A 6-year-old boy, Logan Warrior Goings, is the latest victim of a series of crimes on the largest Native American reservation in South Dakota.
Holly Wilson, the grandmother of Goings, said moments after she left to pick up a soda for a steak dinner, bullets barraged fired into her home. Goings was shot in the head as he ran for his grandfather. “The single tribal law enforcement officer took 15 minutes to arrive, but the drive-by shooters were already gone,” Wilson said.
Frank Star Comes Out, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs and some high-level officials for the alleged neglect and not complying with its treaty obligations. Star Comes Out said that the U.S. government has failed to comply with its responsibility to address the “public safety crisis” on the reservation.
Logan Warrior Goings, 6, is the latest victim of a surging crime rate in Native American reservations. (Photo: AP News)
Meanwhile, the federal government countered that the tribe cannot prove its “preferred level of staffing or funding for law enforcement.” Robert Miller, a law professor at Arizona State University, explained that the treaty agreement has included that the federal government has a trust duty and made promises to serve as the guardian of Indian nations. Among these treaties is the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which states that if anyone commits a crime against the Native Americans, the federal government has the responsibility to arrest and punish the offender according to the country’s law and should reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained, as reported on Fox News.
The federal government has tried to reinforce public safety on reservations which includes expanding sentencing authority for tribes, cross-commissioning agreements, and programs that allow tribal prosecutor cases in federal court. They have also increased the funding to address crime. However, the tribe countered that these actions were still not enough.
The shooting incident at Wilson’s home is one of the many examples of the surging crime rate in the Indigenous nations. Between January and June 2022, the tribal law enforcement received the following reports: 285 missing persons, 308 gun-related calls, and 49 rape. Oglala Sioux officials indicated they lack law enforcers, resulting in a usual response time for weapon-related calls ranging from 40 minutes to an hour.
AP News reported that the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana also filed a lawsuit in July 2022. Star Comes Out has called to other tribes in the Great Plains who are facing similar situations to follow suit.
