{"id":39128,"date":"2025-08-22T21:44:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T02:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/sisseton-wahpeton-leader-calls-lawmakers-now-deleted-social-media-post-inflammatory\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T21:44:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T02:44:49","slug":"sisseton-wahpeton-leader-calls-lawmakers-now-deleted-social-media-post-inflammatory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/sisseton-wahpeton-leader-calls-lawmakers-now-deleted-social-media-post-inflammatory\/","title":{"rendered":"Sisseton-Wahpeton leader calls lawmaker\u2019s now-deleted social media post \u2018inflammatory\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"J.<\/a><\/p>\n

J. Garret Renville, chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, speaks to visitors from the State-Tribal Relations Committee about the tribe\u2019s artifacts on July 31, 2025. (John Hult\/South Dakota Searchlight)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

AGENCY VILLAGE \u2014 The chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate said Thursday during a meeting of South Dakota\u2019s State-Tribal Relations Committee that an earlier social media post from one of his district\u2019s state representatives was \u201cinflammatory\u201d and \u201cracially charged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chairman J. Garrett Renville\u2019s tribe hosted the meeting at its headquarters in Agency Village. Earlier in the day, he helped guide some members on a tour of the tribe\u2019s 25- bed, under-construction jail, and joined them for a lengthy visit with the tribe\u2019s historian in a room filled with artifacts, many of which had been repatriated back to the tribe from museums.<\/p>\n

Renville\u2019s comments during the afternoon meeting came in response to a now-deleted July 4 social media post from Rep. Logan Manhart, R-Aberdeen, that read \u201cit\u2019s white boy summer and the boys are back in charge #MAGA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manhart\u2019s district, District 1, includes parts of the Lake Traverse Reservation, home to the Sisseton Wahpeton tribe.<\/p>\n

The post drew criticism from state Democrats, who said the phrase \u201cwhite boy summer\u201d is used by white supremacist organizations. The post also drew criticism from some members of Manhart\u2019s own party, though House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach rejected calls by Democrats to \u201caddress\u201d the issue with \u201cthe seriousness it demands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odenbach is a member of the State-Tribal Relations Committee, but attended Thursday\u2019s meeting virtually.<\/p>\n

A copy of a South Dakota Searchlight article on Manhart\u2019s post, reprinted in the Mitchell Republic, was pinned to a bulletin board outside the tribe\u2019s education office on Thursday. A reference to his status as a lawmaker with Lake Traverse constituents was underlined in black pen.<\/p>\n

Remarks from Renville<\/strong><\/p>\n

Renville welcomed the lawmakers at the start of the meeting and thanked them for offering a forum for discussions on relations between the state and its sovereign tribal nations. After the meeting, he handed the members a blanket as a gift from the tribe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis committee represents one of the few formal venues in South Dakota where tribal voices are not only heard, but are central to the discussion,\u201d Renville said.<\/p>\n

Before ending his opening remarks, however, he said he wanted to address comments that \u201cdo not reflect the diversity or the values of District 1.\u201d It was a reference to Manhart\u2019s Instagram post.<\/p>\n

\u201cI typically don\u2019t lend weight to inflammatory or racially charged remarks. Often, I know they are intended to distract or appeal to the lowest instincts in politics, and history has taught us that those strategies rarely produce progress,\u201d Renville said, reading from prepared remarks. \u201cIt certainly doesn\u2019t reflect the kind of leadership that we needed here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renville then thanked Sen. Mike Rohl, R-Aberdeen, who represents part of the reservation and sits on the committee, for \u201chis willingness to communicate and stay engaged\u201d in spite of disagreements on policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite these disappointments and comments made by one of the district reps, I still believe in the promise of public service,\u201d Renville said. \u201cI believe there\u2019s always hope, hope that other leaders, such as yourselves, will continue to lead by example.\u201d<\/p>\n

Response from lawmakers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s chairman, Fort Pierre Republican Rep. Will Mortenson, told Renville the committee \u201cshares your sentiments to a large extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to assure you that those are not reflective or commonplace with this Legislature,\u201d said Mortenson, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. \u201cThis committee doesn\u2019t associate ourselves with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manhart did not respond to a message seeking comment on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Odenbach, who wrote an email in July to his colleagues in response to Democrats\u2019 criticisms of Manhart, did not speak during the Thursday committee meeting. Odenbach\u2019s July email said it\u2019s not for him to divine the underlying meaning of legislators\u2019 social media posts, and rejected what he described as Democrats\u2019 \u201cinsinuation that South Dakota is a state founded by racist oppressors, or that our great citizens of today are the cause\u201d of continued harm to Native Americans and other marginalized groups.<\/p>\n

The majority leader did not respond to a message seeking comment on Renville\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n

The post Sisseton-Wahpeton leader calls lawmaker\u2019s now-deleted social media post \u2018inflammatory\u2019<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/div>

J. Garret Renville, chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, speaks to visitors from the State-Tribal Relations Committee about the tribe\u2019s artifacts on July 31, 2025. (John Hult\/South Dakota Searchlight) AGENCY VILLAGE \u2014 The chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate said Thursday during a meeting of South Dakota\u2019s State-Tribal Relations Committee that an <\/p>\n

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