And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Anti-Beer Marches to Accelerate in Whiteclay BY DAVID HENDEE WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Whiteclay, Neb. - Today is the beginning of the end of Whiteclay's wait - and anxiety is high. Nearly a month ago, activist Indians posted notices on the doors of four businesses that sell beer in this village adjoining South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation that they had 30 days to shut down. Although Monday marks the 30-day deadline, the activists - with their ranks swelled this week by thousands of others on the reservation for the Oglala Sioux's annual powwow - plan to increase the frequency of their heretofore weekly two-mile walks to Whiteclay from Pine Ridge, S.D., in protest against beer sales. They plan four consecutive days of marches beginning today. Dennis Banks and Clyde Bellecourt, two leaders of the activist American Indian Movement, plan to be part of marches Saturday and Sunday, said Tom Poor Bear of Pine Ridge, an organizer of the marches. "Whiteclay is not paying attention to the issue," said Poor Bear. "Their greed is more important to them than the problem we have with their alcohol sales. They're just showing no respect at all." Although the noon marches could have turnouts 10 to 20 times larger than the 75 to 100 people who have been participating on most recent Saturdays, Poor Bear said the events will be peaceful. "I don't expect violence," he said. Whiteclay's business owners who remember the vandalism to buildings and confrontations with law enforcement officers that marked the first two marches in June and July, are uneasy. Earlier this week they wrote Gov. Mike Johanns seeking assurances that the State Patrol would be in Whiteclay in force this weekend. "We feel it only fair that you see that we get as much protection as we had the first and second weeks of the unlawful demonstrations that were held here," the business owners said in the letter written by Tim Hotz, who owns the village's Jack & Jill grocery. Greg Beam, a member of the governor's western Nebraska office in Scottsbluff, met Wednesday in Whiteclay with merchants to hear their concerns. Chris Peterson, a spokesman for the governor, said the state would not reveal its plans for placing troopers in Whiteclay this weekend. State Patrol Major A.K. Anderson said Whiteclay's security needs are evaluated daily. "We don't anticipate any problems," Anderson said. "We'll have an adequate presence there." Hotz said he has told State Patrol leaders that there isn't a business in Whiteclay that doesn't have gun in the store for protection. "There could be a lot of renegade people running around creating problems," Hotz said. "There are people here who have vowed to have bloodshed if they (intruders) come through their doors." Hotz, 51, has owned and operated the grocery for 18 years. Three of his seven employees are Indians and another is the wife of the Sheridan County sheriff. Hotz is a member of Rushville, Neb., school board. His store is open daily, he doesn't sell beer, and he is widely seen a friend to reservation residents. But that didn't prevent his store from coming under attack during the first demonstration when another grocery was looted. Some marchers tried to break through Jack & Jill's glass doors, but luck and Indian employees at the door prevented anyone from breaking in. "I'm pretty worried," Hotz said, "but maybe I have nothing to worry about." The protests started June 26 after two Oglala Sioux men were found bludgeoned to death just north of Whiteclay on the reservation. The unsolved deaths fueled resentment toward this Nebraska border town, which serves as a beer depot for the reservation. The reservation forbids both alcohol consumption and possession. Hotz said he and a few other village business owners met privately with Oglala Tribal President Harold Salway after President Clinton's visit to the reservation a month ago. They offered to sell their businesses to the tribe. "If they want to control it, we gave them the chance to buy it - 10 to 15 businesses ready to go," Hotz said. "It'd be cheap, and they'd have their land back, too." Salway replied that the tribe didn't have enough money, said Hotz. Across the street at the Fireside Inn, a restaurant that sells no beer, owner Pat Bourne said that she isn't fearful but that waiting for the marches is stressful. "I'm going to try to be open (during the marches)," she said. "I don't know if they'll try to burn it down." Most of Bourne's customers are reservation Indians, and she was an honorary pallbearer at one of the beating victim's funeral. "I like it here a lot," she said. "I love the people. I've never been afraid, but it's very emotionally draining." Down the street at the H&M convenience store, which sells beer, owner Mildred Reeves, 78, said she'll close her shop during the marches if law enforcement officers deem it necessary. "I'll hang in there," she said. "I'll not quit. This week is going to answer a lot of questions." Hotz said he is growing weary of the six-week ordeal. "It gets a little intimidating." The intimidation isn't limited to the weekend marches. At the Jumping Eagle Inn, Stu Kozal was selling four cases of Budweiser to a customer for $68 and cashing his $357.50 tribal check Monday when three men dressed in makeshift military fatigues and wearing American Indian Movement T-shirts handed 20 pages of copied historic treaty documents and maps across the counter. Kozal, a 40-year-old Rushville resident who displays "No Fear" and barbed-wire tattoos on his right arm - and a Harry Husker tattoo on his left - has leased the business for 19 years. "We wanted to make sure you had a copy of that," said a tall, thin man wearing a beret, sunglasses and a red AIM T-shirt. "The pertinent information is basically on Page 3 in the marked paragraphs. This information is regarding the executive order of 1904 ceding the land to the Pine Ridge Reservation, et ceteras, et ceteras." Kozal replied: "Hmmm. Hmmm." "Just so you know all the legal background, OK?" said the tall man. "All right," Kozal replied. "Have a good day," said the tall man. "You, too," said Kozal. After the three men wheeled around and walked out, Kozal said it was the first time he had seen the men. "And, you know, 95 percent of the people on the reservation don't agree with what's going on with all this," he said. Most Whiteclay merchants say they believe the protests are being orchestrated by outside activists who don't represent the majority of the Pine Ridge people. Kozal said it's unfair for people to blame beer merchants for alcoholism on reservations. "Alcoholism is bad but it still comes down to the individual," he said. "They're the one who has to make their minds up." People in last weekend's march spray-painted two AIM symbols and the word "Nomads," the name of a Pine Ridge street gang, on the side of the Jumping Eagle Inn. "It's still stressful," Kozal said. "The thing I worry about is the violence. I'm afraid that somewhere along the line, when a few screwballs get involved, that someone will get hurt or killed. "It'll be an interesting week." http://www.omaha.com/OWH/StoryView/1,1344,198058,00.html Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
