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The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe is reacting to the South Dakota governor showing up to a meeting between tribes and the federal government last week.
The Pine Ridge leader says the Republican governor’s actions were a distraction.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger has more.
Last Friday, Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) tweeted she felt it was important to show up at a meeting between various South Dakota tribes and the Biden Administration.
She says it was an important conversation as they discussed co-stewardship of the Black Hills.
But tribal officials say the meeting was a government-to-government meeting about Pe Sla, a mini-prairie located in the center of the Black Hills that is considered a sacred site.
The meeting was also about other sacred sites in the hills.
Oglala Sioux Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out calls Gov. Noem’s appearance a publicity stunt for personal gain.
“She wasn’t on the schedule. She definitely wasn’t invited.”
President Star Comes Out says tribes don’t play the politics game.
“For her to do something like that was not only unprofessional, but it just showed no respect.”
President Star Comes Outs criticism is about more than Gov. Noem’s appearance at the Pe Sla meeting.
The potential vice-presidential candidate has alleged Mexican drug cartel activity on several reservations and is calling for the federal government to audit the tribes.
In a social media post, Gov. Noem said they can solve problems by talking.
In the post, she reiterated an earlier offer to meet and work together on public safety.
President Star Comes Out says working with tribes takes more than that.
“The governor needs to realize we’re a sovereign nation that requires consultation. It requires some time to set up for that consultation. She needs to respect tribal nations. We stress that in this administration all the time. I don’t see it happening.”
The Oglala Sioux Tribe recently reiterated its ban on Gov. Noem.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has also banned Gov. Noem from its reservation.
Zooming across the Navajo Nation, a new non-profit called NDN Girls Book Club is bringing books written by Indigenous authors to the reservation.
The team hopes they create community-wide change and education on the extensive world of Indigenous-written literature.
Hannah Bissett from our flagship station KNBA has more details.
NDN Girls Book Club has six of its members going on the book tour.
They’re traveling with various books written by Indigenous people.
So far, the tour has given out all their books slated to handout at each stop.
They’ve completed three locations, all in Arizona.
The goal: to bring thousands of books to the Nation.
“We are on, to our knowledge the biggest Native book drop on the Navajo Nation. So, we have over ten thousand books that we are sharing at four different main stops in each direction.”
That was Kinsale Drake, who’s from Navajo Mountain, Utah.
She is the founder and director of NDN Girls Book Club.
She started the nonprofit right out of college and, at the age of 24, is the oldest member of her team.
She says, at each stop, they’ve had a local medicine man present to ensure safe passage.
The team also notified the local communities of their presence by working with vendors and using other means of marketing.
“We have a big pinky truck that we have zooming around the rez right now, which has been so much fun. People have been spotting it and honking and following it.”
Drake says that their presence on the reservations is part of a mission to highlight Indigenous authors.
She says currently, the Navajo Nation is considered to be a book desert by the United States, meaning there is a low likelihood of 100 or more books in the home.
“We know and say as Navajos, ‘I’m from the desert.’ The desert is such a beautiful and generous thing.”
Indigenous authors represent less than half of 1% of all authors since 2014, according to statistics, and with an alarming decline in recent years.
Drake says not only do they hope to show Indigenous communities the works of Indigenous authors, but also highlight the creation of these stories in terms of cultural repatriation.
“In a desert, in a book desert per se, there is so much there you really have to take the time to listen to a community and what they need especially with historical context.”
Research shows, that within the book industry, Indigenous authors made up less than 2% of children’s books in 2019, and less than three-percent of award-winning books.
The book club distributes various genres from children’s books to contemporary works.
“Success for us is measured in terms of community involvement. And, really seeing an increased joy and investment in Native Literature.”
The tour reaches its final destination on Friday in Shiprock, N.M.
Drake says the NDN Girls Book Club is far from finished spreading its message of Indigenous art and literacy, and she hopes to continue similar projects beyond the Navajo Nation.
Partners in the Native book drop include the Abalone Mountain Press, 4KINSHIP, and Cellular One.
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