Stew Magnuson’s columns can be found on his blog. Here’s his latest about the controversial beer selling on the Pine Ridge Reservation:
I’ve participated in the two dialogues about the controversial town of Whiteclay, Nebr., during the past two months. I was recently on the Native America Calling Radio show and did an hour-long interview on the town that sells millions of cans per year to the dry Pine Ridge Reservation. Last week, I participated on a panel discussion held at Bellevue University in Nebraska titled: Whiteclay: The Next Generation.
As is the case with these kinds of events, there are things I wish I had said, or didn’t have time to bring up. This column affords me a second chance. I was quoted in the local media that I thought the prohibition of alcohol policy on Pine Ridge was a “complete failure” and I would like to expand these thoughts. Those who oppose Whiteclay are going up against two powerful “isms” in our society: capitalism and alcoholism.
As long as there is a demand for alcohol, some businessman somewhere is going to step in and make a profit. That’s the way it has been since French and British fur traders first encountered Native people centuries ago.
That’s the way it will be even if crusaders against Whiteclay get their way and close down all four beer sellers. Prohibition on Pine Ridge in reality only bans the legal sale of alcohol on the reservation. It is widely available to anyone who wants it and can pay for it, either through bootleggers, or at nearby South Dakota and Nebraska border towns.
The reservation police I’m sure do their best, but law enforcement can only do so much to stop contraband. That’s not a knock on the tribal police. That’s the case with police everywhere in the world. Prohibition has not had an impact on curtailing alcoholism on Pine Ridge.
The idea has been floated to allow legal sales of alcohol on Pine Ridge and using revenues to fund treatment. It’s an idea worth looking at, because at the end of the day, those profits are going to go somewhere. In early 2004, the tribal council voted not to allow a referendum on lifting the ban move forward. That effectively squelched debate.
OLC Tribal President Theresa Two Bulls was on the panel via remote hook up. I wanted to ask her how she felt about letting a referendum move forward and whether she thought prohibition was having any impact on Pine Ridge alcoholism rates at all, but she had to depart before the end of the panel. I’m hoping she can respond in the Native Sun News, where this blog is printed, in a future issue.
An audience member, a Native American, but not a member of the Oglala tribe, made a plea for self-sufficiency. Paraphrasing: he said the tribe can do without the outside world. It can build a fence around the reservation, “raise its own cattle” etc., and physically keep alcohol out. I interjected and made a point that no physical barrier could ever keep booze off the reservation. If you build a 10-foot high fence around Pine Ridge, someone would come along with an 11-foot ladder and hoist it over. They would build tunnels; they would air drop it in. That speaks to the power of alcoholism. Those who have fallen into this terrible disease are going to get their fix somehow, someway. They will brew their own. They will clean the store shelves of mouthwash. I actually regret taking the time to make these points.
The thought of building a wall around Pine Ridge is so ridiculous, it didn’t warrant any further discussion. What I really should have said is that there are already plenty of invisible walls between the people of Pine Ridge and their white neighbors. We need to be talking about building bridges, and tearing down walls.
Finally, the panel ended before I had a chance to associate myself with the comments made by Winnebego activist Frank LaMere, who has been fighting to close down Whiteclay for more than a decade. He warned that Whiteclay is a “tinderbox,” a festering problem that if left unattended, is going to blow up in the face of Nebraska authorities. Unfortunately, I wholeheartedly agree with his comments.
The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder: And Other True Stories from the Nebraska Border Towns, includes a fairly thorough history of Whiteclay, including the June 26, 1999 protest over the murders of Ronnie Hard Heart and Wallace Black Elk that ended in violence. It also documents several cases over the years of similar incidents, including the title story. These violent events, usually fueled or related to alcohol, seem to strike Sheridan County every 10 to 20 years.
Sadly, the historical record shows that some alcohol-related tragedy is coming down the pike. We can only hope that by building the aforementioned bridges, that things don’t get out of hand.
Stew Magnuson is the author of The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder: And Other True Stories from the Nebraska-Pine Ridge Border Towns.
Jodi Rave
