The Oglala Sioux tribe has banished Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) from its reservation over her comments on the border, claiming she’s using the border crisis to “increase her chances” of becoming vice president.
The tribe’s president, Frank Star Comes Out, sent a letter to the governor Friday following Noem’s speech to the legislature on Jan. 31. While he made it clear the Oglala Sioux are neither a Republican tribe nor a Democratic one, he wrote the letter in defense of the “Indian people from such places as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico” that are seeking a better life.
“The truth of the matter is that Governor Noem wants the use of the so-called ‘invasion’ of the southern border as a Republican ‘crisis’ issue to help her get former President Donald Trump [to] use it as a campaign issue to get re-elected as President and in turn increase her chances of being selected by Trump to be his running mate as Vice-President,” Star Comes Out wrote.
Star Comes Out closed the letter by reminding Noem that the Oglala Sioux “are not your tribe” and do “not belong to the state,” adding that the tribe “is older than South Dakota.” The president then banished Noem “due to the safety of the Oyate,” which is the word for people or nation.
“It is unfortunate that President Star Comes Out chose to bring politics into a discussion regarding the effects of our federal government’s failure to enforce federal laws at the southern border and on tribal lands,” Noem said in a statement. “My focus continues to be on working together to solve those problems.”
The Sioux’s Pine Ridge Reservation includes all of Oglala Lakota County and parts of Jackson County and Bennett County, adding up to some 2.1 million acres.
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Trump has yet to name a running mate for his 2024 presidential run. Noem has been vocal about the southern border, calling it a “warzone” and supporting Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) in his efforts.
As of late October, over 10 million immigrants had reportedly entered the country illegally since Biden took office. It is the most recorded in that amount of time of any administration.
