Updated 6:34 p.m.

Gov. Kristi Noem's Press Secretary Kristin Wileman released the following statement:

"The governor has spent considerable time in Pine Ridge building relationships with tribal members, visiting businesses, discussing economic development, and working with leadership. This announcement from Oglala Sioux tribal leadership is inconsistent with the interactions she has had with members of the community.

It’s unfortunate that the governor was welcomed by Oglala Sioux’s leadership when resources were needed during the storms, but communication has been cut off when she has tried to directly interact with members of the Pine Ridge community.

The governor will continue working to engage with tribal members, stay in contact with tribal leadership, and maintain her efforts to build relationships with the tribes."

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Original story

The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council unanimously voted Wednesday to tell South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem she’s no longer welcome to enter the Pine Ridge Reservation due to a bill tribal leaders say unfairly target Native Americans and allies who support the efforts to keep oil pipelines away from tribal lands.

The move by the tribe is in response to the recent adoption of two bills, SB189 and SB190, which the Oglala Sioux Tribe Council believes the bills were intended to increase penalties for those who protest pipelines and other infrastructure projects.

Oglala Sioux Tribe President Julian Bear Runner sent a letter today to Noem’s office informing her of the tribe’s decision.

According to a press release from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Noem may technically govern the entire state, but the Oglala Sioux Tribe holds status as an independent nation functioning with its own sovereign tribal government.

Below is the full text of the letter sent today to Gov. Noem from the office of Oglala Sioux Tribe President, Julian Bear Runner.

Office of the Governor

500 East Capitol Avenue

Pierre, SD 57501

Dear Governor Noem,

Pursuant to a unanimous Oglala Sioux Tribal Council Action as of May 1, 2019, I am hereby notifying you that you are not welcome to visit our homelands, the Pine Ridge Reservation, until you rescind your support for SB 189 and SB 190 and affirm to your state and this country that First Amendment rights to free, political speech are among the truths you hold to be self-evident. Your newly fabricated, unconstitutionally vague notion of "Riot Boosting" is being litigated against and will not stand. We are particularly offended that you consulted TransCanada before introducing these bills but failed to consult the Oglala Sioux Tribe, or any of the sovereign bands of the Sioux Nation, though our treaty lands would be traversed and endangered by the Keystone XL Pipeline.

According to 97% of scientists, climate change is a very real existential threat to humanity - likely the greatest we've ever faced. In light of this, it is clear that the First Amendment - which trumps state law - was intended to protect speech of exactly the type your laws attempt to abrogate. The Keystone XL Pipeline was even deemed by a previous president to be so dangerous to our sacred lands and atmosphere that he shut it down. How can you presume to criminalize those who would agree with that previous presidential judgment and hence take vigorous action to resist dangerous infrastructure?

Water and air are sacred; they are required for our continued life on planet earth. Our institutions of politics and economy must evolve beyond their current condition if we expect to continue the human project long into the future. Indigenous nations have honored and defended the sacred since the dawn of humanity.

We have superior legal title to all the land west of the Missouri River that you and/ or big oil seek to trespass and aggress on. These are our lands and our waters. Before you presume to visit our homelands again, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council must rescind its action as of May 1, 2019. If you do not honor this directive - for example, if you were to repeat your recent visit absent permission from our tribal government - we will have no choice but to banish you.

Nake Nula Waun MaLakota,

Julian Bear Runner

President, Oglala Sioux Tribe

The Lakota People’s Law Project is part of the 501(c)(3) Romero Institute, a law and policy center. It is working with the office of Oglala Sioux Tribe President Julian Bear Runner to provide logistical support and media outreach.