And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: Piercing Eyes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> forwarded for informational purposes only...contents have not been verified From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1999 18:18:19 EDT Subject: Town Evacuated Before Indian March Town Evacuated Before Indian March .c The Associated Press WHITECLAY, Neb. (AP) - Authorities evacuated the town's 22 residents, closed down its businesses and sent in 100 troopers Friday on the eve of a protest march by American Indians. Sioux Indians from the Pine Ridge Reservation set fires and looted a grocery store in the town a week ago during a protest over alleged treaty violations, two unsolved murders and the sale of alcohol to Indians. Activists said they would again march the two miles from the reservation in South Dakota over the state line into Whiteclay, where they planned to set up tepees and occupy the village until state officials addressed their concerns. Tribal leaders said they did not want Saturday's march to turn ugly because it could scare President Clinton away from his visit to the reservation on Tuesday. Clinton plans to discuss economic development in Indian communities and tour tornado-damaged parts of Oglala, S.D. Still, Gov. Mike Johanns ordered the evacuation and sent in the troopers to protect the village, Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent Col. Tom Nesbitt said. ``That's just in case something goes south on us,'' Nesbitt said. American Indian Movement leaders and members of the Oglala Sioux tribe allege the U.S. government has violated an 1868 treaty that reserved parts of North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Nebraska for the Sioux. Tribe members are also upset that a few stores in Whiteclay sell more than $3 million worth of beer each year, mostly to Indians with drinking problems. The rate of alcoholism is high among Indians, and alcohol is banned on the Pine Ridge Reservation. ``If them bars weren't there, a lot of our people, including my cousin and younger brother, would be alive today,'' said Tom Poor Bear, who organized last weekend's rally. Also, tribe members say local police have not done enough to investigate the deaths of Wilson Black Elk Jr., 40, and Ronald Hard Heart, 39, whose bodies were found June 8 in a culvert near the Nebraska line. Poor Bear is Black Elk's older half-brother and Hard Heart's cousin. Johanns said the state could not offer much help with the investigation because the bodies were found in South Dakota. Federal and tribal police have announced a $15,000 reward for information on the slayings. AP-NY-07-02-99 1817EDT Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
