By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS / LINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR / June 29, 2012
Two Democratic National Convention delegates from Nebraska are asking President Barack Obama to return a piece of the state to a South Dakota Indian tribe.
Frank LaMere said he and his daughter, Lexie, will present delegates with a resolution aimed at Whiteclay at the party meeting in Charlotte, N.C. Both are members of Nebraska’s Winnebago Indian Tribe. (more…)
By KRISTI EATON (The Associated Press) / LINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR / June 28, 2012
In a tiny Nebraska border town that has become known more for alcohol than anything else, KC Willis is hoping to change perceptions.
Willis has opened LightShine Thrift Store in Whiteclay, a town of about 12 people just across from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. (more…)
By GRANT SCHULTE (AP) / LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR / June 25, 2012
A man who was burned in a controlled grass fire in the Nebraska border town of Whiteclay has filed papers to sue local authorities for negligence, saying they failed to spot him lying in a field and ignited the blaze on a dangerously windy day. (more…)
By ICTMN Staff / INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY / June 23, 2012
Selling beer to Indians is a controversial business, as shown by the recent federal lawsuit filed against the state of Nebraska by the Oglala Lakotas of Pine Ridge over sales of alcohol in Whiteclay, Nebraska.
But what about selling beer with Indians? Using Indian imagery to sell beer?
As with many American products, from grocery-store produce to motorcycles, American Indian names and likenesses have been used as brand names and logos. But it’s possible that no industry has used Native American imagery as much as the beer trade.
Here are 29 instances of brewing companies that have branded their beers with Indian imagery. (more…)
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS / THE NEW YORK TIMES / June 20, 2012
The United States attorney for South Dakota said Tuesday that prosecutors would re-examine the circumstances surrounding dozens of deaths that occurred on or near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, many dating back to the 1970s when the reservation was embroiled in political violence. (more…)
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS / THE NEW YORK TIMES / June 15, 2012
PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION, S.D. — Forty years after the siege at Wounded Knee by members of the American Indian Movement, the Oglala Sioux tribe has demanded that the federal government reopen dozens of cases it says the F.B.I. may have mishandled decades ago.
Tribal leaders say that as many as 75 people were killed on Pine Ridge during a three-year period of internecine violence that followed the 71-day Wounded Knee standoff with federal troops in 1973, a time that came to be known on the reservation as the “reign of terror.” (more…)
Indigenous Peoples, Resistance and Human Rights / June 12, 2012
Members of Deep Green Resistance join Lakota allies from Pine Ridge in an action against Whiteclay, a tiny Nebraska town with a population of 14 and a total of 4 liquor stores. For years, the rural and isolated town’s economy has been based on the exploitation of the Lakota people.
VIDEO 1: Deep Green Resistance joins Lakota: Action at Whiteclay
INFOSHOP NEWS / June 10, 2012
Whiteclay, NE – Activists from across the country participated in an act of civil disobedience in the town of Whiteclay, Nebraska. Deep Green Resistance, Un-occupy Albuquerque, Occupy Lincoln and Lakota organizers attached U-Locks to their necks and strung a chain between pairs of activists, blockading the road running through the town to bring attention to the town’s infamous liquor industry. After blocking the main road running through the town for 3 and a half hours, police agreed to work with Lakota women to investigate the plethora of crimes and abuses committed by the owners of the four alcohol peddlers in Whiteclay.
VIDEO: Deep Green Resistance joins Lakota: Action at Whiteclay
By CARISSA WYANT / MINT PRESS NEWS / June 7, 2012
(MintPress)— Alleging that some of the world’s biggest beer brewers have knowingly contributed to devastating problems, including alcoholism, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the Oglala Sioux Tribe is suing Anheuser-Busch, Pabst Brewing Co. and others for $500 million in damages.
The lawsuit, filed in February in U.S. District Court of Nebraska, seeks for the costs the tribe has incurred in dealing with crime and providing social services and health care as a result of rampant alcoholism among its members. (more…)
By STEPHANIE WOODARD / INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY / June 7, 2012
We went to a tribal member who spent years patronizing Whiteclay’s beer stores, but has now sobered up and turned his life around. He asked to remain anonymous, for fear of retribution.
Will the tribe’s lawsuit against the beer makers, distributors and sellers help?
I think it will, because Whiteclay is where a lot of people on Pine Ridge get alcohol. In a few minutes, you can stroll down there from Pine Ridge village, the biggest population center on the reservation, right over the South Dakota-Nebraska line. Sometimes people go several times a day. So if you stop the liquor trade in Whiteclay, you severely limit access to alcohol on Pine Ridge. (more…)