe is addressing with a pending federal lawsuit.
”Perhaps, if the South Dakota Governor is so concerned about Tribal Law Enforcement, she could equalize the state Law Enforcement Funding, so Tribes receive equal amounts per person as the state does,” Star Comes Out said.
The back and forth between Noem’s office and the tribes comes on the heels of a Tribal-Federal meeting where both the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe say Noem made an uninvited appearance and brought members of the press with her.
There's more a Center Square. The back story? On Thursday, ICT News published Kristi Noem banned from Cheyenne River Reservation. Amelia Schafer reported:
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been banned from a second reservation following a vote taken during the April 2 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s tribal council meeting.
Representatives from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe were angered by Noem’s presence at the quarterly Pe’ Sla meeting uninvited and unannounced on March 29 in Rapid City. She made the appearance after making a series of allegations regarding cartel involvement, mismanagement of funds and poor education towards Native Nations in the last few weeks.
District Five representative Robert Walters presented a motion by resolution to ban Governor Noem from the reservation and the council voted unanimously, 12-0, to ban Noem from Cheyenne River lands.
“This person has made a lot of accusations about the tribes, about the cartel, council representatives being in bed with the cartel, stuff like that. It’s all false information. I make a motion at this time to banish her from the Cheyenne River Reservation,” Walters said during the April 2 council meeting. “Mr. Chairman, I believe there has to be some kind of policy set up for her to show up at these tribal meetings. She can’t just go in there and do her thing.”
Prior to the vote, Chairman Ryman LeBeau expressed concern about Noem’s attendance at the Pe’ Sla meeting and claimed she brought cameras in with her to document her attendance and use it for “her agenda.”
LeBeau reported to the council that during the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association meeting on March 30, the leaders from the nine tribes in South Dakota discussed how to approach Noem’s recent allegations. . . .
Read the rest at ICT News.
As I had posted in SWO Dakota to Governor Noem: don't single out reservations when drugs are a statewide problem and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Chair responds to Noem's latest linking tribes to drug cartelsbthe Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate was one of two tribes mentioned in Noem's border speech at the end January. The speech prompted this new round of quarrels between the governor and the tribes.
It's gotten less attention. but a statement released by District 1 state representative Tamara St. John, a Republican who is the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribal archivist clearly spells out some of the issues Noem's approach raises with regard to tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction. As published on her campaign Facebook page and in the April 3 issue of the SWO's tribal newspaper, the Sota Iya Ye Yapi, St. John wrote:
All tribes as individual sovereign nations address things differently. Each tribe can only speak for themselves. It’s a disservice to paint us all as “doing nothing” or not addressing the criminal issues in our communities.
Sisseton Wahpeton Tribal law enforcement works hard and works well with Roberts County and other state or federal law enforcement. They could all use additional resources and support.I “back the blue” and appreciate them all. It’s a hard job.I don’t believe the State of SD has a “ban on Cartels” and SWO like other tribes has a law and order code that makes drug activity illegal and there are federal charges for some crimes that take place on tribal lands. Jurisdiction is a very complex thing and it varies from tribe to tribe how crime is addressed. Just like any city or community we have these discussions and they are ongoing topics in the tribal community. Yes we always feel we could do better and strive to do that. There will always be critics and they are loudest.Again, I stand by our tribal law enforcement and support their need for additional resources if they voice a need for that.As for audits we at SWO have regular yearly audits and many tribes like us are not worried about a call for an audit anymore than we usually are. We know the value and need for clean audits and would not be able to do many of the things we do as a tribe without them. These are longstanding policies that have been put in place in our own accounting manuals to ensure compliance in many ways. Tribal leaders years ago created these things and they have been upheld by leadership past and present. We care about those things.Like anyone or anyplace there are mistakes at times and we work to fix them. Every audit is different and if problems arise we address them just like the State of SD or any entity does. Yes sometimes there are bad actors or issues arise, but we are pretty much the same as the rest of the world.I would invite people to learn more about how tribal governments work, how we operate, and what our responsibilities are to our members. AND how we work with or partner with others around us.It may not be as provocative of a story but we have many great things happening and have many wonderful strong families who love and support the future of our children. Our children are not hopeless.It’s unfair to generalize or paint all tribes or Native American people with one brush.I also want to recognize that the Governor is speaking about specific issues brought to her by another tribe(s) and/or their tribal members on issues they might be facing related to drug crime or federal funding and audits. I am not a part of those discussions and cannot comment on them.
Representative Tamara St John
- Noem calls for audit of tribes; ICT News/Rapid City Journal reporter finds the receipts
- Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Chair responds to Noem's latest linking tribes to drug cartels
- Malice: she's on it. Tribal leaders insulted after Governor Noem claims they "are personally benefiting from the cartels being here
- In Winner, Noem links tribal leaders to cartels
- SWO Dakota to Governor Noem: don't single out reservations when drugs are a statewide problem
- Noem banned from Pine Ridge Reservation over remarks in border speech to state legislature
- Explaining and gaining? Noem concedes Texas costs were gift to Lone Star state; meets with two South Dakota House tribal members
- Drug cartels have infiltrated reservations, Noem says, but some tribal voices call speech ‘political’
- Noem to address Legislature on ‘potential South Dakota response’ to Mexico border situation
- No word on who paid or if she packed razor wire: Noem travels again to Texas-Mexico border
- South Dakota Searchlight: Tribal leaders urge legislators to support reestablishment of Lake Traverse Reservation boundaries
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