By: Mary Steurer (North Dakota Monitor)
FORT YATES, N.D. – Leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe asked governors of North Dakota and South Dakota for help Monday as they face uncertainties with federal funding under President Donald Trump.
The comments came during a rare meeting that brought North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong and South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden to consult with Standing Rock Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire and other tribal council members.
Alkire, Armstrong and Rhoden, who convened in the council chambers of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Administrative Center, said they couldn’t recall the last time both governors were in Fort Yates at the same time.
The Standing Rock Reservation straddles both North Dakota and South Dakota. This puts the tribe in the unique situation of having to manage overlapping jurisdiction with both states and the federal government.
Federal spending cuts threaten several services in Indian Country the federal government is legally required to provide, including programs that support public education, health care and law enforcement, Stateline reported last month.
Multiple Standing Rock councilors asked Armstrong and Rhoden what the tribe can do to navigate these changes.
“We all know there’s gonna be more,” Alkire said.
Both governors said they share concerns about the cuts.
“We’re in the mode of monitoring, just like you are,” Rhoden said.
He defended the Trump administration’s actions as necessary to bring federal spending under control.
“It’s been many decades since I felt like we had a president that’s actually looking beyond the horizon on fixing what’s wrong with America,” he said.
Alkire said she supports streamlining federal programs if it means Native nations get greater autonomy over their own resources, but she worries tribal communities will suffer if their services are cut.
“We in Indian Country have always faced underfunding, so when you cut something for us, it’s drastic,” Alkire said.
She said Standing Rock is counting on the North Dakota and South Dakota governments and their congressional delegations to make sure the federal government honors its responsibility to Native nations.
Armstrong said he hopes tribal leaders alert their state counterparts as soon as they face issues.
“When disruption happens, we need to know,” he said.
Setting the funding cuts aside, Alkire said the federal government has long neglected to address a laundry list of tribal sovereignty issues. The tribe needs more funding and staff from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as fewer restrictions on access to federal land and the Missouri River, to name a few, she said.
“I told Secretary Burgum that he had his work cut out for him,” Alkire said, referring to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Armstrong’s predecessor as governor.
Development was another recurring theme of the meeting.
John Pretty Bear, a district representative, asked Rhoden if he would ask D.C. to fund water infrastructure development in western South Dakota.
“It’s 2025, and we still have people that haul water,” Pretty Bear said.
Rhoden said he’s aware of the issue.
“I live in the middle of Meade County, and if you look at a water map of South Dakota as far as rural water projects, it is a black hole in that area,” he said.
Councilors also asked the governors to help support economic development on the reservation so the tribe’s younger generation can find jobs
“We need more businesses,” District Representative Joe White Mountain Jr. said. “Our kids are growing up and they don’t really have a future.”
During a January address to North Dakota state lawmakers, Alkire called infrastructure a top priority for the tribe.
Standing Rock hopes to one day build a bridge over the Missouri River connecting the reservation to Emmons County. Currently, to cross the Missouri River, Fort Yates residents must drive roughly an hour north to Bismarck or an hour south to Mobridge.
The U.S. The Department of Transportation recently awarded the tribe a $14.5 million planning grant for the project, but more support will be needed to make the dream a reality, Akire said in the address.
A bill signed by Armstrong in March authorizes the North Dakota Department of Transportation to accept ownership of the bridge if it gets built.
Tribal officials said both states could do a better job of consulting with Standing Rock on a variety of issues, including education, transportation, gaming and land use.
Rhoden, formerly South Dakota’s lieutenant governor, assumed office at a low point for tribal relations in the state.
Leaders of all nine Native American reservations in South Dakota voted to ban Rhoden’s predecessor, Kristi Noem — now the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security — from their lands. The votes were in response to Noem’s rhetoric about Indigenous communities in the state, including an unsubstantiated accusation that tribal leaders were “personally benefiting” from Mexican drug cartels, and an assertion that Native American children “don’t have any hope.”
“I think this is an important day in our history and in the road to recovery, as far as rebuilding our relationships,” Rhoden said Monday.
Armstrong’s predecessor, Burgum, was widely regarded as an ally to the five federally recognized tribes that share land with North Dakota.
Armstrong said Burgum’s appointment to the Interior presents “unique opportunities” to the tribe, North Dakota and South Dakota, and he hopes the three governments can continue working toward their common interests.
“There’s not a lot of people that can get me out of Bismarck on less than a week’s notice when the Legislature’s meeting, but when the Chairwoman calls, we say yes,’” said Armstrong.
