Learning from Our Mistakes
By: Governor Kristi Noem
July 16, 2021

One of the main reasons why we study history is to learn from both our triumphs and our mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes are painful to admit, but we study them nonetheless so that we can ensure that they are never repeated. That’s why students learn about the Holocaust. That’s why we study the atrocity of American slavery and the Civil War that great leaders like President Lincoln fought to end it. It’s also important that our state and our nation know about the tragic story of early Indian boarding schools.

Indian boarding schools were created in 1860 in a purported effort to assimilate Indian children into American culture. From 1860, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) established its first Indian boarding school, throughout a majority of the 1900’s, many Indian children were forcibly removed from their homes and families and placed into these BIA schools. They were prohibited from (or punished for) speaking their language or practicing their traditions. Countless Indian children never came home, overcome by sickness and harsh conditions, and many of those who survived the boarding school experience struggled to share their traumatic memories.

The history of Indian boarding schools is not well known outside of Indian Country. However, the Tribes sharing borders with South Dakota suffered losses of their children. The accounting of children who died at these schools is inadequate at best. Mass burials, unmarked graves, and poorly kept death records haunt family histories.

In meetings with the tribes, I heard stories of heartbreak, appreciated the need for closure on this part of their history, and respected how important it was to have these children appropriately identified and returned to their homelands. I worked with the Army to help facilitate this long process of repatriating these children.

Our Tribes in South Dakota have been working diligently to retrace the steps of their lost children and will be repatriating their remains to lay them to rest in their homelands.  This week, the first children will be brought home to South Dakota and to Rosebud. As I continue to be made aware of Dakota and Lakota children being repatriated, I’m happy to see those early efforts have yielded results.

It is with great sincerity that my family and I offer our thoughts and prayers to the families and to the Tribes in South Dakota as they conduct their ceremonies for those coming home, and we are with them until all their children are returned.

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A school board agenda was sent out in the last couple of days from the Brookings School District which might be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of.   As opposed to focusing on something that matters, they’re wasting time on terminology and where policies once talked about “students,” they’re scratching it out and writing “learners.”

For example:

Looking around, it seems to have been taking place for a while. And at least from first blush, it appears this effort might be springing forth from the Associated School Boards of South Dakota:

I’m sure calling them learners as opposed to students will be all warmer and fuzzier, and will make us feel better about ourselves… but what about state law?

While state law might talk about learners permits, or ‘english learner’ as someone who is not a native speaker, it really doesn’t use learner in the context of a child in school. State law calls them “students.” Period.

So why would the Associated School Boards be pushing this, given the language contained in law?  Are they going to bring legislation this next session to change “student” to “learner” wherever it appears?  Or are they advocating the Brookings School District and other school districts across the state use language in their policies and procedures which differs from what’s in state law?

Because it sounds darned .. unnecessary.

The Argus Leader has an article up this AM noting how a political action committee is attacking Governor Noem, comparing her vote total in a non-presidential election to the number of votes that marijuana legalization received in the year of the presidential contest.

But I have to give the reporter who wrote it, Joe Sneve, a bit of a hard time, because he left out a pretty important part in his article that is quickly found:

Citizens for a Better South Dakota Chair Brian Gochal said the organization began running the Noem-cannabis advertisement this week to highlight “the hubris” that it requires for someone to stand up against something that enjoys more support than they do.

And…

Presidential election years have higher voter turnouts than election years when the governor’s office is up.

Gochal said Citizens for a Better South Dakota spent almost $1,400 on a contract to run the advertisement at 16 different billboards across Sioux Falls on a rotating basis over the next 30 days.

Read that here.

So, the person running this organization says they’re doing it because they want to take the Gov down a peg. But where is this Political Action Committee getting their money to take a shot at Governor Noem? They’re a political action committee, so they had to have gotten their money somewhere.

It gets a little curious, and a lot more obvious as to motive when we follow the money.

Citizens for a Better South Dakota disclosure by Pat Powers on Scribd

“Citizens for a Better South Dakota” list only 2 sources of income for their political action committee. The SD GPLDC PAC Fund and the BlueStem Initiative:

What’s the SD GPLDC PAC Fund?

