Kristi Noem: ‘Why have they not banished the cartels?’

Amelia Schafer
ICT + Rapid City Journal

PIERRE, S.D. – Kristi Noem has been a hot topic in Indian Country since she first claimed on January 31 that Mexican drug cartels are operating on tribal land in South Dakota. Since then, the governor has repeatedly insisted cartels are operating on reservations. Noem even has alleged that tribal governments benefit from cartel presence and are failing their youth.

On May 17, Noem held a press conference to address her being banned from eight of the nine reservations in South Dakota.

“I ask them right back, ‘Why have they not banished the cartels? Why have they not banished the cartel affiliates?’” Noem said. “Why have they only focused their attention on me, who has offered them help, and not gone after those who are perpetuating violence?”

During the press conference, Noem again alleged the cartel is operating on tribal land in South Dakota. More specifically, she alleged the cartel has influence over drug trafficking in the state.

Beside her as she spoke was a printed quote from Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out. The quote originated from Star Comes Out’s December 20 testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee regarding crime on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

“The State of South Dakota lacks criminal jurisdiction over Indian Country crimes; thus, in reality, the sole provider of law enforcement services to the Oglala Sioux Tribe is the federal government,” Star Comes Out, according to Noem, said during the testimony. “We believe this federal neglect has resulted in the cartel moving on to our reservation, an increase in overdoses, and a proliferation of guns on our school properties.”

The quote may have influenced Noem’s recent claims that the drug cartel is operating on tribal land in South Dakota.

Crime on tribal land

While crime is an issue on reservations, tribes are frustrated with Noem’s approach.

In 2022, the Oglala Sioux Tribe launched a lawsuit against the federal government over inadequate funding for law enforcement. In November 2023, the tribe declared a State of Emergency over continued crime on the reservation.

A federal judge ruled the U.S. government has a treaty obligation to support law enforcement on the reservation, but did not determine a specific amount of funding.

On May 17, Noem said cartels on tribal land could be linked to President Joe Biden’s mishandling of the U.S. southern border.

“We all know that this starts at the open border that is down along our southern border that has become a war zone,” Noem said. “Because of the neglect of this administration and the change in policies by President Biden, we have seen an infiltration of dangerous individuals, we’ve seen people that are coming into this country that are on the terrorist watch list.”

Noem said she would like to work together with tribal governments to find a solution. She commended the current model many local county sheriff’s departments have adopted with tribes.

Related: Lower Brule Sioux bans South Dakota governor

The Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety and the Pennington County Sheriff's Office have been working together under a memorandum of understanding since 2015. Under the memorandum, both law enforcement divisions provide aid to each other with runaway children.

In 2022, both parties signed a Memorandum of Mutual Support expanding aid to include vehicle pursuits traveling on or off the reservation, incidents involving special or tactical responses, real-time kidnapping, search and rescue of missing persons, and natural disasters.

The agreement does not waive the tribe’s sovereign immunity or authorize cross-deputization.

In a press release in February, Star Comes Out said Noem was using the tribe’s law enforcement issues and crime to “push an agenda.”

“I don’t want to see our Indian people and reservations used as a basis to create a bogus border crisis just to help Trump get re-elected as President and Governor Noem his running mate as Vice President,” Star Comes Out said when banning Noem on February 2 .

In February, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate met with Noem to discuss how to approach the matter in the future. The tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe were singled out by the governor as places where the cartel was supposedly operating.

Again on May 17, Noem listed both the Pine Ridge Reservation and Lake Traverse Reservation as places where the cartel is operating.

Noem referenced a 2022 incident in which an FBI victim specialist was kidnapped by three Latino individuals near Red Shirt Table on the Pine Ridge Reservation. One of the individuals, 25-year-old El Salvadorian Juan Alvarez-Sorto, was not a legal citizen and had previously been deported.

However, there was nothing to indicate drug cartel presence in the 2022 kidnapping, said Ace Crawford, Public Information Officer for the South Dakota District U.S. Attorney’s Office to ICT and the Rapid City Journal.

Noem also referenced a 2022 traffic stop in Roberts County , part of the Lake Traverse Reservation, that resulted in the largest seizure of fentanyl in the state’s history. Edwin Giovanni Salinas of El Salvador and Berta Rosmelvi Gonzales of California were both convicted of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Part of the distribution was intended to go to the Lake Traverse population.

