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MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2003

"On my way to the Thurston County attorney's office in Pender, I drove past a Main Street establishment. The immense black sign above the door shrieked the bar's name in bright orange and white letters: The Other Side.

The story that followed the visit described the jurisdictional conflicts of law enforcement within Indian Country, including the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska. In December, federal and state law officials arrived at the tribal headquarters there to warn of imminent violence if the Omaha Tribal Police set up another traffic safety point in, or near, Pender.

The articles caught the attention of the editor at the Pender Times, the town's weekly newspaper.

A recent editorial stated: "Like other stories carried by that daily newspaper, this one gave considerable space to the Indians' side of the story and little space to the non-Indians. The pictures accompanying the story, of course, were of Indians. And, of course, the story -- like those in the past -- was written by Jodi Rave Lee, herself an Indian."

To be sure, it must be strange to some Nebraska residents to see stories from Indian Country on a regular basis, let alone news printed in one of the state's largest newspapers.

Indeed, it must be a little unnerving to read a story not written from the white, middle-aged male perspective. And yes, as the Pender Times noted, I not only write Native-themed stories, but that I'm also "an Indian." I guess that's the ambiguous label some whites would use to describe me."

Get the Story:
Jodi Rave Lee: Welcome to the other side, white America (The Lincoln Journal Star 3/15)

Relevant Links:
The Pender Times - http://www.pendertimes.com