- Details
- By Levi Rickert
PIERRE, S.D. — Facing bipartisan pressure and calls for her resignation by the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told the state Department of Education to postpone controversial changes to its social studies standards for up to one year to allow for more public input.
Tribes from across South Dakota voiced their ire last month after officials from Noem’s South Dakota Department of Education scrubbed more than a dozen Indigenous-centered learning objectives from the department’s new social studies standards before releasing the document to the public.
The American Indian leaders, educators and community members called the removal of the objectives “Native erasure.”
“Our children were stolen from us in past generation, forcefully assimilated or secretly buried in boarding schools under the ‘kill the Indian and save the Man’ ideologies, and it would seem that the task to erase them has not ended under Governor Kristi Noem’s administration and leadership,” Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier said in August.
On Monday, Noem appeared to backpedal on the changes.
“The Department of Education changed the working group’s recommendations to the social studies standards significantly, but it is clear to me that there needs to be more public input to bring greater balance and emphasis on our nation’s true and honest history,” Noem said in a press release.
On Sept. 13 tribal leaders and community members from various tribes held a rally at the state capitol in Pierre to stop the Board of Education from dropping Indigenous references.
A hearing originally scheduled before the state Board of Education Standards committee was moved from Sept. 20 at a middle school in Aberdeen, S.D. to the Ramkota Convention Center for Oct. 25 to accommodate a larger crowd.
Noem’s call for a postponement did not sway Candi Bring Plenty, a member of the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition and Indigenous justice organizer with the ACLU of South Dakota.
“I support the demands of resignation by the SD Equity Education Coalition. And I encourage our Očeti Šakowin (Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota) relatives to register to vote and exercise their civic duty to vote. We are a sleeping giant and our Oyaté across SD have been counted during this Census. We have the numbers to pivot campaigns and we can vote her out,” Bring Plenty told Native News Online.
“Equal access to learning about Native American heritage and culture in our educational institutions is important. Our history must be accurately represented in every classroom,” Bring Plenty said. “A ‘true and honest account of American and South Dakota history’ includes education on Indigenous history and culture.”
Since becoming governor, Noem has had a contentious relationship with South Dakota tribes on several issues related to sovereignty and the use of traditional Native lands. She fought the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Oglala Sioux Tribe on roadblocks to their reservations last year, as the tribes tried to contain Covid-19.
On Monday, Noem said she plans to ask South Dakota lawmakers to pass legislation to codify her Executive Order, which bans “critical race theory and action civics as the basis for instruction in South Dakota schools.”
Tribes oppose Noem’s stance on critical race theory and action civics.
“Students are the next generation of leaders who will move us through the journey to a more just and inclusive democracy,” Bring Plenty said. “But unfortunately, states across the country are trying to prevent this by banning discussions about race and gender in schools. This effectively erases the history and lived experiences of people of color, and censors discussion around racism and the critical role it has played in American history.
“The echoes from our colonial past and the history of using education as an assimilationist tool continue to haunt students in our current schools.”
More Stories Like This
Native Forward Scholars Fund Announces 2025 Students of the Year at Empowering Scholars SummitNavajo Nation Speaker Curley and Council Delegate Dr. Nez Join Education Leaders to Address Federal Budget Cuts
Mackie Moore (Cherokee) Named Interim President of Haskell Indian Nations University
Mohawk Students File Legal Suit Over Changes Impacting Access to Federal Financial Aid
Trump Administration Proposes Deep Cuts to Tribal College Funding, Threatening Their Survival
Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions
At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.
Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.
This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.
We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.
Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.
Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher
