Activists mark year since official halt to liquor sales in Whiteclay

Monday, October 8, 2018  

It's been a year since Nebraska's highest court officially put an end to liquor sales in Whiteclay, a small town near the border of the Pine Ridge Reservation.

The September 27, 2017, decision capped off decades of work by Native activists and allies who said the sales exploited citizens of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The met in the town last week to call for further action to address other issues, such as bootlegging and series of unsolved deaths, The Lincoln Journal Star reported.

“Because of our work, 3.7 million cans of beer have not been sold to people who have no legal place to drink it in Whiteclay,” Winnebago activist Frank LaMere said at the gathering, the paper reported. “And if that alcohol is still finding its way to Pine Ridge ... we’re going to hold people’s feet to the fire, and that includes the Nebraska State Patrol, the state of Nebraska, the state of South Dakota and the Oglala Sioux Tribe.”

In related news, Whiteclay Makerspace announced the receipt of a federal grant to help develop a space where artists can work. The organization is also raising funds on IndieGogo to help complete the facility in Whiteclay and buy equipment.

A year after Supreme Court sealed fate of Whiteclay beer stores, reforms still needed, activists say (The Lincoln Journal Star October 7, 2018)
Nonprofit envisions a ‘new Whiteclay’ for artists (KNBN NewsCenter1 October 4, 2018)

Kozal v. Nebraska Liquor Control Commission (September 27, 2017)

Frank LaMere: Native people are still fighting for our own rights (February 12, 2018)
Ivan Star Comes Out: We should be asking ourselves 'What's next?' at Whiteclay (November 16, 2017)
Lakota man dreams of building tipis in Whiteclay to rebuild border town economy (November 7, 2017)
Native Sun News Today: Tribal leaders absent at border town liquor summit (October 13, 2017)
Native Sun News Today: Liquor stores in reservation border town remain closed (October 4, 2017)
Another fatal accident in Nebraska linked to alcohol sales near reservation border (September 14, 2017)
Native Sun News Today: The fight for Whiteclay moves into the court system (September 8, 2017)
Liquor stores in Pine Ridge Reservation border town ask court for ruling to reopen (August 29, 2017)
Whiteclay liquor store owners head to highest court in Nebraska (May 10, 2017)
Native Sun News Today: Whiteclay liquor sales come to an abrupt halt (May 9, 2017)
Whiteclay goes quiet as liquor stores near reservation shut down (May 1, 2017)
Whiteclay liquor stores must close temporarily amid court battle (April 28, 2017)
Whiteclay liquor stores win surprise court ruling on liquor licenses (April 27, 2017)
Native Sun News Today: Battle over Whiteclay liquor just beginning (April 27, 2017)
Whiteclay liquor stores aim to stay open pending fight for licenses (April 26, 2017)
Whiteclay liquor stores ordered to shut down after losing licenses (April 20, 2017)
Nebraska commission holds long hearing on Whiteclay liquor stores (April 7, 2017)