{"id":5837,"date":"2020-12-17T09:14:48","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T14:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=5837"},"modified":"2020-12-17T09:21:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T14:21:34","slug":"lakota-leader-tom-poor-bear-dies-after-battle-with-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/12\/17\/lakota-leader-tom-poor-bear-dies-after-battle-with-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakota leader Tom Poor Bear dies after battle with COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JHXXIKWxOSA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">John Lamb: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/JHXXIKWxOSA>Tom Poor Bear sings &#8216;No BIA&#8217;<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Lakota leader Tom Poor Bear dies after battle with COVID-19<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">&#8216;He never stopped fighting&#8217;<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Thursday, December 17, 2020<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\">Kevin Abourezk<\/A> <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\"><I aria-hidden=true class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/I><\/A><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe former vice president of the <a href=https:\/\/www.oglalalakotanation.info\/>Oglala Sioux Tribe<\/a> and a longtime Native rights activist died Sunday from complications due to the <a href=\/covid19\/>coronavirus<\/a>.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nTom Poor Bear, 66, died at the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, Colorado.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cI still can\u2019t believe Tom has left us,\u201d said Bryan Brewer, who served as president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe with Poor Bear as his vice president. \u201cIt\u2019s a bad day for the tribe and his family.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nPoor Bear joined the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_Indian_Movement\">American Indian Movement<\/a> not long after they came to the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pine_Ridge_Indian_Reservation\">Pine Ridge Reservation<\/a> in South Dakota in 1972. He ran away from boarding school to jump in a car and <a href=https:\/\/www.zinnedproject.org\/news\/tdih\/broken-treaties-caravan>ride to Washington, D.C., where AIM<\/a> took over a <a href=https:\/\/www.bia.gov\/>Bureau of Indian Affairs<\/a> building to protest the federal agency\u2019s failure to fulfill its trust responsibilities to Native people.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"fb-post\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/THEOGLALANATION\/posts\/1252587551780752\" data-width=\"552\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block;\"><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nPoor Bear continued to seek justice for Native people, and in 1999 he began <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2019\/10\/30\/the-spirits-are-talking-leaders-speak-of.asp\">fighting beer sales in Whiteclay, Nebraska<\/a>, an unincorporated village on the reservation\u2019s southern border that once sold as much as 4 million cans of beer a year mostly to residents of the dry Pine Ridge Reservation.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nHis fight against Whiteclay beer sales was a deeply personal one, driven by the murder of his brother, Wilson Black Elk Jr., and cousin, Ron Hard Heart, whose bodies were found in a field between Whiteclay and Pine Ridge on June 8, 1999.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAlong with other activists such as the late <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2012\/10\/24\/native-sun-news-activist-russe-2.asp\">Russell Means<\/a> and the late <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2019\/06\/17\/indian-country-and-allies-say-goodbye-to.asp\">Frank LaMere<\/a>, Poor Bear fought to close the beer stores and to seek justice for his brother and cousin, hosting annual marches to Whiteclay for many years.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8220;I made a commitment I wouldn&#8217;t walk away from their spirits,&#8221; he told a <a href=https:\/\/rapidcityjournal.com\/news\/local\/top-stories\/poor-bear-still-waiting-for-justice\/article_23b08dca-08ba-57e8-8a75-3de7bd604165.html>reporter for the Rapid City Journal in 2009<\/a>. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to keep marching until justice is found.&#8221;\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=row><div class=col-md-7><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" data-attachment-id=\"5840\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/12\/17\/lakota-leader-tom-poor-bear-dies-after-battle-with-covid-19\/tompoorbear\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/17\/tompoorbear.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,960\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"tompoorbear\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/17\/tompoorbear.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/17\/tompoorbear.jpg\" alt=\"tompoorbear\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5840\" \/><\/div><div class=\"col-md-5 align-self-end\">\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Tom Poor Bear. Photo: <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/THEOGLALANATION\/photos\/a.365541057152077\/945148692524641\/>Oglala Sioux Tribe<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nPoor Bear left office in November after he decided to not seek re-election as vice president, an office he gained after he was chosen to finish the term of former tribal vice president Darla Black, who was impeached last year.