South Dakota governor’s cabinet nomination raises tribal concerns

Secretary of #HomelandSecurity nominee #KristiNoem has a long, complicated history with tribes in South Dakota.

Amelia Schafer
Nov 15, 2024

RAPID CITY, S.D. – "Early Tuesday morning, news broke that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, a decision that’s raised red flags for Native people in South Dakota, but also may provide an avenue for change.

"'We need to come together now, more than ever,' Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said during a public intertribal meeting Nov. 13. 'I’m hoping we have a better governor in South Dakota that will work with us because we have issues that we need to bring to the table with the state.'

"Noem made South Dakota history earlier in May when she was banished from every reservation in the state following disparaging remarks made regarding alleged cartel activity on reservations and about Indian education. At one point Noem alleged tribal governments benefit from cartel presence and are failing their youth.

"During a May press conference, Noem responded to the banishments by asking why tribes 'don’t ban the cartels.' She’s banned from all nine reservations in the state: the #PineRidge, #CheyenneRiver, #StandingRock, #LowerBrule, #Rosebud, #LakeTraverse, #CrowCreek, #Flandreau and #Yankton reservations. Standing Rock and Lake Traverse both span into North Dakota."

[...]

"Emergency management is another area where Noem and the #OcetiSakowin (#Lakota, #Nakota, #Dakota nations have struggled.

"In December 2022, the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations were crippled by an extreme winter storm. Unable to get wood or propane, some households resorted to burning clothes and furniture to stay warm. A 12-year-old Sicangu Lakota boy, Honor Beauvais, died during the storm on the Rosebud Reservation, along with three other tribal citizens.

"When banning the governor, the #RosebudSioux tribe cited a delayed emergency declaration from Noem. Noem did not activate the South Dakota National Guard until Dec. 22, nearly 10 days after the storm began.

"The council also cited concerns with Noem’s support of the #KeystoneXL [#KXL] Pipeline in 2019 and an increase in penalties for pipeline protestors, referenced Noem’s opposition of #COVID19 checkpoints on the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Reservations, removal of teaching standards regarding #NativeAmericanHistory, legal threats to the #FlandreauSanteeSioux Tribe regarding its #MedicalCannabis operations and return of unused Emergency Rental Assistance funds in 2022 without consulting tribes."

Read more:
ictnews.org/news/south-dakota-…

#DHS #TrumpAppointments #NoDAPL

So, this article outlines what the nominee for director of #HomelandSecurity has planned for #SilencingDissent in the US...

From 2019: South Dakota Governor #KristiNoem Caves on Attempted Efforts to Silence #PipelineProtesters

ACLU, October 24, 2019

"South Dakota’s governor and attorney general today backed down from their unconstitutional attempts to silence pipeline protestors. In response to a lawsuit we filed alongside the ACLU of South Dakota and the Robins Kaplan law firm, the state has agreed to never enforce the unconstitutional provisions of several state laws that threatened activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly protests of the #KeystoneXL [#KXL] pipeline, with fines and criminal penalties of up to 25 years in prison.

"The settlement agreement reached today and now headed to the court for approval is an important victory for the right to protest. It comes soon after a federal court temporarily blocked enforcement of the pieces of the laws that infringed on First Amendment protected speech, and makes the court’s temporary block a permanent one.

"The laws include the #RiotBoostingAct, which gave the state the authority to sue individuals and #organizations for 'riot boosting,' a novel and confusing term. The court warned against the laws’ broad reach, noting that the laws could have prohibited:

- Sending a supporting email or a letter to the editor in support of a protest
- Giving a cup of coffee or thumbs up or $10 to protesters
- Holding up a sign in protest on a street corner
- Asking someone to protest

"Under the First Amendment, that is impermissible.

"The court rightly recognized the stakes of this case. And it put these #AntiProtest efforts in perspective, asking 'if these riot boosting statutes were applied to the protests that took place in Birmingham, Alabama, what might be the result?' The answer: 'Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference could have been liable under an identical riot boosting law[.]'

"Indeed, South Dakota’s unconstitutional anti-protest efforts echoed the suppression of past social movements. From the start, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem called on 'shut[ting] down' 'out-of-state people' who come into South Dakota to 'slow and stop construction' of the pipeline. Her harmful calls were reminiscent of government attempts throughout our history to delegitimize and minimize significant #SocialMovements as the work of 'outside agitators,' including Reverend #MartinLutherKingJr.

"South Dakota’s quick and costly retreat (they’ll have to compensate plaintiffs for attorney’s fees under the settlement agreement) should serve as a lesson for other legislatures considering similar efforts to silence dissent.

"In the last few years, we have witnessed a legislative trend of states seeking to criminalize protest, deter political participation, and curtail freedom of association. These bills appear to be a direct reaction from politicians and corporations to some of the most effective tactics of those speaking out today, including water protectors challenging pipeline construction, Black Lives Matter, and those calling for boycotts of Israel. These legislative moves are aimed at suppressing dissent and undercutting marginalized and over-policed groups voicing concerns that disrupt current power dynamics.

"But the First Amendment guarantees people the right to voice their opposition. This includes our clients — four organizations (the #SierraClub, #NDNCollective, #DakotaRuralAction, and the #IndigenousEnvironmentalNetwork - #IEN) and two individuals (#NickTilsen with NDN Collective and #DallasGoldtooth with Indigenous Environmental Network) — all of whom are protesting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and encouraging others to do the same.

"Construction of the Keystone XL pipeline may be imminent. Pre-construction activities resumed this month, and a hearing on the new Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the pipeline, which will serve as the basis for approval of any future permits, is coming up next Monday.

"With the laws we challenged proclaimed unenforceable, protesters and protectors no longer have to worry about incarceration or fines as they protest against the construction. That is, at a minimum, how democracy should work."

aclu.org/news/free-speech/sout…

#WaterProtectors #CriminalizingDissent #BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism #Fascism #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivists #StandWithStandingRock #FirstAmendment