Kristi Noem Barred From Entering Almost 20% of Her Own State

(USNewsBreak.com) – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) has received a lot of backlash lately after a story surfaced of her killing a puppy she deemed untrainable. However, she also has other issues going on at the moment. She has become persona non grata in about 20% of her state due to comments she made about South Dakota’s tribal leaders.

First Ban

In February, the Oglala Sioux banished Noem from its Pine Ridge Reservation after she claimed that cartels were invading the state’s tribal lands. Tribal leader Frank Star Comes Out’s comments came after the governor’s statement about wanting to send security personnel and razor wire supplies to Texas. The goal was to help them deter immigration. He also addressed her comments about a gang that she said called itself the “Ghost Dancers” murdering people on tribal land, saying the Ghost Dance remains one of his tribe’s “most sacred ceremonies,” and Noem’s statements were “insulting.”

Star Comes Out disagreed with her, not just on cartels infiltrating reservations, but also the need for such measures against immigrants, who he said were coming to the US “in search of jobs and a better life.” He admonished her, saying the migrants don’t need to face inhumane treatment “or be cut up by razor wire furnished by, of all places, South Dakota.”

Two More Tribes Follow Suit

Things have only gone from bad to worse for Noem in her state since February. Five tribes, encompassing around 17% of South Dakota’s reservations, have now banned the governor from stepping foot on their lands. In addition to the aforementioned Oglala Sioux Tribe, they include the Cheyenne River Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, and Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribes. The Yankton Sioux voted to ban her on Friday, May 10. Three other tribes in the state haven’t clarified whether they plan to take the same action.

Noem hasn’t let the prohibitions stop her from speaking on the matter. She claimed that some tribal leaders have personally benefited from involvement with the cartels while also ignoring the needs of their poor and children, “and that’s why they attack [her] every day.” However, she said she would continue to fight for those who live there and beg her for help.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the governor shared a video about the border crisis and the fentanyl industry destroying Americans and asked the tribes to partner with her to make up for the Biden Administration’s shortcomings.