The Bureau of Indian Affairs claims the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has a check point on a public highway to prevent non-tribal residents from accessing the reservation.
Tribal leaders say the highway is not closed but they are monitoring traffic into the reservation to track any potential COVID-19 outbreak.
The BIA says the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe cannot set up a check point on US 212 without consulting the state. The agency says the tribe is not complying with federal law.
Governor Kristi Noem says the tribe has not consulted with the state on the checkpoint.
“We stand there ready to have conversations,” Noem says. “But that is not something the tribe has engaged in.”
Earlier this month, Noem said the state was working closely with the tribe to allow essential travel and first responders into the reservation.
Tribal officials say highway 212 is not closed to anyone.
They say commercial vehicles, farm equipment and mail and medical travel is allowed.
Harold Frazier is chairman of the tribe. He says the check point is within the reservation. He says the BIA claim that an outside entity—like a state government—owns something within the reservation is alarming.
But, Frazier says the tribe is pleased the BIA is concerned about closed roads for another reason…
“I’m really excited about that, because we have a road on the reservation that’s maintained by the BIA and that road has been closed for over a year,” Frazier says. “The reason it’s been close for over a year—the culvert washed away. It’s hindering our commerce--our member’s commerce.”
Frazier says he has had text and voice communications with the governor. Noem’s deferment to local governments when responding to the COVID-19 outbreak helped shape the tribe’s approach to the checkpoint. The Oglala Sioux Tribe has enacted similar checkpoints.
