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 until his enlistment ended in 1978. After returning to Pine Ridge, he lived in the Manderson. At that time, he joined the Tribal Police as an officer. White Plume's interest in socio-political issues developed later in life.

Alex served as 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.

From 2000 to 2002, he earned unwanted publicity when United States federal drug agents raided his farm and destroyed his crop of industrial hemp before he could harvest it for seed as intended. They got a court order prohibiting him to grow the crop. Although the Oglala Sioux have sovereignty on their land and hemp does not have psychoactive properties, the agents operated under a 1968 federal anti-drug law prohibiting the cultivation of Cannabis-related crops.

In 2019, Alex White Plume created the first Native American hemp product in the world and was the only hemp farmer in South Dakota.  Alex White Plume is a legend, a myth, and a well respected elder of the Oglala Lakota.  He is featured in an Amazon Prime Series, American Hemp: The Evolution Continues.