South Dakota

Hundreds Demand Resignation Of South Dakota Public Officials

September 16, 2021 Ndn Collective, Indian Country Today. Resist! Censorship, Education, Indigenous Rights, South Dakota

Yesterday, NDN Collective’s Education Equity team led hundreds of Indigenous people and allies from across the state in the Oceti Sakowin March for Our Children, demanding the resignation of numerous SD Public Officials for their roles in the newly proposed social studies standards that blatantly erase Oceti Sakowin history. Last month, NDN Collective responded to the blatant erasure of Oceti Sakowin history in newly proposed standards, and called on supporters to call elected officials, the Secretary of Education, and their local school districts to advocate against this erasure. Oceti Sakowin Community Academy — the Indigenous-led school being opened by NDN Collective in partnership with the NACA Inspired Schools Network (NISN) — will open for kindergarten students this fall.

Tribal Leaders React To Removal Of Native Americans in Curriculum

August 14, 2021 Jacob Newton, Keloland. Educate! Censorship, Education, Indigenous Rights, South Dakota

Sioux Falls, S.D. — A draft of Social Studies content standards has been released by the Department of Education. The draft of standards released differ in some ways from the initial proposal, which was submitted by the Social Studies Standards Revision Workgroup, made up primarily of educators from across the state. The main way that the standards appear to be altered in the removal of references to Native American culture and history. Some examples of this are the removal of Kindergarten history standard K.H.6.1: ‘Read or listen to Oceti Sakowin Oyate stories, such as Iktomi stories and historical lore stories,’ and of Grade 4 history standard 4.H.6.1: ‘Explain how the Oceti Sakowin and Oyate culture and other groups were affected by westward expansion, the creation of the reservation system, and the US assimilation policies and programs.’

US Supreme Court Rejects Case On Native American Sovereignty

June 15, 2021 Charmaine White Face, Popular Resistance. Educate! Health Care, Indigenous Sovereignty, South Dakota, US Supreme Court

Rapid City, South Dakota - In a devastating blow to the Self-Determination of all Native American Indian Tribes in the United States, the Supreme Court denied the Petition in the case, Gilbert v. Weahke. In doing so, the Justices also violated Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, the Indian Self-Determination Act, the Lanham Act, the Transfer Act, and the Abstention Doctrine. The case began when a federal agency, the Indian Health Service (IHS), gave an Indian Self-Determination Act multi-million dollar contract to a South Dakota non-profit corporation to manage the Sioux San IHS Hospital in Rapid City, SD. As the South Dakota non-profit corporation was not a Tribal Organization under the jurisdiction of any tribe and without federal recognition, this was a violation of Public Law 93-638, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA).

Union Vote Authorizes Strike At Smithfield Foods In Sioux Falls

June 10, 2021 Stephen Groves, Argus Leader. Resist! Indigenous Rights, Meatpackers, South Dakota, Unions

South Dakota - A strike authorization at the Sioux Falls chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union was overwhelmingly approved late Monday with 98% of the vote total, the union said. However, union leaders said they hope to avoid a work stoppage as they prepared to meet with company representatives. Meatpacking workers have become emboldened after a virus outbreak at the plant last year killed four workers and infected nearly 1,300. The union is demanding that Smithfield boost its wage offerings in a four-year contract to match those at a JBS pork plant in the region, as well as make several other concessions on break times and employee health insurance costs. “We’re not going to change our stand,” said B.J. Motley, the president of the local union.

The Self Determination Of Native Americans Hinges On This Supreme Court Case

May 24, 2021 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast Indian Health Service, Indigenous Sovereignty, Privatization, South Dakota

A case brought before the United States Supreme Court by three Native American women, who have been representing themselves, may decide the future of the 1975 Indian Self Determination Act. Clearing the FOG speaks with Charmaine White Face, a petitioner in the case, about her fight to stop the privatization of an Indian Health Service facility, Sioux San Hospital in Rapid City South Dakota, that serves 325 tribes in the area. She describes how the privatization is harming the health of the people who use this historic hospital. To her knowledge, this is the first effort to privatize an Indian Health Service hospital. If the privatization is allowed to continue, which has been done without the consent of the people who are impacted, it will set a dangerous precedent for all tribes and allow any federal agency to take a similar illegal action.

Help Three Native American Women Save Their Hospital

May 16, 2021 Charmaine White Face, Popular Resistance. Resist! Hospitals, Indian Health Service, Indigenous Activism, South Dakota

When Donna Gilbert asked me to be a part of her lawsuit, I immediately said yes. After having survived three other lawsuits, I should have been leery. But when peoples’ lives are at stake, it is not hard to make a hard decision. Initially it was the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court (OST). It was my son’s idea to go to the Tribal Court because we knew what the outcome would be. The OST court would dismiss our case because the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board (GPTCHB) was under the jurisdiction of the state of South Dakota and was not a Tribal Organization. But we needed this verified by a court. We also knew that the other federal courts would acknowledge the Tribal court ruling, or were supposed to. It would be a win for the OST Court and for the patients who use Sioux San Hospital. As it turned out, the federal District Court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals both ignored and disregarded the OST court ruling.

Governor Signs Executive Orders Barring Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports

March 31, 2021 Lexi Lonas, The Hill. Educate! Schools, South Dakota, Sports, Transgender Rights

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has signed executive orders barring transgender athletes from women’s sports in the state. “Only girls should play girls’ sports,” Noem tweeted on Monday. “Given the legislature’s failure to accept my proposed revisions to HB 1217, I am immediately signing two executive orders to address this issue: one to protect fairness in K-12 athletics, and another to do so in college athletics.” The executive orders direct the state’s Department of Education and Board of Regents to align its policies so only those who are biologically female can participate in women’s sports. Last week, Noem refused to sign the GOP bill barring transgender athletes from women’s sports.

