Flandreau tribe says Noem ban ‘is imminent’

Tony Reider, president of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, speaks from a podium to the State-Tribal Relations Committee at its meeting on July 31, 2023, at the Royal River Casino. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe said Tuesday that its president “informed the governor that a ban from our territories is imminent,” according to a news release obtained and published by multiple media outlets.

South Dakota Searchlight’s messages to tribal officials seeking further comment were not immediately returned. The tribe was the only one of nine in the state that hadn’t yet endorsed a ban of Gov. Kristi Noem from its lands.

The banishments began after Noem said during a speech in January that Mexican cartels were operating on Native American reservations. More bans came after Noem said during March town halls in Winner and Mitchell that some tribal leaders are “personally benefitting” from cartels, and that children on reservations “don’t have any hope” because “they don’t have parents who show up and help them.”

The Noem administration has questioned the validity of the Yankton Sioux Tribe ban, because it was adopted by that tribe’s Business and Claims Committee. The committee is the highest elected body under the tribe’s unique structure, but its action to ban Noem is not considered final and enforceable without a vote of tribal members, which hasn’t occurred.

Noem has not adjusted her rhetoric in response to the bans. During a press conference last week, she reiterated allegations of cartel activity on reservations and said, “Banishing me does absolutely nothing to solve this problem. All it does is help those who are perpetuating horrible violence and crimes against the people that are citizens of the state of South Dakota.”

Flandreau Santee Sioux tribal members discussed a potential Noem ban Saturday during a meeting that was “contentious at times,” according to the tribe’s Tuesday news release.

The release said President Anthony “Tony” Reider and Vice President Cyndi Weddell met with Noem on Monday for a conversation that was “respectful and productive.”

But the tribe’s Executive Council continued deliberations Tuesday, the release said, and agreed that Noem’s rhetoric was “ill advised.”

“President Reider informed the governor that a ban from our territories is imminent and requested that the Governor refrain from making future blanket statements that offend the tribes within the boundaries of the State of South Dakota, some of which depend on state services for the needs of their people,” the press release said.

“It was recommended that the Governor clarify her statements and issue an apology to all tribal nations for the misunderstanding,” the release continued. “Until such a time, the Executive Council and the people of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe stand with our fellow nations.”

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