South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been banned from six native American reservations that cover nearly 20% of her entire state as she weathers the fallout from her revelation that she killed an "untrainable" pet puppy.
The latest bans were imposed last week by the Yankton Sioux Tribe and Sisseton-Wahpeton Ovate tribe, which joined four other Native American tribes that had earlier announced Noem wasn't welcome on their reservations.
The moves came in response to comments Noem made earlier this year when she accused "some tribal leaders" of catering to drug cartels while neglecting the needs of children and the poor, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
The most recent bans also followed criticism of Noem over her new memoir, in which she recounted fatally shooting her family's 14-month-old wirehared pointer named Cricket and a "mean" and smelly goat on her family's farm.
Leaders of the Yankton Sioux Tribe voted to bar Noem on Friday, three days after the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Council unanimously took the same action.
In a statement, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Council said it was "our duty to honor the voice of our people" and "take actions that protect our values, ensuring a safe and inclusive environment, and preventing further marginalization of tribal nations," according to Dakota News Now.
Noem is still allowed on the remaining three of South Dakota's nine Native American reservations.
A spokesperson for the Republican governor, who before her memoir was considered a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump, didn't respond Saturday to email questions about the bans, AP said.
But Noem addressed the issue Thursday on X, where she said tribal leaders should "take action to ban the cartels from their lands and accept my offer to help them restore law and order to their communities while protecting their sovereignty."
During a public forum in March, Noem accused: "We've got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from the cartels being there, and that's why they attack me every day."
But "I'm going to fight for the people who actually live in those situations, who call me and text me every day and say, 'Please, dear governor, please come help us in Pine Ridge. We are scared,'" she added.
Political science professor Calvin Jillson of Southern Methodist University in Dallas told AP that Noem seemed to be "actively" stoking her fight with the tribe, and said it "suggests that she sees a political benefit" from it.
"I'm sure that Gov. Noem doesn't mind a focus on tensions with the Native Americans in South Dakota because if we're not talking about that, we're talking about her shooting the dog," Jillson said.
