Sioux tribes vs the State of Dakota in the face of COVID-19

ObsidianJones

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South Dakota governor tells Sioux tribes they have 48 hours to remove Covid-19 checkpoints


The governor of South Dakota has given an ultimatum to two Sioux tribes: Remove checkpoints on state and US highways within 48 hours or risk legal action.

Gov. Kristi Noem sent letters Friday to the leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe demanding that checkpoints designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus on tribal land be removed, the governor's office said in a statement.

"We are strongest when we work together; this includes our battle against Covid-19," Noem said. "I request that the tribes immediately cease interfering with or regulating traffic on US and State Highways and remove all travel checkpoints."

CNN has reached out to both tribes for comment.

According to Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe checkpoint policies posted on its social media, its reservation residents may travel within South Dakota to areas the state has not deemed a Covid-19 "hotspot" if it's for an essential activity such as medical appointments or to get supplies unavailable on the reservation. But they must complete a health questionnaire when they leave and when they return every time they go through a checkpoint.
Ok, first of all, hats off to the Sioux Tribes for being on point and doing what they can to protect their community.

However, as much as I realize that the governor and the state are in their legals rights... it's very, very hard to fault the tribes here. This illness is a wildfire that nations of the world aren't equipped to handle. Neither are Non-reservation Hospitals that are stocked with equipment and and funding from generous benefactors. In South Dakota, I believe the Tribes would have to depend on Rapid City Service Unit only.

It is understandably hard to be trusting when you are historically marginalized. And when you just take a look of the lunacy that people commit in NY, the place hit the Hardest through this whole ordeal... I completely understand their actions. They are essentially in this alone. And if others will not take measures to protect themselves, and they want into your area without cause other than they just want it? Yeah, I wouldn't want them anywhere near me as well.
 
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Sneed's SeednFeed

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I wonder when the libertarians are gonna come in to give their two cents on what is a case of 'big' government clamping down on 'local' government, and if this is gonna be another Dakota Access Pipeline type of thing.
 

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You also have to keep in mind that South Dakota Tribes are among the poorest places in North America, and have long suffered from decisions made by both the State and Federal governments there :


It is well known that this virus is greatly impacting low income communities far more than any other demographic, thus it would impact the Sioux tribes worse than most in addition to their lack of resources to even treat patients in the event of an outbreak there. This, combined with the long horrific history of the tribes of the Americans repeatedly being pushed into extinction due to the separate development of immune systems in the Old world vs the New world leaving many tribes lacking the immune response that is expected from healthy individuals whose ancestry is originating elsewhere due to their inherited genetic immunity:

Due to these genetic immune response differences, tribes may be at greater risk than other populations in addition to not always having the expected immune response to medications and treatments, some times making it more difficult to treat. when looking at all the factors, more should actually be done at the federal level to protect the tribes during this Pandemic, and while the governor may think that it is more important for her state to control the roads, Tribal Sovereignty should have really final say when those roads that go through Tribal land when we are experiencing a pandemic that puts their lives at immediate risk. If the governor does not like the Tribe setting up the checkpoint, either the State or Federal government should offer to do so for them. They should have the right to protect themselves with the history of the genocide of the Americas going to show what happens when they are restricted from doing so.


My Tribe has closed access all together, and no one is putting up much of a fuss about it. Why this is an issue in SD has to do with the state government in SD has a long history of doing things to directly harm the tribes there.
 
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tstorm823

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My Tribe has closed access all together, and no one is putting up much of a fuss about it. Why this is an issue in SD has to do with the state government in SD has a long history of doing things to directly harm the tribes there.
Yeah, this is the only explanation I've got. Checking online, I see no complaints, no news about the checkpoints between setup and the governor's order. They aren't stopping state residents. The aren't stopping commercial traffic. The sheriffs of adjacent counties seem on board. It's really just the governor being a jerk. Which, not to compare to historical mistreatment, is something I can sympathize with at the moment. I think governors across America are feeling how powerless they actually are at the moment, and the only real good stories are from people taking care of themselves.

Also, the response letter to this was aces. It's thorough, it's authoritative, AND it's bilingually pedantic. Just an all around art piece.
 

Hawki

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Does the state government even have a right to order them to do stuff? I understood that NA tribes were reasonably self-autonomous.

That being said, if the highway is necessary to get from point a to point b outside the reservation, maybe, but if it's simply the entry to the reservation, then I think the Sioux are in the right here.
 

SupahEwok

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Does the state government even have a right to order them to do stuff? I understood that NA tribes were reasonably self-autonomous.

That being said, if the highway is necessary to get from point a to point b outside the reservation, maybe, but if it's simply the entry to the reservation, then I think the Sioux are in the right here.
I haven't looked into it, but it almost certainly passes through the reservation, not just exit into it.

Legally, I think the state government is possibly in the right, depending on the exact agreement made for the easement for the highway through tribal lands, but the tribe has cited a passage from the original treaties setting up the federation giving them the ultimate legal right to determine the passage of people through their land; provided that right was not signed away in the easement, they're in the legal right.

I think they're in the moral right regardless. The highway is passage over their land, making anybody traversing it a guest. They have the moral right to refuse hosting us.
 

tstorm823

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Does the state government even have a right to order them to do stuff? I understood that NA tribes were reasonably self-autonomous.

That being said, if the highway is necessary to get from point a to point b outside the reservation, maybe, but if it's simply the entry to the reservation, then I think the Sioux are in the right here.
The tribe apparently has an obligation to consult with the state on these things, and the letter they sent back (1 of the 2 tribes) basically said "we talked to you before doing this, we fulfilled our obligation, now we're doing it anyway."

The highway seems to be a minor highway that some people certainly use to get from point a to point b. But they're allowing state residents and commercial traffic through without question, and they are letting out of state personal traffic pass through pending a brief questioning about where they're coming from and covid related health questions, so through traffic is basically unimpeded unless you are a serious covid risk from outside of South Dakota, and in that case there's not much reason to be in that part of the state to begin with.
 

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The tribe apparently has an obligation to consult with the state on these things, and the letter they sent back (1 of the 2 tribes) basically said "we talked to you before doing this, we fulfilled our obligation, now we're doing it anyway."

The highway seems to be a minor highway that some people certainly use to get from point a to point b. But they're allowing state residents and commercial traffic through without question, and they are letting out of state personal traffic pass through pending a brief questioning about where they're coming from and covid related health questions, so through traffic is basically unimpeded unless you are a serious covid risk from outside of South Dakota, and in that case there's not much reason to be in that part of the state to begin with.
Essentially the same thing that states all across the US have been doing, but it is ONLY a problem when a tribal nation does so to try and keep their people safe, because some still think the tribes should not be able to do what the states do and should be treated as " lesser than":

 
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