When the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe voted on a resolution to ban Gov. Kristi Noem Tuesday morning, Chairman Peter Lengkeek said there was little discussion.
“Everyone on the council agreed with it and everyone that participated in the meeting were asking for it—pushing for it," Lengkeek said.
Eight of nine tribes in South Dakota are banning Noem from their reservations.
The bans come after several allegations by the Republican governor that Mexican drug cartels have a presence in reservations.
Lengkeek said tensions between the Noem administration and tribes go back further than that.
“We as tribes, we have declared states of emergency in extremely cold weather and bad storms," Lengkeek said. "I declared a state of emergency last year on public safety and reached out to the state for help and assistance. But, didn’t even get correspondence back.”
Lengkeek said the state was silent when they needed it. Now, he said correspondence with the state feels disingenuous.
“Race relationships in this state, between the tribes and governor’s office, definitely need some work and definitely need some improvement," he added.
The governor’s office has not returned requests for comment. It has called prior bans by reservations “counterproductive.”
Many tribal leaders say the state has not consulted them on moves made by the Noem administration that affect tribes.
Examples include:
-A push to remove state sales tax on food, which would affect taxing compacts with the tribes.
-Moving the office of Indian education from the Department of Education to the Department of Tribal Relations.
-Threatening lawsuits over tribal checkpoints during the COVID-19 pandemic.
-Modifying social studies standards to remove dozens of Native American references.
-Introducing a package of bills during the 2019 legislative session aimed at protecting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Tribes opposed the construction.
In late March, Noem attended a meeting between tribes and the federal government concerning Black Hills forest management and sacred sites. One tribal president said Noem’s appearance was a distraction.
Tribal leaders are also upset by Noem’s rhetoric during a handful of town hall meetings in March. According to South Dakota Searchlight, in a town hall video since deleted, Noem said Native American kids don’t have any hope.
“When you start talking about our children, that’s where I draw the line," said Clyde Estes, chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, which also banned Noem from its reservation on Wednesday. Estes said he takes issue with Noem’s characterization about native parents not showing up for their kids.
“Our kids have a lot of hope. A lot of these parents are present in these children’s lives," Estes continued. "There’s a lot of unfortunate things that are said that are hurtful to our people—especially our children.”
Estes said Noem should apologize to Native children and their parents. He said an apology could lead to constructive dialogue between the state and tribes that will benefit all people.
Both Estes and Crow Creek Chairman Lengkeek say they want to dialogue with the state. But Lengkeek said that will take time.
“To where we can have partnerships and work well with our state,” Lengkeek said. “I want nothing more than to work with the state. They need us and we need them, but not in this atmosphere and not with her at the helm.”
A co-chair of the state tribal relations committee—a legislative group—acknowledges relations are strained between the tribes and executive branch. He said the group plans to reach out to tribes later this year.
Meanwhile, Noem travelled to the southern border on Thursday and is holding a press conference Friday. According to a release, Noem will address the “negative impact the open border and cartel presence are having on South Dakota’s tribal lands.”
