Cheyenne River Sioux Refuse Governor’s Demand to Remove COVID Checkpoints

There's a standoff brewing in South Dakota, where two Native American Indian tribes are upholding their sovereignty by defying orders by Governor Kristi Noem to remove COVID-19 checkpoints from their territories.

The Cheyenne River Sioux and Oglala Sioux tribes say the checkpoints are the best way to protect against the coronavirus entering their communities, which are not equipped to handle an outbreak.

The governor says the checkpoints — which are set up on highways on tribal land — are illegal.

Democracy Now! speaks with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's Chairman Harold Frazier, who says he is defending his people's "right to live."

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