OST declares State of Emergency
PINE RIDGE – Oglala Sioux Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out implored the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) as well as
President Biden to live up to their trust responsibilities to investigate and enforce all criminal laws on the Pine Ridge Reservation, as agreed to in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty and the 1877 Congressional Act.
Crime rates remain high and because of that, Star Comes Out has declared a State of Emergency, to remain in effect through January 1, 2025, saying there has been a breakdown of law and order. He issued a proclamation on November 18, 2023, blaming the breakdown on the failure of the U.S. Department of Interior (DOT) and BIA to fulfill U.S. treaty obligations to provide adequate funding for law enforcement.
In the 6-page proclamation, Star Comes Out gave an abridged but thorough history, starting with the Indian Reorganization Act under which the Oglala Sioux Tribe enjoys all the rights and privileges guaranteed under existing treaties and other federal statutes regarding law and order on the Reservation.
Star Comes Out continued with a summary of federal treaties and statutes that pertain to the Tribe. The Treaty of July 5, 1825 gave the Tribe protection under the United States. The Treaty of September 17, 1851 recognized the 60-million acres west of the Missouri River as Sioux territory, however, trespassing violations on this territory by both the United States and its citizens caused the Powder River war of 1866-1868 between the United States and the Sioux which ended with the Peace Treaty of April 29, 1868. The war had ended without terms of surrender on either side. The Treaty established a 26-million acre reservation out of the 60-million acres, called the Great Sioux Reservation. It also confiscated 34-million acres and 14 million of non-treaty territory surrounding the Reservation that the signatory Sioux tribes never agreed to.
As part of the consideration for the unlawful confiscation of millions of acres of Sioux territory, the U.S Government had agreed to provide aid to the Tribe, including annual funding for law and order, which Star Comes Out said they have failed to provide year after year.
This consistent failure to provide adequate funds for law enforcement on the Reservation has contributed to the current crime rates which Star Come Out says is now a crisis. Alcoholism rates remain significantly higher than the national rate as is the suicide rate. The murder rate is more than twice the national average, drug arrests are up, the robbery rate is three times the national average, the rape rate on the Reservation is four times the national average, aggravated assault more than twice the national average, burglary is more than three times the national average and according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), 31 of the 95 unsolved missing women cases reported on the Reservation since 1980 remain unsolved.
In a story on KOTA TV, Star Comes Out said, “We don’t live in Indian Country, we survive. This needs to change. It’s time to bring awareness to the world that the government has a responsibility to uphold and that’s treaty obligations.”
Star Comes Out has requested that the BIA and DOJ investigate and enforce all federal drug and alcohol laws, that President Biden request sufficient funds for 2023, 2024 and succeeding fiscal years, to direct the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to provide funds for FY 2024 to construct a treatment facility and provide health specialists. Star Comes Out also requested that Senators Thune and Rounds and Representative Dusty Johnson hold field hearings on the lack of adequate funding and the causes, and that the House hold oversight hearings for the BIA.
(Contact Marnie Cook at staffwriter@nativesunnews.today)
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December 8, 2023