And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: web published Jul 13 Governor Sees Whiteclay Firsthand By David Hendee World-Herald Staff Writer http://www.omaha.com/OWH/StoryView/1,1344,186349,00.html July 14, 1999 Governor Sees Whiteclay Firsthand BY DAVID HENDEE WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Whiteclay, Neb. - Gov. Mike Johanns walked into South Dakota with a few hundred Oglala Sioux activists Tuesday and sat in a shady grove of elm trees to hear demands for the immediate closure of all liquor stores in this remote border village. The governor's midafternoon arrival was delayed 30 minutes while aides tried to determine what was planned by the Indians for Johanns' visit. About 200 Indians and others walked two miles from Pine Ridge, S.D., to Whiteclay in near-100-degree heat to the drumming beat of an American Indian Movement song. They gathered in the middle of a state highway waiting for Johanns' arrival. Against the same backdrop of pine-studded hills in Nebraska that greeted President Clinton when he visited Pine Ridge last Wednesday, Johanns walked a quarter-mile to the meeting site in western boots, rolled-up white shirt sleeves and black Wrangler jeans. After hearing the Indians talk, Johanns promised nothing except the state's help in resolving some of the disputes between the Sioux and Whiteclay. "It's not a good thing for two nations to stand toe to toe," Johanns said in reference to tension between some Indians and whites. The meeting site - marked by three tepees and dubbed Camp Justice - was an unexpected stop in Johanns' first visit to Whiteclay, the biggest beer outlet for the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Johanns was invited to meet in Whiteclay by tribal President Harold Salway and was expected to tour the village, visit Pine Ridge and meet at length with Salway. Salway, the Oglalas' elected leader, met Johanns in Whiteclay. Later, after Johanns' session at Camp Justice, the two talked for about 15 minutes at tribal offices in the village of Pine Ridge. The gathering under the elm trees was organized by Tom Poor Bear, who is sergeant at arms of the tribe and who has organized recent demonstrations at Whiteclay with other American Indian Movement leaders. Tensions have been high in Whiteclay in recent weeks. Reservation Indians have protested in Whiteclay during each of the past three Saturdays over the beer issue and the unsolved slayings of two Oglala men found bludgeoned on the reservation just north of Whiteclay. Camp Justice is near where the bodies were discovered. Whiteclay, a Sheridan County village of 22 in northwest Nebraska, has gained notoriety in recent years for the flow of beer that pours north into the dry reservation, a place of chronic alcoholism. Some tribal leaders say as many as eight or nine of every 10 residents have significant alcohol abuse problems. Whiteclay's four beer-selling stores sell about 4 million cans a year, most of it to Oglala Sioux. Last week, about 150 Indians marched to the village during a peaceful protest. A grocery store that does not sell beer was looted and burned June 26 when more than 1,000 protesters marched on the village. Nine members of a crowd of 650 people were arrested July 3 for disobeying a police order. The protesters that day were met by 100 state troopers, half of them in riot gear. Poor Bear gave Johanns a list of demands he called "Six Points of Justice." In addition to closing the liquor stores, they call for: A complete investigation on all human- and civil-rights violations that allegedly have occurred in Sheridan County. Return of a 50-square-mile section of land in Nebraska to the Pine Ridge Reservation. The land was part of the original Pine Ridge Agency granted to the Sioux. Creation of a permanent civil-rights office in Sheridan County to address human- and civil-rights violations. Immediate removal of Sheridan County Sheriff Terry Robbins. The activists say Robbins has covered up alleged criminal violations by one of his deputies against Oglala people. Robbins, who accompanied Johanns to Whiteclay and the South Dakota tepee site, wasn't immediately available for comment. Establishment of a law requiring law enforcement officers to record the race of every motorist they stop. Tribal leader Floyd Hand said Indian motorists are harassed by some law enforcement officers. Regarding the accusations of wrongdoing by Nebraska law enforcement, Poor Bear said he would give Johanns a list of testimonials from Oglala people regarding the discrimination and abuse. Several tribal activists have repeatedly declined to provide The World-Herald specific information about any abuse accusations. Poor Bear also has said he suspects that Sheridan County authorities were involved in the most recent two deaths, something that Robbins and Stan Star Comes Out, the tribal police chief, have dismissed as groundless. Johanns said before meeting with the Indians that the state would protect the right of legitimate Whiteclay businesses to operate legally. Johanns acknowledged that a lot of beer is sold through just four businesses in Whiteclay. "We can verify about 4 million cans a year," he said. "But there's nothing illegal with that, so long as it's done in a legal way." Johanns said Whiteclay business owners and residents and reservation Indians can be assured that the State of Nebraska will "provide the oversight necessary for these businesses to operate legally." He noted that the state has aggressively protected the village in recent weeks, as it would any community in Nebraska. Johanns said an early offer still stands to make the full resources of the State Patrol available to the FBI and its investigation of the deaths of Wally Black Elk Jr., 40, and Ronald Hard Heart, 39. Their bodies were found June 8 in a deep, grassy ditch about a quarter-mile north of Whiteclay. "We're not managing that investigation," he said, "but if we can assist in getting a full and complete investigation, then that needs to be happening." Johanns said he and Salway needed to have further talks on the Nebraska State Patrol's offer to cross-train and cross-deputize tribal officers from the reservation so that that they can help with law enforcement issues in Whiteclay. The tribe has not said yet whether it will accept. "We've been very pleased with the tribal police," Johanns said. "They're very professional and no-nonsense people. I hope there's an opportunity to create some type of unified effort." Johanns said Saturday protests in Whiteclay by reservation Indians aren't a major issue with him - so long as they remain peaceful. "They have a right to do that," he said. "We've said all along that if they're peaceful, then we're observers. There are protesters at the mansion (in Lincoln) and Capitol all the time. That's part of living in a democracy, and we don't want to do anything to discourage that." If nothing else is accomplished from the visit, Johanns said, at least he now will have firsthand knowledge of the situation in Whiteclay and on the reservation. The visit wasn't Johanns' first meeting with Oglala leaders. He met earlier this month in Chadron with Salway. Part of the reason for making the trip, Johanns said, was simply to see Whiteclay. Johanns, a first-term Republican, visited each of Nebraska's 93 counties when seeking the governorship while serving as Lincoln's mayor. The governor said the visit was a positive step in building a working relationship with Salway, who has been in office about six months. "When the events in Whiteclay started, I didn't know who he (Salway) was," Johanns said. Accompanying Johanns were U.S. Attorney Tom Monaghan, Winnebago tribal judge Ken Vampola, and Pascual Marquez, senior conciliation specialist with the U.S. Justice Department office in Kansas City. Other included Tom Cook of Chadron, a board member of the Nebraska Indian Commission; Chris Peterson, policy secretary of the State Health and Human Services System; Joan Francis, a member of Border Tiospaye and a Panhandle-area Health and Human Services consultant; and Greg Beam, director of the governor's western office in Scottsbluff. Thrity three photos in a slide show type presentation of White Clay protests and Pine Ridge Online at the Lincoln Star Journal... http://www.journalstar.com/slide_show/photos/pine_ridge/0
