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.
"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 said in her statement, which was shared on March 22 to Standing Rock's account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Noem, who has become a leading Republican voice in the drive to curb migration along the U.S.-Mexico border, previously responded to motions to banish her from tribal territory, saying in a video statement to X last week that her comments regarding drug cartel activities on South Dakota's reservations were "true."
"There are dangerous cartels in South Dakota, and they're instigating drug addiction, committing murder, rape, human trafficking and so much more," Noem said. "Because of this, I called on all our tribal leaders to banish these cartels from tribal lands. Instead, some are choosing to banish me. That doesn't solve any of our problems."
NBC News reported in February that some Mexican drug cartels had created relationships with Native American tribes in Montana as a way to facilitate illegal substances in the state. The report, which cited law enforcement officers and tribal leaders, said that Indigenous women were "often prime targets" of cartel associates, who after forming a relationship use the women's homes as "bases of operations."
During a Wednesday hearing before the House Committee on Natural Resources, Jeffrey Stiffarm, president of the Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniih) Nations of the Fort Belknap Indian Community in northern Montana, told lawmakers that drug cartels "are specifically targeting Indian country because of a dangerous combination of rural terrain, history of addiction and under-resourced law enforcement."
Stiffarm also said during his opening statements that he "put the blame on the drug cartel crisis squarely on the shoulders of the federal government," adding, "The FBI doesn't do anything on the reservation unless we have a death or serious crime." He also claimed that a separate tribal leader from Montana declined to testify before the House committee because he had received "death threats" from cartel members.
"Tribal leaders should immediately banish the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for murders, rapes, drug addiction, and many more crimes on tribal lands," Noem said in a statement to Newsweek on Friday. "The people in the communities live with unspeakable horrors and tragedy every day, but banishing me for telling the truth about the suffering does nothing to solve the problems.
"It may play well for the leftist media, but in reality, it's pointless," she added.
Newsweek reached out to Standing Rock via email for comment on Friday.
Noem's office announced a new initiative on Thursday to train tribal law enforcement officers in response to the "well-document shortage" of officers on Indigenous land.
"This hurts all of South Dakota's nine reservations, so we are taking the lead on training more officers as quickly as possible," Noem said in a joint statement with state Attorney General Marty Jackley.
In a letter addressed to Algin Young, police chief of Oglala Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, Jackley and Noem wrote that the new training program would be conducted within South Dakota this summer. At the moment, according to the letter, potential law enforcement officers receive training in New Mexico over the course of 13 weeks.
"We look forward to working with you to accomplish this history-making opportunity and providing desperately needed law enforcement for South Dakota communities," the letter concluded.
Update 04/12/24, 4:42 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional comment from Noem and further information.
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