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nKevin Killer, the <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/11\/11\/they-want-to-see-change-voters-of-oglala-sioux-tribe-elect-new-leaders\/>Oglala Sioux Tribe\u2019s newly inaugurated president<\/a>, said Poor Bear inspired him and many other young leaders with his courageous efforts to bring attention to Native causes. He cited Poor Bear\u2019s success at gaining former President Barack Obama\u2019s attention during a presidential speech in Denver in October 2011, when Poor Bear unfurled a banner that read <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/notes\/clayton-thomas-muller\/oglalla-vice-president-tom-poor-bear-confronts-president-obama-on-keystone-xl\/10150442048093573\/>\u201cPresident Obama, Yes You Can Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline\u201d<\/a> and called out to the president.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nObama paused from his prepared remarks and acknowledged Poor Bear, saying \u201cI hear you. No decision has been made. I know your deep concern about it. We will address it.\u201d \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nFour years later, the president fulfilled his promise when he rejected the controversial pipeline, a decision later reversed by President Donald Trump in one of his first official acts.\r\n<p><\/p><div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><p><\/p>\r\n\u201cHe never stopped fighting,\u201d said Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska, a coalition formed to stop the Keystone XL pipeline.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nKiller said Poor Bear supported his own efforts to fight for Lakota people as a state senator in South Dakota.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a hard loss for our community because of everything that he stood, what he stood for and how he did it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m glad that he\u2019s not suffering anymore.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Oglala Sioux Tribal Council hosted an honoring song for Poor Bear on Monday.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-Lv9C7yk-o0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nBrewer also lamented the November 10 death of Debra White Plume, a longtime treaty rights activist who had protested the Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Standing alongside Poor Bear during a Keystone XL protest in New York City in November 2011, the two activists were arrested at the same time.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nBrewer said he learned the two had marched together just a few hours before learning they had been arrested together.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThe next thing I knew they were both in jail,\u201d he said.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nDuring an <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/-Lv9C7yk-o0>interview posted on YouTube last year, Poor Bear<\/a> talked about the empowering effects of AIM activists coming to his reservation in 1972. After years spent learning a version of American history in the boarding school he attended that belittled indigenous peoples\u2019 contributions, Poor Bear finally learned of the resilience of the Lakota people from the activists who came to Pine Ridge that year.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThey never told us of our great leaders of the past, of Sitting Bull, of Gall, of Crazy Horse, of Red Shirt, of Spotted Tail, of Geronimo,\u201d he said of his boarding school teachers. \u201cBut the American Indian Movement told us how great we were, how great our people were, how respectable our people were.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThey brought the pride out in indigenous people.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=row><div class=col-6>\r\n<div class=\"fb-video\" data-allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/106658137458791\/videos\/387536515906036\/\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block;\"><\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From advancing treaty rights to fighting the Keystone XL Pipeline, Tom Poor Bear dedicated his life to the Oglala Sioux Tribe.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,19,20,13,1,14],"tags":[955,391,117,418,960,5,346,954,75,957,959,495,707,69,236,97,958,98,956,158,154,953],"class_list":["post-5837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-health","category-indian-trust","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-aim","tag-barack-obama","tag-bia","tag-boarding-schools","tag-border-towns","tag-coronavirus","tag-dc","tag-debra-white-plume","tag-donald-trump","tag-frank-lamere","tag-jane-kleeb","tag-kevin-killer","tag-keystone-xl-pipeline","tag-nebraska","tag-obituaries","tag-oglala-sioux","tag-russell-means","tag-south-dakota","tag-tom-brewer","tag-tom-poor-bear","tag-treaties","tag-whiteclay","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/17\/tompoorbear.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-1w9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}