Joining Oglala Sioux Tribe In Ban.
Eagle Butte, South Dakota – On Wednesday, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council joined the Oglala Sioux Tribe in banishing South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem from tribal lands. The ban comes amid recent comments made by Gov. Noem suggesting that tribal leaders were in partnership with Mexican cartels, and a day after Noem made a statement asking tribal leaders to banish cartels from tribal lands.
“I call on all our tribal leaders to banish the cartels from tribal lands,” said South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in a statement on Tuesday, April 4. “The cartels instigate drug addiction, murder, rape, human trafficking, and so much more in tribal communities across the nation, including in South Dakota. I will work with you to sign Law Enforcement Agreements to immediately assist you, respect your sovereignty, and uphold tribal law.”
Noem’s statement was issued just days after she was reported attending a scheduled Pe Sla (Pe-shla) Sacred Sites meeting on March 28 at the Cambria Suites in Rapid City, where Oceti Sakowin leaders met to discuss protecting the Black Hills and other sacred sites in the region.
Since Saturday’s meeting, tribal leaders have issued statements saying that Gov. Noem was not invited to the meeting, and she did not have a conversation with any tribal leaders either.
“Governor Noem attended the meeting uninvited,” said CRST Chairman Ryman LeBeau in a press release on Sunday, March 31. “We told the organizers to recognize her but not to stray from the meeting agenda. Gov Noem asked USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] a couple of questions. She said nothing more than that. We shook hands. No discussions of anything.”
Oglala Sioux Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out said in a press release issued on April 4 that Noem made an unexpected appearance at meeting between tribes and a federal agency to discuss land stewardship and protecting the Black Hills. He said she was not invited to speak and was not on the agenda. Star Comes Out also said Gov. Noem has attacked Lakota communities, and their tribal sovereignty in recent comments made.
“She attacked our communities, our membership, our youth and sovereignty!” Star Comes Out wrote. “Our unique Peace Treaties with the federal government is a ‘NATION TO NATION!’”
Last month, LRI Media reported Noem’s comments, where she blamed parents for poor student performance among the state’s Native American students and that some tribal leaders were in partnership with Mexican cartels. Since, five Oceti Sakowin tribes have demanded an apology from Noem. Her office has not issued an apology.
Relations between South Dakota based tribes and SD Republican Gov. Noem have been strained for years, but the latest clash is the first that two tribes have banned the governor from tribal lands. This is Noem’s second time being banished from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. In 2019, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council unanimously voted to banish Noem from the reservation after she advocated for anti-protest legislation stemming the 2016-2017 protests near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The tribe later removed the ban after a settlement was reached with the Gov. that the state would not enforce parts of the newly established “riot-boosting laws”.
Banishment is a rare, and severe, form of punishment in Indian Country that is permitted by law to tribal governments. Many tribes banish people, including its own tribal citizens, for various reasons including embezzling monies from the tribe, drug trafficking, or other serious criminal behavior.
“Tribes, as sovereign nations, have the inherent power to control their borders,” said Danielle Finn, a Standing Rock Sioux tribal citizen, who teaches Lakota Treaty Law at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Finn also shared that Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 states specifically that the Sioux Nation, including Standing Rock, Oglala, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, and Lower Brulé, retains the right to exclude non-Indians from their tribal lands.
A Utah federal District Court ruled in a banishment case involving four women who were temporarily banished from the Uintah and Ouray reservation saying that tribes are sovereign nations and the U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction in banishment disputes within a tribal nation. The plaintiffs argued that their banishment was a violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968. The court disagreed with the plaintiffs and dismissed their case because the banished members did not exhaust tribal remedies. In other words, if a person is banished from an Indian reservation it must be done by tribal courts, where members have due process and have the rights to appeal a decision. Three of the plaintiffs were also tribal citizens, and the banishment was for five years; it ended November 27, 2023.
There are exceptions to banishment and can include access to their respective allotted lands, if any; to meet with the Bureau of Indian Affairs concerning their allotted lands, if any; to attend to tribal business at tribal offices; to attend any tribal membership meetings; and to receive health care at an Indian Health Service facility. In some communities, a person will not be permitted to attend cultural or traditional ceremonies such as funerals or other important gatherings without a police escort. The state of South Dakota owns lands within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
While courts are typically the deciding parties for banishment from tribal lands, tribal councils can also pass banishment resolutions, which have been upheld tribal courts said Finn. Finn, a former Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Family Court Judge, also said Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Courts previously upheld a banishment resolution by the Tribal Council before.
While Noem is advocating for tribes to banish Mexican cartels, all criminal behavior, including drug or human trafficking, is illegal in any reservation community or any tribal lands. However, outright banning a criminal organization requires investigation and due process of known individuals to proceed with banishment. Once a person is officially notified of their banishment, they then have a right to appeal their case in tribal courts. South Dakota is one of the largest educators on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the state, including Gov. Noem are permitted to access state owned lands. Currently, both Lakota Tech High School and Wolf Creek School – 02 are both state funded schools within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and have a total student population of 1,000 when combined.
Governor Noem’s office did not respond to an email request asking if she had been served banishment paperwork from either the Oglala Sioux Tribe or the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.