South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is no longer welcome in about 20 percent of her state after two Native American tribes banned her from their reservations after remarks that tribal leaders benefitted from the drug cartels, according to CBS News. While unclear if this will be politically damaging, it’s another headache for the governor, who has experienced a whirlwind of bad press over her controversial memoir, where she details how she dragged the family dog, Cricket, to a hole and shot it to death.
CBS News added that observers feel that Noem stoking the tensions with tribal leaders could be a way to divert attention from the killing of Cricket. It wouldn’t be the first time the Noem administration has had problems with the tribes; from supporting the Keystone Pipeline, along with establishing COVID checkpoints during the pandemic to prevent unsolicited entries into the reservations, also rubbed tribal leaders the wrong way (via CBS News):
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is now banned from entering nearly 20% of her state after two more tribes banished her this week over comments she made earlier this year about tribal leaders benefitting from drug cartels.
The latest developments in the ongoing tribal dispute come on the heels of the backlash Noem faced for writing about killing a hunting dog that misbehaved in her latest book. It is not clear how these controversies will affect her chances to become Donald Trump's running mate because it is hard to predict what the former president will do.
The Yankton Sioux Tribe voted Friday to ban Noem from their land in southeastern South Dakota just a few days after the Sisseton-Wahpeton Ovate tribe took the same action. The Oglala, Rosebud, Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux tribes had already taken action to keep her off their reservations. Three other tribes haven't yet banned her.
Noem reinforced the divisions between the tribes and the rest of the state in March when she said publicly that tribal leaders were catering to drug cartels on their reservations while neglecting the needs of children and the poor.
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Political observer Cal Jillson, who is based at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said this tribal dispute feels a little different because Noem seems to be "stoking it actively, which suggests that she sees a political benefit."
"I'm sure that Gov. Noem doesn't mind a focus on tensions with the Native Americans in South Dakota because if we're not talking about that, we're talking about her shooting the dog," Jillson said.
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We’ll see if this works. Tribal leader showdowns sound very local, and it’s doubtful it can overcome the public relations trainwreck she endured over the Cricket incident. The family dog was supposedly bad at hunting pheasants, unruly, and went on a rampage against her neighbor’s chickens. So, she dragged it to a ditch and shot it, along with an equally disruptive goat. Her advisers reportedly told her not to include it due to the bad attention it could bring. Trump was said to be disgusted by the story, removing her name from his VP short-list. The damage is done, Ms. Noem, if this is the intent.
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