South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (photo/file)
In a statement on November 12, President-elect Donald Trump announced that controversial South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem will become secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Earlier this year, Noem was banned from all nine tribal states – or about 20% of the geographic size – in her state. During most of her time as governor of South Dakota, Noem was deeply unpopular among the state’s tribes.
“Kristi was very strong on border security. She was the first governor to send National Guard soldiers to help Texas respond to the Biden border crisis, a total of eight times,” Trump said in a statement. “I have known Kristi for years and have worked with her on a wide range of projects. She will be a big part of our mission to make America safe again.”
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All South Dakota tribes banned her from entering their reservations after she argued during a town hall that tribal leaders were taking advantage of drug cartels in the state and prioritizing those cartels over raising children on their reservations. She only doubled down on her statement, saying Mexican drug cartels were rampant on Indian reservations in South Dakota.
In addition to her statements about cartels and Indian Country, she also released a book detailing how she murdered her 14-month-old wire-haired pointer named Cricket and an unnamed goat. The book also included anecdotes about Noem’s meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Noem and colleagues have now indicated that the Kim anecdote did not happen and should not have been in the book.
It is these issues that have led Indian Country to worry about its ability to lead the state, and now the nation’s Department of Homeland Security.
Chase Iron Eyes, director and chief counsel of the Lakota People’s Law Project Sacred Defense Fund, is concerned that Noem will continue this racially charged rhetoric and use it to defend the mass deportation of migrants as Secretary of Homeland Security.
“Not only is she unqualified to lead the federal department responsible for assessing and neutralizing external threats to America’s safety and security, but she also has a long history of alienating and demonizing people within her own backyard who pose no threat at all – namely the good people.” people living in the nine tribes of South Dakota,” said Iron Eyes. “Recall that each of these tribal nations last year banned Kristi Noem from entering our territories – which represent approximately 12 percent of all land in South Dakota – after she made comments falsely claiming that tribal governments were in league with Mexican drug cartels. and that Indigenous children ‘don’t have parents who show up and help them’.”
Noem herself released a statement accepting the nomination and expressing her gratitude.
“I am honored and humbled that President Donald J. Trump has selected me to be Secretary of Homeland Security. I look forward to working with Border Czar Tom Homan to make America SAFE again. With Donald Trump, we will secure the border and restore safety to America’s communities so that families once again have the opportunity to pursue the American Dream.”
About the Author: “Neely Bardwell (descendant of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indian) is a staff reporter for Native News Online. Bardwell is also a student at Michigan State University, where she is majoring in policy and minoring in Native American Studies .”
Contact: neely@nativenewsonline.net