SdgPl Cpac Fund by Pat Powers on Scribd

Plain and simple, it’s a Labor Union PAC. When their e-mail address starts with “Local620,” it’s not just a subtle hint.  That would be where the “Citizens for a Better South Dakota” got the lions’ share of their cash.

How about the rest that came form the Bluestem initiative? Well, that’s even less subtle:

This statewide PAC is ran by Democrat House Minority Leader Jamie Smith, and Democrat House member Ryan Cwach. In fact, the goal of the group on their statement of organization is to “Maintain and increase number of elected democrats in the SD House of Representatives.”

So Cash goes out from State Democrats’ and a Labor Union’s PACs and into a third PAC which uses it to attack the Republican Governor.

I think we know what’s going on here.

South Dakota’s College Republicans are howling after they along with a number of other states have been stripped of their right to vote in the upcoming College Republican National elections in the midst of an internal power struggle.

In fact, the discontent is enough where I’ve heard that a coalition of states led by Texas may be bringing suit.

I’m sure this isn’t the last we’re going to hear about this.

Governor Noem Appoints Stephanie Rissler and Julie Bartling to Game, Fish & Parks Commission

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that she will appoint Stephanie Rissler and Julie Bartling to serve on the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks (GFP) Commission.

“South Dakota’s breathtaking parks and tremendous hunting and fishing opportunities are a big part of what makes our state so special,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “I look forward to working with Stephanie, Julie, and the rest of the Commission to find even more opportunities to highlight South Dakota’s natural beauty.”

Rissler worked in tv and radio from 1989 until last year, including 23 years at South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Since December 2020, she has served as the Communication Manager for the South Dakota Association of HealthCare Organizations. She graduated from Black Hills State University with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications in 1995.

Bartling currently serves as the Gregory County Auditor. She held that position from 1983 through 2000 and since 2019. She also served in the South Dakota Legislature from 2001 through 2010 and from 2013 through 2018, serving five terms in the House and three terms in the Senate. She and her husband, Bart, have owned Bartling Trucking since 1977, have a farm and ranch in Gregory County, and are the parents of four and grandparents of eight grandchildren.

Information on the GFP Commission can be found here. Photographs of Rissler and Bartling can be found here.

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I notice we haven’t really heard anything about Cory Heidelberger, author of Dakota Free Press, leaving the state again several days after making note that his wife has accepted a new position in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Just in case he remains mum about the whole thing, and you need to remind yourself, I created a helpful tool:

If you click on the image, it will update you on roughly how many days we can expect until the state’s most liberal commentator is probably leaving on a permanent basis.

On the same day that US Senator John Thune is reporting that he has $14.7 Million in the bank to wage a campaign with, Bruce Whalen, former Congressional candidate and one of the two announced primary election candidates seeking to challenge him, is offering a counterpoint to Thune running a competent campaign and raising money by going Full Pillow Guy!

Bruce might be a gol-darned campaign genius, because everyone knows that quoting Mike Lindell’s election claims is the surest pathway to electoral victory.

(That was sarcasm for the people who don’t get it. Which more than likely includes both of his supporters. )

A few days ago I was mentioning that US Senate Mark Mowry’s wife had left a message on my phone seeking help with the campaign.

From the Federal Elections Commission report filed today by sitting US Senator John Thune, they’re going to need a lot more than his wife calling random people as John Thune had a tremendous quarter of fundraising, bringing in nearly $800,000 into his campaign coffers, giving the #2 Republican in the US Senate nearly $14.7 Million cash on hand for the race:

Thune July 2021 Fec by Pat Powers on Scribd

Thune raised $792,122.01 (returning just under $6000) giving him an overall total of $786,302.01 raised against $154,233.35 of operating expenses. With the important number being $14,676,545.64 ready to go for the 2022 election.

That’s a big number. And what happens when you have one of the state’s most popular elected officials when Democrats abandon running candidates against Senator Thune for two cycles (Yes, Jay Williams ran one, but that was practically abandoning the race).