A South Dakota tribe lifts its ban on Gov. Kristi Noem ahead of her hearing to join Trump’s cabinet

Advertisement

Advertise with us

FLANDREAU, S.D. (AP) — One tribe in South Dakota lifted its order banning Gov. Kristi Noem from its territories just days before the Republican was set to appear before a U.S. Senate committee on her nomination to head one of the federal government's largest agencies.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Monthly Digital Subscription

$1 per week for 24 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Monthly Digital Subscription

$4.99/week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

No thanks

*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/01/2025 (439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FLANDREAU, S.D. (AP) — One tribe in South Dakota lifted its order banning Gov. Kristi Noem from its territories just days before the Republican was set to appear before a U.S. Senate committee on her nomination to head one of the federal government’s largest agencies.

Noem was cut off from entering a wide swath of tribal lands in South Dakota early last year after making public comments that tribal leaders were catering to drug cartels on their reservations.

The Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe, one of the state’s nine tribes, issued a statement Wednesday dissolving its order that banned Noem from setting foot on their land and to lend support to her nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

FILE - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign town hall, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign town hall, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

“The Governor issued an apology to us for the misunderstanding, which was exacerbated by misinformation,” the tribe’s press release reads. “Since our first meeting, the Governor has shown us that she is committed to protecting the people of South Dakota including the citizens of the nine Tribal Nations, who share mutual borders with the state.”

The Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe was not alone in the formal banishment of Noem last year. The Associated Press left messages Thursday with the other eight tribes in the state to seek information on Noem’s status on their land.

Addressing the South Dakota Legislature in an annual State of the Tribes address, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Chairman J. Garrett Renville on Wednesday mentioned Noem’s comments, among other examples, in describing what has become “an environment of distrust between our sovereign nations and the state.”

But Renville proposed a turn of the page.

“Today, let’s reset. Today, let’s rebuild,” Renville said. “Today, let’s start to listen and actually hear.”

Noem is Trump’s pick to head the agency that will be integral to his pledge to secure the border and carry out a massive deportation operation, and she will appear before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Friday. Her hearing was initially scheduled for Wednesday.

___

This story has been updated to correct that the Flandreau Santee Sioux statement was issued Wednesday, not Tuesday.

Report Error Submit a Tip

World

LOAD MORE