PINE RIDGE (AP) – The Oglala Sioux Tribe on Wednesday suspended its tribal president for 30 days and lifted a three-day lockdown he issued to stop the potential spread of COVID-19.
The Rapid City Journal reports that the tribal council suspended President Julian Bear Runner during an emergency meeting. Council members were upset they could not reach him after he imposed the lockdown that prohibited nonessential travel to or from the reservation. Vice President Tom Poor Bear will take over the president's duties during the suspension.
Bear Runner instituted the lockdown on Monday afternoon, sending all tribal employees, except emergency personnel, home on administrative leave.
The Oglala and Cheyenne River Sioux have been at odds with Republican Gov. Kristi Noem over highway checkpoints on their reservations. Noem demanded that the tribes remove the checkpoints from federal and state highways, calling them illegal.
The tribes began monitoring their borders several months ago in an effort to stop unnecessary visitors who could be carrying the coronavirus.
