WHITECLAY, Neb. – Hundreds of people participated in a prayerful and peaceful march on the tiny town of Whiteclay, Neb., to continue the request to shut the town down and end the sales of alcohol.
Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Nebraskans for Peace joined in the small village on the anniversary of the discovery of the brutally beaten bodies of Wilson Black Elk Jr. and Ron Hard Heart in a ditch just north of Whiteclay on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
“We need to end the scourge of alcohol on our land. This is our land and this should be abolished. They are attacking and exploiting our people,” said Carter Camp of Rosebud and a member of the Oklahoma American Indian Movement.
“We need to drive the wasicus out and only our people will be in charge of this place. This is our land by treaty. Nothing took away this land from our people. The people of Nebraska better understand this is Indian land in Nebraska,” Camp said.
In an 1882 executive order President Chester Arthur added a 50-square-mile buffer zone on the south edge of the Pine Ridge Reservation that discouraged the sale of alcohol. The executive order was rescinded by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. Advocates claim the land is still under the jurisdiction of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Tom Poor Bear, organizer of Camp Justice located hundreds of feet north of Whiteclay, said he was now more interested in seeing that the FBI step up the investigation of the deaths of Black Elk and Hard Heart.
“The FBI still holds the Oglalas guilty for the deaths of two of their agents,” Poor Bear said. He made reference to the 1975 deaths of two FBI agents on the Jumping Bull ranch. Leonard Peltier was convicted in those deaths and continues to serve the life sentence.
“Camp Justice is a human rights camp and we will be there until justice is served because the white man will not stop murdering us. Since Camp Justice, not one person has been found dead at Whiteclay or in the area,” he said.
Poor Bear said he would ask Attorney General John Ashcroft to order a new team of investigators to look into the Whiteclay deaths.
“The FBI is not communicating with the families. The frustrations are building and our patience is almost gone.”
The Whiteclay marchers were joined by a large number of people who came in support of the dual causes of solving the mystery of the deaths and to stop sale of alcohol so close to a reservation that allows no alcohol within its borders.
“Nebraskans are beginning to understand we will not go away,” said Frank LaMere, co chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party and a member of the Winnebago Tribe.
“The Nebraska Patrol is here to maintain civility. There has been no civility for 50 years in Whiteclay. The abuse of our women and abuse of alcohol has taken place. The name of Whiteclay does not mean civility,” he said
Gov. Mike Johanns called for a summit on Whiteclay, but did not invite LaMere or Poor Bear. LaMere said he would invite himself.
“We have been criticized for trying to make things better. We do it for the young ones that are here. As a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, we stood with you on this side of the border. Hard Heart and Black Elk would have brought us together under different circumstances, never forget them,” LaMere said.
Tim Rinnes, organizer of the Nebraskans for Peace told the crowd that it took the state a long time to get there to find out that Whiteclay was not just an “Indian problem.”
He said there were many people in the state who had tough questions and “we need answers.”
Poor Bear told the gathering that when the people and businesses were removed from Whiteclay, the buildings should not be destroyed because the tribe would have a use for them.
“We have showed that our only weapon is our prayers. Nebraska has their guns. The people march and will continue to march. We have marched for 500 years and we must march on.
“Because of the murders, our freedom has been taken away. I hope the children will not have to be here 20 years from now. We carry the responsibility of our ancestors and the people of Nebraska have to honor their ancestors,” Poor Bear said.
He added that Camp Justice will apply pressure on President George W. Bush to rescind the executive order that overturned Arthur’s original executive order extending the jurisdiction of the reservation.
The June 9 march ended a week of prayers and meetings on the second anniversary of Hard Heart and Black Elk’s deaths. It ended with the unveiling of a plaque honoring of the two men.
