A protest targeting the sale of beer intended for transfer into the Pine Ridge reservation is being planned for Monday night in the town of Whiteclay.
Two
Native American groups said Sunday that they will try to prevent
alcohol sold in Nebraska from reaching the Pine Ridge reservation where
alcohol is banned.
The Oglala Lakota Women and Deep Green
Resistance groups say they will set up a blockade on the reservation's
southern border between Whiteclay and Pine Ridge starting at 9 p.m. Monday.
Alcohol sales in the
town of Whiteclay have long been a concern for the Oglala Sioux Tribe
because alcoholism and poverty are rampant on the reservation.
"We do this to save the lives of our
relatives who cannot defend themselves against the harms of alcohol due to the
inability of the state of Nebraska to properly police illegal retailer alcohol
sales and activities in the town of Whiteclay," stated activist Olowan
Martinez.
"We do this to prevent abuses of all forms from reaching into
our sacred homes and to show our future generations how to protect our homeland
by any means necessary," added Martinez.
Whiteclay, with the population
of roughly a dozen people, sold the equivalent of 4.3 million 12-ounce
cans of beer last year.
