When I got together with some friends a few years back to help amplify the landback movement, I could never have foreseen the current war of words between South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and an ice cream company — and yet, here we are! I’m guessing you’re familiar with Ben & Jerry’s, who make delicious desserts; more importantly, they use their business platform to champion social justice issues. This year for the Fourth of July, they posted on their website asking people to sign our Lakota Law petition and commit to returning the Black Hills — and Noem’s beloved Mt. Rushmore — to the Lakota.
Thank you, Ben & Jerry’s!
Noem wasn’t the only one to pitch a fit in response. Just as they did when Anheuser-Busch dared to feature a trans person in a Bud Light social media campaign during this year’s Pride Month, conservative activists immediately began calling for a boycott. Outrageously, publicly hating on trans and Indigenous people — saying the quiet part out loud — has become all the rage for the far right in the summer of 2023.
At least there’s a silver lining to all the idiocy. The more anti-woke rabble rousers embrace the idea of canceling things they disagree with, the more their hypocrisy shows. The more they put their bigotry on display, the more they drive reasonable people into the progressive camp. And by coming after Ben & Jerry’s, Noem and her ilk actually amplified our very important message about Native justice and sovereignty, ensuring it showed up in another national news cycle.
So today we send our deep appreciation to Ben & Jerry’s and to you for helping us make a difference in the world. Let’s keep the discussion going and the pressure on. I pray that, one fine day, the Black Hills will be back where they belong: in Indigenous care!
Wopila tanka — thank you for helping to return the sacred.
Tokata Iron Eyes is a Native American activist and member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. She is an organizer with the Lakota People’s Law Project. She was a youth leader of “ReZpect our Water,” a campaign against the proposed route of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and served on the board of a sustainable energy group called Indigenized Energy. She is also a singer and songwriter.
