Dateline Whiteclay 9/27/06

by Mark Vasina, NFP President

I am writing this report from the streets of Whiteclay and Pine Ridge as this issue of the Nebraska Report is being prepared for publication. I am spending the better part of a week here meeting with Oglala Lakota tribal elders, tribal police and other Lakota concerned about the atrocious behavior by Whiteclay beer merchants and the Nebraska authorities that enable this behavior.

Preparations for the resumption of the Whiteclay blockade are proceeding. Last month, the Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council authorized the Cante Tenza warrior society to operate the blockade. Duane Martin, Sr., leader of Cante Tenza, is arranging for a similar resolution from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council. These efforts are being undertaken to provide explicit tribal support for the blockade and to establish its undisputed legality under tribal law.

In the meantime, the blockade has attracted national attention and has placed Whiteclay on the agenda in some important venues. On September 29 and 30, Duane and I will attend a national conference in Lawrence, Kansas on Indian health issues and the failure of state and county authorities to address them. We have both been invited to speak on a panel about our efforts to force Nebraska authorities to recognize their genocidal conduct with respect to Whiteclay alcohol sales.

Duane and I have also been invited by Martin Luther King III to speak about Whiteclay at a national civil rights conference on November 16 and 17 at the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. King, who learned about Whiteclay from national news reports on the blockade, immediately contacted Duane to arrange a visit to Whiteclay and Pine Ridge. While his visit has been delayed due to his heavy travel schedule, he recognizes the seriousness of the Whiteclay issue and its parallel to the manner in which the alcohol industry targets inner city populations of people of color to market malt liquor and fortified wine beverages.

Duane’s visibility on this issue has made him a galvanizing figure for Pine Ridge residents sickened by the appalling reality of what goes on in Whiteclay day after day. This week, we are meeting with a number of Lakota young people and their parents to discuss specific complaints against Whiteclay liquor dealers. I will report on these matters in later issues of the Nebraska Report as it becomes appropriate to make them public.

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