Two Native Americans Arrested Over Keystone XL Protests

January 10, 2021 Lakota People's Law Project, Indian Country Today. Resist! Indigenous Resistance, Keystone XL, Pipelines, South Dakota

As many Trump supporters who stormed the nation’s Capitol appear poised to evade punishment, two young Native Americans from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota have been arrested and charged for peacefully protesting construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline (KXL). Jasilyn Charger (24) and Oscar High Elk (30) were booked by law enforcement after independent protest actions. The two are among a group of tribal members who have formed a resistance encampment on their reservation, near where the long-disputed pipeline would pass, should it be completed. “At a time when white rioters are being let off the hook after raiding the nation’s Capitol and driving legislators into hiding, Native Americans and other people of color are still being dealt harsh criminal charges for...

Lockdown To Stop The Keystone XL Pipeline

November 22, 2020 2KC Media, Facebook. Resist! Environment, Fossil Fuels, KXL pipeline, South Dakota

Live from Sovereign Oceti Sakowin Territory in so-called Haakon county, South Dakota at one of many active and illegal KXL Crude Oil Pipeline Pump Stations. Illegal Construction on Treaty Lands. Protectors have notified officials and filed a complaint about the unlawful construction and peace treaty violations.. but nothing has been done. The desecration & disrespect continues. So what do we do when our leaders don't act, don't protect us and sell us out? We stand up and speak up. Peaceful resistance is the only thing we have left.

Houseless Camp: ‘It’s A Sovereign Place’

November 15, 2020 Stewart Huntington, Indian Country Today. Create! Houseless, Indigenous culture, Indigenous Sovereignty, South Dakota

Rapid City, SD - When Lakota activists set up a camp for homeless relatives in this Black Hills town last month, the police descended immediately and shut it down. The response? The activists quickly moved the encampment to trust land just outside of town. Today the camp, built on traditional values and teachings, is flourishing. “They’re giving the people a chance to have somewhere to sleep and live like they used to a long time ago, like the ancestors, you know? ”

South Dakota Governor Caves On Attempted Efforts To Silence Pipeline Protesters

October 26, 2019 Vera Eidelman, Aclu.org Resist! Pipelines, Protests, South Dakota

South Dakota’s governor and attorney general today backed down from their unconstitutional attempts to silence pipeline protestors. In response to a lawsuit we filed alongside the ACLU of South Dakota and the Robins Kaplan law firm, the state has agreed to never enforce the unconstitutional provisions of several state laws that threatened activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly protests of the Keystone XL pipeline, with fines and criminal penalties of up to 25 years in prison.

Federal Court Blocks South Dakota Laws Suppressing Pipeline Protests

September 20, 2019 Staff, Aclu.org Resist! Courts, Pipelines, Protests, Reform, South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A federal court today blocked enforcement of the unconstitutional provisions of several South Dakota laws, including the recently-enacted “Riot Boosting” Act, that threaten activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly protests of the Keystone XL pipeline, with fines, civil liabilities, and/or criminal penalties of up to 25 years in prison. In granting plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol wrote: “Imagine that if these riot boosting statutes were applied to the protests that took place in Birmingham, Alabama, what might be the result?

The South Dakota Legislature Has Invented A New Legal Term To Target Pipeline Protesters

April 3, 2019 Staff, Aclu.org Resist! Legislation, Pipelines, Protests, South Dakota

The government of South Dakota has made it very clear that it does not like people who protest the Keystone XL pipeline. The state’s governor has dismissed them as “out-of-staters who come in to disrupt.” And other officials have similarly leveraged long-debunked and harmful tropes, mischaracterizing those speaking out as “paid protesters.” In this atmosphere, South Dakota enacted a new law last week, the Riot Boosting Act. The law seeks to suppress protests before they even start and prohibits people from engaging in full-throated advocacy. It does so by creating a new, ambiguous term: “riot boosting.”

South Dakota Warns It Could Revoke Pipeline Permit

November 26, 2017 Phil McKenna, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Environment, Oil and Gas, Pipelines, South Dakota

By Phil McKenna for Inside Climate News. South Dakota regulators said they could revoke TransCanada's permit for the 7-year-old Keystone Pipeline if an investigation into a large oil spill discovered last week concludes the company violated its terms. If that happens, the company would have to correct any issues—in the worst case, even replace part of the pipeline—before oil shipments could resume. The scrutiny comes as more challenges emerge to the company's recently approved expansion of its pipeline system: the Keystone XL. On Nov. 16, TransCanada reported that 210,000 gallons, or 5,000 barrels, of oil had spilled from its existing Keystone Pipeline near Amherst, South Dakota, and that it had shut down the pipeline in response.

SD Uses ‘Emergency’ Rules To Repeal Anti-Corruption Law

February 3, 2017 Gregory Krieg, www.cnn.com Create! Corruption, GOP, South Dakota

By Gregory Krieg for CNN - South Dakota Republicans on Thursday repealed a historic anti-corruption law approved by voters in a statewide referendum on Election Day. The measure, which passed with more than 51% backing in November, would have created an independent ethics commission, limited lobbyist gifts to lawmakers, banned officials from joining lobbying firms for two years after leaving office and created so-called "Democracy vouchers" for registered voters to steer toward their preferred candidates. But state GOP lawmakers said they didn't think voters knew what they were doing.

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