South Dakota Governor Banned From Tribal Reservation

(RepublicanDaily.org) – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been declared a persona non-grata at a Native American reservation over remarks she made regarding the crisis at the U.S.’ southern border.

Frank Star Comes Out, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe said that the governor is no longer allowed to enter the Pine Ridge Reservation after Noem made a number of comments on the migrant crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border. Noem previously said that she supported the installation of razor wire along the border and was considering such sending materials, along with troops, to states like Texas in order to help strengthen security at the border. The South Dakota governor also linked what she called the “Ghost Dancers” to drug cartels – whom she said are attempting to mount an “invasion” of America.

In a four-page letter in response to Noem’s comments, Frank Star Comes Out wrote that Noem was hereby “banished from the homelands of the Oglala Sioux Tribe,” citing that Noem was a threat to the safety of the “Oyate” which translates into “people” or “nation.” Frank Star Comes Out also took exception to Noem’s allusion to the Ghost Dancers, saying that it was “one of the most sacred ceremonies” of his people. For Noem to have used it the way she did, he wrote, was a “blatant disrespect” and deep insult to the Oyate. In the letter, Frank Star Comes Out also said that his people objected to the dehumanizing mistreatment migrants experienced during the Trump administration – whose policies he said Noem wants to bring back – whom he accused of separating children from their parents. Frank Star Comes Out also accused Noem of using migrants as a stepping stone to bolster her chances of being chosen as former president Donald Trump’s running mate in the upcoming election.

For her part, Noem said that the decision of the Oglala Sioux Tribe was unfortunate, and bemoaned that the tribe chose to politicize her stand on border issues. The South Dakota governor said that she will continue to work with bipartisan Native American legislators to solve the problem at the border.