Rapid City, S.D. (KELO) — President-Elect Donald Trump recently appointed South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security.
This is raising concern from the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition and other organizations.
“Since the movement of the Indian Office of Education there has been a virtually nonexistent collaborative and consultative relationship happening between our nine tribal education directors and departments as well as with key leaders that represent Indigenous education in our largest urban centers,” South Dakota Education Equity Coalition Executive Director Sarah White said.
Changes that have happened in South Dakota during her time as governor, have some people wondering whether Governor Kristi Noem is the right person to oversee a federal cabinet.
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“It’s really not about experience, it’s not about you know, a track record of national security, it’s about a narrative. It’s a narrative appointment and that narrative is, you know, pushing Trump’s narrative or racism and authoritarianism,” NDN Collective Director of Community Engagement Murray Lee said.
These concerns stem from Governor Noem’s relationships with the Indigenous Nations here in South Dakota and all nine of the sovereign nations have banned her from their land this past year.
Following President Biden’s recent national apology, the people fighting for their history want action.
“There’s a lot of things that have happened that can’t be wiped away with a simple apology and there has to be action, there must be action for it to be taken seriously,” Lee said.
“Those active attempts at erasing our history, culture, language, thought and philosophy from our classroom spaces only further increases the divide of community that exists within our classrooms across South Dakota,” White said.
The South Dakota Education Equity Coalition says it is committed to fostering diverse, equitable, and inclusive educational environments that honor the identities and needs of Indigenous youth.
