DVD and Study Guide available

March 1st, 2009

DVD available from Nebraskans for Peace.
Film Study Guide available for DOWNLOAD.
Check UPCOMING SCREENINGS for public showings.

Activists praise Whiteclay alcohol checkpoint (with audio)

July 1st, 2009

Published Wednesday July 1, 2009
BY JOHN AXTELL
KQSK 97.5 FM (Double Q Country Radio) / Chadron, Neb.

The anti-alcohol activists who organized today’s alcohol blockade at the Nebraska-South Dakota state line north of Whiteclay think it may have renewed efforts to halt alcohol sales in the unicorporated border community.

Officially an alcohol checkpoint, the blockade saw members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety spend several hours checking vehicles coming onto the Pine Ridge Reservation from Whiteclay for alcohol.

(click to listen/download audio) Read the rest of this entry »

27th Sacred Hoop Run underway (with audio)

June 23rd, 2009

Published Tuesday June 23, 2009
BY JOHN AXTELL
KQSK-FM  (Double Q Country Radio) / Chadron, Neb.

The 27th annual Sacred Hoop Run began its 500 mile trip around the Black Hills Monday morning in South Dakota at Bear Butte…a site held sacred by many American Indian tribes.

The run was started to emphasize drug and alcohol-free lifestyles, spirituality, treaty rights, and education. Spokesman Duane Martin Sr says more than 300 people of all ages are taking part, with about 2 dozen traveling the entire distance.

(Click to listen/download audio) Read the rest of this entry »

Whiteclay march is peaceful

June 18th, 2009

Published Thursday June 18, 2009
THE CHADRON RECORD

The annual March for Justice from Pine Ridge, S.D., to Whiteclay marked its 10th anniversary Saturday – 10 years since Wilson “Wally” Black Elk Jr. and Ron Hard Heart were found beaten to death just north of Whiteclay on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Read the rest of this entry »

PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care needs unmet

June 14th, 2009

Published Sunday June 14, 2009
BY MARY CLARE JALONICK
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CROW AGENCY, Mont. – Ta’Shon Rain Little Light, a happy little girl who loved to dance and dress up in traditional American Indian clothes, had stopped eating and walking. She complained constantly to her mother that her stomach hurt.

When Stephanie Little Light took her daughter to the Indian Health Service clinic in this wind-swept and remote corner of Montana, they told her the 5-year-old was depressed.

Ta’Shon’s pain rapidly worsened and she visited the clinic about 10 more times over several months before her lung collapsed and she was airlifted to a children’s hospital in Denver. There she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, confirming the suspicions of family members. Read the rest of this entry »

Nebraska Legislature to examine issues in White Clay

June 3rd, 2009

Published Wednesday June 3, 2009
SHERIDAN COUNTY JOURNAL STAR, Gordon, Neb.

Sheridan County has the distinction of raising more tax revenue from the sale of alcohol than the rest of the counties in the state of Nebraska combined. The source of this revenue is the tiny town of White Clay population 17. A one mile stretch of road immediately south of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, White Clay is home to four beer stores which thrive on sales from Pine Ridge residents where alcohol is prohibited.

Recently a resolution was introduced in the General Affairs Committee of the Nebraska Legislature regarding a number of issues and concerns relating to conditions in White Clay. Read the rest of this entry »

Poor Bear still waiting for justice

June 2nd, 2009

Published Tuesday June 2, 2009
BY HEIDI BELL GEASE
RAPID CITY JOURNAL

Ten years after his brother and cousin were found beaten to death on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Tom Poor Bear is once again preparing to march in their memory.

The annual March for Justice, set for June 13, is to remind people of Wilson “Wally” Black Elk Jr. and Ron Hard Heart, along with other Native Americans whose murders remain unsolved. Read the rest of this entry »

Legislature to study situation in Whiteclay

May 19th, 2009

Published Tuesday May 19, 2009

On Monday May 18, 2009 the General Affairs Committee of the Nebraska Legislature introduced a resolution (LR199) to hold an “interim study to examine [and] review the situation in Whiteclay, Nebraska.”

Find the text copy of LR199 (in pdf format) at the Nebraska Legislature website.

Midland to host a screening of ‘The Battle for Whiteclay’

May 13th, 2009

Published Wednesday May 13, 2009
BY BRETT ELLIS
FREMONT TRIBUNE

When Mark Vasina first agreed to do a documentary about the problems in Whiteclay and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, he thought he would be finished within a year.

Instead, Vasina spent five years shooting footage for the film “The Battle for Whiteclay.” Read the rest of this entry »

‘Battle for Whiteclay’ highlights struggle of Lakota on Pine Ridge

May 5th, 2009

Posted Tuesday May 5, 2009
BY NANCY MITCHELL
PSLweb.org

Film showings document struggle for self determination

On April 28, an overflow crowd packed a coffee shop screening of “Battle for Whiteclay,” hosted by the South Dakota ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). The film documents the struggle of the residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and their allies to shut down four predatory liquor stores across the border in Whiteclay, Neb. It features Native American activists Frank LaMere, Duane Martin, Sr. and Russell Means. Read the rest of this entry »

Midland Lutheran to screen documentary on Whiteclay controversy

May 4th, 2009

Published Monday May 4, 2009

Midland Lutheran College will show the documentary film “The Battle for Whiteclay” Thursday, May 14, at 6 p.m. in the college’s Olson Student Center.

The screening will be followed by a question and answer period with Native American activist Frank LaMere and filmmaker Mark Vasina. Read the rest of this entry »