All nine South Dakota tribes have officially endorsed the banishment of Gov. Kristi Noem from their lands.
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe’s executive council voted Tuesday in favor of banishing the South Dakota governor from their reservation after she made disparaging remarks earlier this year against Native American parents during a town hall in Mitchell, saying their children “have no hope.”
She has also continually pushed claims that Mexican drug cartels have a “presence” on South Dakota Indian reservations.
This has placed Flandreau Santee Sioux leaders under pressure from their citizenry to punish Noem for her comments.
Prior to the decision, Tyler Rambeau, executive administrative assistant of the FSST Homeowners Assistance Fund, told the Argus Leader tribal citizens had urged council members to banish Noem.
“A lot of us are really wondering why it’s even a question and why we’re holding off so long,” Rambeau said. “A lot of us are really uncomfortable and upset with that.”
The tribe’s council office was unusually busy on the day of the executive council’s meeting. Tribal members sporadically entered the tribe’s meeting chambers — open only to Flandreau Santee Sioux citizens — to catch what one attendee described as a “pretty heated discussion,” before popping outside for a smoke break amid a morning-long downpour.
More: Who is Kristi Noem? Everything to know about the South Dakota governor
An Argus Leader reporter caught executive council members David Ross and Jonathan Schrader Sr. during an afternoon recess. In very brief remarks, Ross and Schrader Sr. said the council remained undecided.
“We’ll know later,” Ross told the Argus Leader.
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is the last of the state’s Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota tribal governments to endorse Noem’s banishment and the eighth to make it official.
“We need to stand in solidarity with our fellow tribes in South Dakota, the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ,” Rambeau said. “We do not want to come up on the wrong side of history in this moment.”
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Decision comes after tribal leaders met with Noem
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe released a statement on Monday recounting a May 19 meeting between tribal leadership and Noem in Pierre that they characterized as “respectful and productive.”
The tribe included a statement from Noem: “It was never my intent to cause offense by speaking truth to the real challenges that are being faced in some areas of Indian country. I want to focus on solutions that lead to safer communities for all our families, better educational outcomes for all our children, and declining addiction numbers for all of our people. It is my hope that the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe will give us the opportunity to partner together in a way that can be an example for all.”
Yankton Sioux Tribe’s Business and Claims Committee voted unanimously on May 10 to support Noem’s punishment.
However, Courtney Sully, secretary of the Yankton Sioux, said the tribe’s general council has yet to adopt an official measure.
Noem’s cartel-tribal rhetoric dates back to January
The governor initiated her cartel-tribal rhetoric on Jan. 31, when she held an emergency joint session during the state’s annual legislative session. In an 18-minute speech, Noem described to state lawmakers “the Texas-Mexico border” was under an “invasion” by migrants. She also alleged, “The cartels are using our reservations to facilitate the spread of drugs throughout the Midwest.”
More: Kristi Noem says drugs from southern border infiltrating South Dakota’s reservations
Noem dialed up the rhetoric in March, when she suggested without evidence tribal leaders are “personally benefiting” from the cartels during a town hall event in Winner. She later called on the tribes to “banish the cartels” in an April press release.
On Friday, the second-term governor spent part of a 51-minute press conference in Pierre lamenting the seven prior banishment measures and continued to emphasize her claim that Mexican cartels are using South Dakota’s Indian lands as “safe havens” to distribute drugs in the state.
The Argus Leader reached out to Noem spokesman Ian Fury for comment. He pointed back to the governor’s remarks during her Friday press conference.
“Banishing me does absolutely nothing to solve this problem,” Noem told reporters Friday. “All it does is help those who are perpetuating horrible violence and crimes against the people of South Dakota.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: All 9 South Dakota tribes endorse Gov. Kristi Noem’s banishment
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