South Dakota's Crow Creek Sioux Tribe bans Gov. Kristi Noem from its reservation

The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in South Dakota this week voted to ban GOP Gov. Kristi Noem from its land, marking the latest tribe do so in response to her comments linking tribal leaders to drug cartel operations.

Thus far, the Yankton Sioux, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Oglala, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, and Standing Rock Sioux have all barred her from their lands. Collectively, those tribes control roughly 20% of the state's land. The state is home to nine reservations, seven of which have now been closed to Noem.

"The people voted unanimously to ban her along with the tribal council for her derogatory remarks about the tribes and cartels," tribal council member Kyle Loudner told the Dakota Scout. "And about the remarks she made about the children being nobodies their whole lives because of the parents."

The governor in March suggested that the tribal leaders were ignoring poverty in their communities and instead working with drug cartels.

"We’ve got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from the cartels being there, and that’s why they attack me every day," she said. "But I’m going to fight for the people who actually live in those situations, who call me and text me every day and say, ‘Please, dear governor, please come help us in Pine Ridge. We are scared."

Last week, Noem insisted that she sought to work with the tribes, saying "[t]ribals leaders should take action to ban the cartels from their lands and accept my offer to help them restore law and order to their communities while protecting their sovereignty."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.