The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected an effort to resume beer sales in the village of Whiteclay, which is across the border from the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota.
The Lakota Tribe has been plagued by alcohol problems.
The court’s ruling upholds an April decision by state regulators not to renew the licenses of four beer stores in Whiteclay, Nebraska.
Winnebago Tribe member Frank LaMere of South Sioux City has spent 20 years trying to stop beer sales at Whiteclay.
OC……..remain sovereign. :20
The Nebraska stores have sold the equivalent of about 3.5 million cans of beer annually in the village of nine residents next to the reservation, where alcohol is banned.
LaMere says on his trips to Whiteclay, he has seen tribal members panhandle, fight and pass out on sidewalks.
The area is rated among the most impoverished in North America:
OC……….changing today. ;20
LaMere adds that while he is happy with the Supreme Court decision, the work is just beginning and decades of alcohol abuse will affect generations to come:
OC………undo that. ;22
LaMere says he will ask Governor Pete Ricketts to establish a cold case unit to investigate unsolved murders in the Whiteclay area.
LaMere says there is also a need for expanded detox treatment centers to help tribal members suffering from alcohol addiction.
