'You are not welcome to visit our homelands': Tribe threatens to banish SD governor
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council has decided unanimously that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is no longer welcome on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The council on Wednesday approved a letter saying that Noem is not to set foot on the reservation unless she rescinds support for her two bills aimed at Keystone XL pipeline protesters that would codify "riot boosting" in state law and allow the state to sue any person or organization for "riot boosting." Noem announced the bills during the final week of this year's session, and the Legislature passed them within 72 hours.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe was "particularly offended" that Noem consulted with TransCanada prior to introducing the new bills but didn't consult with any of the Sioux tribes whose land would be "traversed and endangered" by the Keystone XL pipeline. The land that "big oil" seeks to enter is the tribe's lands and waters, Oglala Sioux President Julian Bear Runner wrote in a letter to Noem.
"I am hereby notifying you that you are not welcome to visit our homelands, the Pine Ridge Reservation, until you rescind your support for Senate Bill 189 and Senate Bill 190 and affirm to your state and this country that First Amendment rights to free, political speech are among the truths you hold to be self-evident," Bear Runner wrote.
Noem will continue to engage with tribal members, stay in contact with tribal leadership and maintain her efforts to build relationships with the tribes, according to her spokeswoman Kristin Wileman.
"This announcement from Oglala Sioux tribal leadership is inconsistent with the interactions she has had with members of the community," Wileman said. "It's unfortunate that the governor was welcomed by Oglala Sioux's leadership when resources were needed during the storms, but communication has been cut off when she has tried to directly interact with members of the Pine Ridge community."
The Pine Ridge Reservation covers 2.22 million acres – larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined – in southwestern South Dakota.
The council will need to rescind its vote if Noem wishes to visit the reservation in the future, according to Bear Runner's letter.
"If you do not honor this directive – for example, if you were to repeat your recent visit absent permission from our tribal government – we will have no choice but to banish you," Bear Runner wrote.
This is another step in an already contentious debate over the pipeline protest bills that began during the legislative session.
Several tribes, including the Oglala Sioux Tribe, asked Noem to not display their tribal flags at the Capitol due the disrespect they say was directed toward them during the legislation session. Bear Runner said in March that their tribal flag represents a commitment to protect the Earth and respect the interdependent relationship with natural resources.
The riot boosting law is also one of three state protest laws at the center of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against Noem, state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg and Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom. The ACLU is arguing that the laws are unconstitutional because they could chill free speech, but the defendants have denied that it would cause people to fear prosecution if they protest the Keystone XL pipeline, according to court records.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: 'You are not welcome to visit our homelands': Tribe threatens to banish SD governor