This incident also has not been publicly linked to a specific cartel by the state’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“It is true that the Tribe has filed two lawsuits in federal court alleging that drugs and gang activity on the Reservation are overwhelming law enforcement resources,” Star Comes Out said on Feb. 2. “This is a result of the future (failure) of the U.S. Government to fulfill its treaty obligations to the Tribe. But it isn’t only Biden that is to blame for not complying with the court’s order. … It is the gridlock, primarily caused by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, that has refused to pass a budget that would allow for more police officers on the reservation.”

Drugs such as methamphetamine and fentanyl are an issue statewide, not just in tribal communities, a topic that was discussed briefly on May 17.

Both the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Oglala Sioux Tribe insisted all drugs entering the reservation are coming from larger cities such as Denver, or more locally, Rapid City and Sioux Falls.

“In the last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted more than 140 individuals for major federal drug offenses committed in the District of South Dakota, resulting in the interdiction of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and thousands of fentanyl pills that would have otherwise landed in communities throughout the state,” said U.S. Attorney Allison Ramsdell in an email.

Ramsdell said this work is done alongside local, tribal, state and federal law enforcement who work to intercept drugs headed for South Dakota. Ramsdell also encouraged anyone with information on drug trafficking to please contact the Drug Enforcement Administration and local law enforcement.

Ramsdell did not comment on where a majority of drug trafficking arrests are made in South Dakota.

During a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons conference on May 6 in Rapid City, South Dakota, Department of Criminal Investigations Officers Dane Rasmussen and Matthew Glenn were asked about drug trafficking in South Dakota.

“There’s been rumored to be about one or two fentanyl labs in America, nowhere near here,” Glenn said. “They come across the border from Mexico and are sold here. That’s where all of the fentanyl we see here comes from. We’ve seen a huge price reduction in fentanyl pills here in the last year which is a bad, bad sign because it means that it’s flooded in our state. They’re getting cheaper and cheaper.”

Despite a one-on-one conversation with Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribal officials, Noem again singled out tribal communities on March 13 during a press conference in Winner, South Dakota. Previously that day, she also claimed that tribal governments are failing their youth.

Drugs and gangs

Noem’s remarks on January 31 that a gang called the “Ghost Dancers” existed within Rapid City left many confused and frustrated, including the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Despite this, again on May 17, Noem insisted there is a gang referred to as the Ghost Dancers operating on the Pine Ridge Reservation and in Rapid City.

“I know that many people said that I shouldn’t have named the gang, but did not name the gang, they named themselves that,” Noem said. “It’s part of their strategy to hide behind this name so that people won’t say it. But the truth is that this gang, the Ghost Dancers, are Bandidos or are in support of the Bandidos motorcycle gang.”

The Ghost Dance refers to a ceremony that originated in the southwestern United States and became very important in Native spirituality throughout the nation as settlers continued to encroach on Native lands. The dance is directly linked to the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 in South Dakota.

“The only ‘Ghost’ affiliation refers to the Ghost Dance,” said Chase Iron Eyes, Oglala Lakota and the Director and Lead Counsel of the Lakota Law Project in an interview with ICT and the Journal . “When Kristi Noem is impugning Ghost Dancers and implying that tribally elected officials are in cahoots with members of the Mexican, criminal illegal cartel, she’s trying to dog-whistle about the border.”

Iron Eyes, like many other Native leaders, said he’s been frustrated with Noem’s approach to the situation and feels she’s using Native people to further her political career.

“There’s a reason that Kristi Noem is saying all these things,” Iron Eyes said. “I ran for Congress in 2016, and there are talking points that are given to you or that you create. You try and stick to those. Native people are being used like a prop.”

Drug cartel presence has been reported in all 50 states, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment. South Dakota is one of the states with a low amount of cartel influence per the assessment.

The DEA did not respond to requests for comment regarding cartel presence on tribal land in South Dakota.

On May 17, Noem and South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations Secretary Dave Flute, Sisseton Wahpeton, read comments sent to them by tribal members across the state supporting her claim that cartels are present on tribal land.

“We received a call from an individual who worked in casinos for 20 years as a security officer and saw the sex and drug trafficking first-hand,” Flute said. “They saw cartel members pretend to work on dairy farms as a cover and that reservations are their favorite places to go.”

During the May 17 press conference, Noem said she has been working with Chris Hansen to document evidence of the cartel on tribal land in South Dakota. Hansen is most well known for his television series “To Catch a Predator,” which aired from 2004 to 2007.

Even before her remarks on the cartel, Noem has had a tumultuous relationship with the Oceti Sakowin tribes since before she first took office in 2019.

