Rosebud lawmaker urges South Dakota governor to return tribal flag, defends banishment

Democratic Rep. Eric Emery says sovereign right to control borders must be respected after Rosebud Sioux Tribe becomes latest to ban Gov. Kristi Noem

(Photos © Johnny Sundby Photography, Inc.)

A state lawmaker from the Rosebud Reservation is defending his tribe’s decision to ban Gov. Kristi Noem from its territory in western South Dakota, citing tribal sovereignty to decide who enters Indian Country boundaries.

A day after the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council became the fourth tribe in South Dakota to banish Gov. Kristi Noem from its reservation, Rep. Eric Emery of Rosebud has issued a letter to the Republican governor urging her to work toward reconciliation. But the Democratic legislator from Rosebud says that can’t happen unless the RST Council’s decision to ban Noem from the reservation is honored, and a months-old request from the tribe to return a flag hanging in the South Dakota Capitol is honored.

NEWS: South Dakota to open law enforcement training to tribal police