PIERRE, S.D. – Gov.Kristi Noem has brought a tribal lawman with more than two decades of experience onto the state payroll and doubling down on allegations that some leaders within American Indian tribes aren’t being palms up about criminal activity happening on South Dakota’s reservations.
The Governor’s Office announced that a newly-created tribal law enforcement position will be filled by former Oglala Sioux Police Chief Algin Young, who will work as an intermediary between state and tribal law enforcement agencies.
The former Oglala Sioux police chief testified last year before Congress about drugs and crime on the reservation, which the Governor’s Office suggests led to Young finding himself “without a job.”
Oglala Sioux tribal officials did not respond to a request for comment.
“Algin Young is well respected within our tribal communities and at the federal level. His knowledge will help in our efforts to restore law and order in Indian Country,” Noem said.
Noem has been battling with tribal officials for months after she sparked push back from the tribes by claiming that foreign drug cartels were using reservations as places to traffic drugs, a claim substantiated by both the Attorney General’s Office and Department of Public Safety. That prompted the Oglala Sioux Tribe – Young’s tribe – to ban her.
Six other tribes have followed suit, citing remarks Noem later made alleging that tribal leaders are sometimes benefitting from cartel activity on their reservations. Noem is currently banned from more than 20 percent of South Dakota’s lands, although tribes are recognized as sovereign nations independent of South Dakota’s government.
The governor has stood by her allegations and took them a step further by calling for an audit of federal funds going to reservations. She’s also made attempts to reach out and settle differences between her and the state’s tribes – the Attorney General’s and Governor’s Offices have partnered up to host a training event for members of tribal law enforcement agencies this summer.
“The federal government is turning their backs on our tribal reservations. The lack of tribal law enforcement officers combined with the warzone at our southern border has created multiple crises on our reservations,” Noem said.
A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Young began his career with law enforcement on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after being honorably discharged in 2001 from the military. Across his time as a police officer, he’s worked in a variety of agencies ranging from federal to tribal. Now, he’ll join the state under the Department of Tribal Relations, serving as a senior advisor on law enforcement and public safety in Indian Country to the state’s tribal relations and public safety departments, as well as the governor.
Young and his wife, Monica, have five children.
“I am passionate about improving law and order on our reservations and neighboring communities,” said Young. “I look forward to serving as an ambassador for the state of South Dakota at the federal level and with the state’s nine tribal nations to facilitate solutions for tribal law enforcement and understand and navigate jurisdictional challenges.”
