Four Native American tribes have banned Governor Kristi Noem from their land after Noem claimed some tribal leaders were profiting off of Mexican drug cartels.
Standing Rock Tribal Council voted to ban Noem from their land over her comments made in February.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chair Janet Alkire was furious over Noem’s comments and shared that 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.”
Noem was previously banned from entering the land of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe lands.
MAGA Gov. Kristi Noem was banished from the Rosebud Indian Reservation in her own state of South Dakota on Thursday, the fourth Lakota tribe to bar her from its lands in recent months.https://t.co/ykkDTLcVI9
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 12, 2024
The Hill had more on the story:
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has become the third tribal nation to ban South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) from its reservation land.
On Wednesday, the Standing Rock Tribal Council voted to ban Noem from its land for “racially charged” comments she made at town halls events alleging some tribal leaders are “personally benefiting” from Mexican drug cartel activity on reservations, the South Dakota Searchlight reported.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is straddles the border of North Dakota and South Dakota. The governor was banned from two other reservations earlier this year, a trend that started after she delivered remarks on the U.S.-Mexico border in February.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chair Janet Alkire said in a statement that Noem’s attempts to link tribes with the Mexican cartel was “irresponsible” and a “sad reflection of her fear-based politics that do nothing to bring people together to solve problems.”
“Rather than make uninformed and unsubstantiated claims, Noem should work with tribal leaders to increase funding and resources for tribal law enforcement and education,” Alkire’s statement said, reported by the Searchlight.
Another Native American tribe has banned Gov. Kristi Noem, citing inflammatory comments connecting tribal lands to cartels.https://t.co/AldRi7Z6Nq pic.twitter.com/jUrompS1pE
— KELOLAND News (@keloland) April 10, 2024
Newsweek got the scoop, too:
A third Native American tribe has banned South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem from visiting its reservation following Noem’s accusations that Mexican drug cartels are facilitating crime on Indigenous land in her state.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe announced in a news release on Wednesday that its council voted to banish Noem. The motion comes a few weeks after the tribe’s chairwoman, Janet Alkire, rebuked Noem’s comments in a statement shared to social media, saying that the governor’s “wild and irresponsible attempt to connect tribal leaders and parents with Mexican drug cartels is a sad reflection of her fear-based politics.”
Noem, a close ally to former President Donald Trump, was banned from two other Indigenous reservations earlier this year after saying during a speech before the South Dakota Legislature in January that certain drug cartels “have been successful in recruiting tribal members to join their criminal activity.”
She reiterated her claims during a town hall in March, accusing some Native American leaders of “personally benefiting” from Mexican cartels operating in their territory and that children living on such reservations “don’t have parents who show up and help them.”
Noem was banished by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Council on April 2 and the Oglala Sioux Tribe in February, which are both headquartered in South Dakota. The Standing Rock reservation spans the borders of North Dakota and South Dakota.
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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Banned From Another Tribe's Reservation https://t.co/QpAeW52d9W
— HuffPost Women (@HuffPostWomen) April 11, 2024
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