A checkered past with tribes

At the May 17 press conference, Noem said she has been advocating for Native Americans since she first served as a state representative and in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Noem served as South Dakota’s lone member of the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019. In 2012, she claimed she fought for Native American rights in Congress. However, there was a one-year period from May 20, 2011, to June 26, 2012, where she did not attend a single House Indian and Alaska Native Affairs subcommittee meeting. Noem was not a member of the subcommittee.

After 2012, her attendance and engagement with Indian Affairs as a Representative did improve. Notably, she sponsored several bills regarding Indian Country, including the AMBER Alert In Indian Country Act of 2017 , which was incorporated into the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act and enacted in 2018.

After becoming South Dakota governor in 2019, Noem immediately upset several tribes by supporting anti-protest state legislation against Dakota Access Pipeline protesters. Her support of the legislation led to her first ban by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, but several months later that ban was lifted.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem again upset tribal governments by challenging COVID-19 checkpoints on the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River reservations. When she was unable to dismantle the checkpoints, she turned to the Trump Administration for help.

In 2021 , tribes were frustrated with changes made to the Oceti Sakowin standards which are used in all public schools in South Dakota. The state’s Department of Education removed references to Indigenous culture, including origin stories and symbology like the “cangleska wakan” (medicine wheel) and buffalo robes.

In 2024, her relationship with the nine tribes deteriorated rapidly, leading to her current banishment from eight of the nine tribes.

On January 31, the governor first claimed the cartel was operating on South Dakota reservations, after which the Oglala Sioux Tribe banned her.

During a question-and-answer session after signing two new education bills on March 13, Noem commented on low graduation rates and low attendance rates due to a “lack of parental involvement.”

“Because they live with 80 percent to 90 percent unemployment, their kids don’t have any hope. They don’t have parents who show up and help them,” Noem said. “They have a tribal council or a president who focuses on a political agenda more than they care about actually helping somebody’s life look better.”

When asked to comment on these remarks on May 17, Noem said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

In the span of one week from May 8 to 15, she was banned by four tribes — the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, Yankton Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Chairman Peter Lengkeek proposed the resolution to ban Noem himself. He said the tribe was particularly offended by her May 13 comments in Mitchell, where she claimed tribal governments are failing their students.

“She generalized us. … In my research, what I’ve looked at is those issues are present in all school districts, whether they’re Indians or non-Indians. To single us out like that is very offensive to us tribal members,” Lengkeek told ICT and the Rapid City Journal.

A majority of Native children in South Dakota are enrolled in public schools off-reservation. Data from the South Dakota Board of Education indicates only 5,013 children, or 25 percent of the state’s Native youth , attended tribal schools for the 2023-2024 school year, 300 fewer than the previous school year. Statewide, one-third of Native students don’t graduate from public high schools and 84 percent are not considered college-ready.

Statewide, 84 percent of all youth, regardless of race, graduate from high school each year.

In March, Noem called for tribes to undergo a single audits, which tribes already are mandated to undergo.

Three days after requesting tribes undergo audits, Noem showed up unannounced and uninvited to a quarterly Pe’Sla meeting in Rapid City. Her presence angered several tribal leaders and was addressed in a Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Association meeting the following day. After her Pe’Sla attendance, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe banned her.

Despite strings of other allegations regarding tribal governments in South Dakota, Noem has generally focused on crime in Indian Country.

In April, Noem and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced the formation of a new local tribal law enforcement training program .

The training will take place from June through August this year in Pierre, South Dakota. The training is open to law enforcement from all nine tribes within South Dakota. Shortly after this announcement, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced its support for the upcoming summer training.

As of May 17, between 13 and 14 potential officers are set to participate in the training starting June 3.

Even though eight tribes have banned her, several tribes are sending their officers to be trained at the state’s inaugural summer session.

On May 14, Noem announced the appointment of a tribal law enforcement liaison – Algin Young, the former Oglala Sioux Tribe police chief.

In a May 14 post on X , Noem claimed Young found himself “without a job” after testifying before Congress that cartels were present on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

On March 20, Young and President Star Comes Out both testified about public safety in Indian Country. However, neither mentioned the cartel in their verbal testimonies.

Oglala Sioux Interim Police Chief John Pettigrew said in a May 3 interview that Young was not fired, but that his contract was set to expire on April 20 and neither party elected to renew it.

Young did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, the only tribe in South Dakota that hasn’t banned Noem, will hold an emergency meeting on Saturday, May 18, to address the matter.

This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT , a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.

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