Letter to the Editor / OMAHA WORLD-HERALD / February 27, 2012
I thank Jeff Koterba for an excellent and thought-provoking Feb. 12 editorial cartoon on the problem of too much beer in Whiteclay, Neb. (more…)
NPR / Tell Me More / Feb. 24, 2012
The Oglala Sioux Tribe filed a $500 million lawsuit against brewers and retailers, claiming they’re responsible for the reservation’s alcohol-related problems. The tribe lives on a dry reservation, but they claim nearby towns unlawfully sell alcohol to residents. Host Michel Martin speaks to a reporter and the tribe’s attorney.
By Joe Duggan / OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
LINCOLN — A South Dakota Native American tribe has sought a court order to sharply restrict beer sales in the Nebraska village of Whiteclay while larger legal questions are sorted out in a federal lawsuit.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe filed an amended complaint Friday in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, seeking an injunction to limit the total volume of beer sales “to an amount that can reasonably be consumed” in a village with fewer than 12 residents. There are no public places to drink beer in Whiteclay, which lies just south of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. (more…)
By Kevin Abourezk / LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
The Oglala Sioux Tribe is asking a federal court to limit alcohol sales in a small Nebraska town that sells nearly 5 million cans of beer a year.
The tribe’s attorney, former state senator Tom White of Omaha, amended a lawsuit Friday that was filed Feb. 9 in U.S. District Court in Lincoln. The amendment asks the court to limit beer sales in Whiteclay to an amount “that can reasonably be consumed in accordance with the laws of the State of Nebraska and the (tribe).” (more…)
By Stephanie Woodard / 100 REPORTERS
In Nebraska, some liquor stores sell booze to minors and manage to hang onto their licenses, according to Nebraska Liquor Control Commission data. That’s as long as the stores are doing business in Whiteclay, Nebraska, located about 250 feet south of the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. (more…)
Letter to the Editor / LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
What a marvelous gift afforded all of us. The Oglala, Nebraskans for Peace and their legal team are assisting the breweries and off-sale dealers in Whiteclay with the chance to not only cease but pony up for nightmares they have delivered upon the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge and no doubt upon themselves as perpetrators all these many, many years. (more…)
With millions of cans of beer continuing to flow unabated year after year from Whiteclay across the border to the Pine Ridge Reservation, it’s encouraging to hear some new ideas for addressing the problem.
A long-shot civil lawsuit filed by Omaha lawyer Tom White for the Oglala Sioux Tribe seeks $500 million from defendants ranging from major breweries to the little stores in the village of Whiteclay, population of 10 or so, that sell all that alcohol. (more…)
Letter to the Editor / LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
The situation in Whiteclay is nothing short of genocide on the Native Americans who live on the neighboring Pine Ridge Reservation, which is dry. (more…)
By Grant Schulte / ASSOCIATED PRESS / NATIVE AMERICAN TIMES
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A proposal to allow for stricter alcohol rules in certain parts of Nebraska would give local governments the tools they need to fight public drunkenness, a state lawmaker said Monday.
But the bill faced skepticism from some state lawmakers and industry leaders, who questioned whether the measure unfairly singled out certain areas. Critics also said they doubted the measure would solve persistent alcohol abuse in problem areas. (more…)
by PAMELA MEJIA / bmsg blog / Feb. 15, 2012
The numbers are eye-catching: A town of 11 people sold 4.9 million cans of beer in one year. But the story of the Oglala Sioux tribe’s recent lawsuit against the country’s largest brewers is about more than a startling statistic. It’s another chapter in the tumultuous history of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (the setting of the 1973 Wounded Knee Incident and the shootout that lead to the arrest of Native American activist Leonard Peltier), which is again the site of tension between United States and Native authority. It’s yet another shameful example, too long ignored by the media, of how companies target communities of color for the sale of harmful products — in this case, alcohol. And it’s the story of the most highly publicized event in more than 10 years of a community’s efforts to combat this exploitation.
Last Thursday the Reservation’s Oglala Sioux tribe filed a lawsuit against beer manufacturers, distributors and retailers, who they claim have knowingly promoted alcohol abuse on the Reservation, where alcohol is illegal. The tribe is seeking half a million dollars in damages to offset the social and health costs of growing alcoholism – estimated at $8-9 million dollars a year. (more…)