Alex White Plume facts for kids

Alex White Plume (born 1952) is the former vice president and president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, located on South Dakota of the United States. He served as president from June 30, 2006 to November 2006 after Cecilia Fire Thunder was impeached.

Early life and education

Alex White Plume was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He grew up strongly connected to traditional Lakota culture. He joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Berlin, Germany, until his enlistment ended in 1978. After returning to Pine Ridge, he lived in the Manderson housing project. At that time, he joined the Tribal Police as an officer. White Plume's interest in socio-political issues developed later in life. In 1988, he married Debra White Plume.

Career

White Plume has pursued a life of farming but had difficulty succeeding with crops on the limited agricultural lands of the reservation, where physical conditions are harsh and challenging. He and his extended family, or tiospaye, tried alfalfa, barley and corn; they also tried to raise raised horse and bison, which are being raised by ranchers in growing herds on the Great Plains. All yielded little more than subsistence under the harsh conditions.

Political career

Described as a traditionalist Lakota, White Plume was elected vice president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in November 2004, serving until June 29, 2006. After the Tribal Council impeached President Cecilia Fire Thunder and removed her from office for working to establish family planning services on the reservation without Tribal Council consensus, White Plume served as president until the next election in November 2006.

As president, he believed in a return to the "traditional government" of the Oglala. In particular, he proposed returning to use of the Lakota language for government business and to only allow traditional language speakers to be candidates, stating "we created all these problems by using the English language ... my feelings [is we] have to use a different language to solve those problems, this is the only way this can happen".

He was succeeded by John Yellow Bird Steele, who had served as president before Fire Thunder was elected.

In 2009, White Plume criticized the two deaths and 19 people hospitalized resulting from James Arthur Ray's crowding 64 people into a sweat lodge. Ray, a non-Native, multimillionaire, self-help guru, had for years been running sweat lodges and retreats for "Spiritual Warriors" — customers who paid a high fee. White Plume said the Lakota were working with other tribes to try to prevent their sacred ceremonies being stolen and abused by such outsiders.