While the Sioux tribe in North Dakota is fighting the use of “Fighting Sioux,” the Suing Sioux of South Dakota are in federal court with a rather novel (and in my view thoroughly frivolous) lawsuit of their own. The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota is suing the largest beer makers for contributing to the corruption and abuse of members of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation by supplying alcohol through local stores. The tribe is demanding $500 million in damages for the cost of health care, social services and child rehabilitation.
The lawsuit in Nebraska references four beer stores in Whiteclay, a Nebraska town near the reservation’s border. The town only has about a dozen residents but reportedly sold nearly 5 million cans of beer in 2010. Either the residents have the world’s biggest beer guts or they are making huge profits by selling alcohol to the local indians. The town lies less than 250 feet from the reservation border.
However, beer sales are perfectly legal and these indian customers are adults who have a right to purchase alcoholic beverages — and the citizens of Whiteclay have a right to sell the beer so long as they have the required permits. Notably, as this picture represents, taverns have existed in Whiteclay (or Pine Ridge) for many decades. (This is from the 1940s)
Tom White, the tribe’s Omaha-based attorney, “[y]ou cannot sell 4.9 million 12-ounce cans of beer and wash your hands like Pontius Pilate, and say we’ve got nothing to do with it being smuggled.” Actually, you can. It is called retail sales. The question is not whether the lawsuit will succeed but whether it could generate sanctions. The legislature has thus far declined to impose limitations on beer sales around the reservation. Absent such measures (which could be challenged in court), there is a conspicuous absence of legal authority to support such a claim. The tribe is offering policy arguments that are quite compelling but they are inviting a court to function as a super legislature in the imposition of such liability.
It is certainly true that state law prohibits drinking outside the stores and the nearest town that allows alcohol is over 20 miles south (alcohol sales are banned on the reservation). However, the tribe would be best served by taking up the matter with tribe members rather than suggesting that stores should not be able to sell beer to indians.
None of this questions the good-faith goals of the tribe, only its means. One in four children on the reservation reportedly suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and the average life expectancy is estimated between 45 and 52 years.
The state is considering a ban or limitation on beer sales in Whiteclay — though I would question the constitutionality of such a law in designating certain areas to be “alcohol impact zones.”
The complaint is long on narrative and short on legal authority or claims. This is the sole claim:
PERSONS ACTING IN CONCERT
43. Plaintiff restates each and every previous allegation in support of this Cause of Action as if fully set forth herein.
44. As part of a common enterprise, the Defendants and each of them, have knowingly acted in concert to manufacture, distribute and sell beer through the Whiteclay retail outlets in amounts that cannot be legally sold, consumed or possessed under the laws of the State of Nebraska and the OST.
45. The Defendants and each of them, know or should know that the Retail Defendants’ conduct in the sale of the vast amount beer which is smuggled into and resold in the Reservation is in breach of their duties under the law of the State of Nebraska and the OST.
46. The Defendants and each of them give substantial assistance and encouragement to the Retail Defendants by supplying and transporting volumes of beer far in excess of an amount that could be sold in compliance with the laws of the State of Nebraska and the OST. The Defendants and each of them, also give further substantial assistance and encouragement to the Retail Defendants through advertisements, marketing materials, and other business accommodations to promote the consumption of beer in the PRIR.
47. The Defendants and each of them have the duty to make reasonable efforts to ensure their products are distributed and sold in obedience to the laws of the State of Nebraska and the OST. The Defendants and each of them have breached that duty by cooperating and engaging in a common enterprise which is focused on assisting and participating in the illegal sale of alcohol.
48. The Defendants and each of them have thereby caused the OST to suffer massive
damages in an amount yet to be determined.
The claim of working in concert reflects the common purpose of selling a legal product.
Here is the complaint: Sioux Suit
Among the defendants are Jason J. Schwarting who runs the Arrowhead Inn in Whiteclay; Stuart J. Kozal who runs the Jumping Eagle Inn and Clay M. Brehmer and Daniel J. Brehmer who run the State Line Liquor in Whiteclay.
Here are the corporate defendants:
Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide, Inc.
SAB Miller d/b/a Miller Brewing Company
Molson Coors Brewing Company
Miller Coors, LLC
Pabst Brewing Company
Pivo, Inc. d/b/a High Plains Budweiser
Dietrich Distributing Co., Inc.
Arrowhead Distributing, Inc.
Coors Distributing of West Nebraska d/b/a Coors of West Nebraska
Jason Schwarting d/b/a Arrowhead Inn, Inc.
Sanford Holdings, LLC d/b/a D&S Pioneer Service
Stuart Kozal d/b/a/ Jumping Eagle Inn
Clay Brehmer and Daniel Brehmer d/b/a State Line Liquor
Source: SF Gate
Oro Lee,
Thanks for the link. The book is not available for my Nook (though it is for those who own a Kindle) so I pre-ordered the paperback which is due out in August.
“Walter Echo-Hawk is a Native American attorney, tribal judge, author, activist, and law professor. He represents Indian tribes on important legal issues, such as treaty rights, water rights, religious freedom, prisoner rights, and repatriation rights. His career spans the pivotal years when Indian tribes reclaimed their land, sovereignty, and pride in a stride toward freedom.
“As a Native American rights attorney since 1973, Walter worked at the epicenter of a great social movement alongside visionary tribal leaders, visited tribes in indigenous habitats throughout North America, and was instrumental in the passage of landmark laws—such as, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990) and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments (1994). He litigated in many of the epic struggles and has written extensively about the rise of modern Indian nations as a Native American author with first-hand experience, most recently in his new groundbreaking book, In the Courts of the Conqueror: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided (2010) .
http://www.walterechohawk.com/?page=books
“In the Courts of the Conqueror should be required reading for all Americans who care about the inherent human rights of religious and political freedom.”
–Phil Cousineau, author of The Art of Pilgrimage
id707,
What did I tell you … that is gbk … always, always worth the read!
gbk,
Thanks for reminding us how nice we were to the Natve Americans. So sad.
Bron,
“alcoholism was rampant in Soviet Russia as well. I wonder if that might be the problem? Dont the reservations provide for everything for the inhabitants.”
It’s great that you so easily share the fruits of your wisdom, Bron. I think you’re onto something with your observation of Soviet Russia and the Oglala Sioux having problems with alcoholism.
“They should depend on themselves and not the great father in the east to provide them the necessaries of life.”
Right you are again, Bron! If the reservation just practiced your “free market” ideology I’m sure there would be no problems.
Here are some facts for you to ponder:
In 1868 the Fort Laramie Treaty established approximately 93,000 square miles of contiguous land, “set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named…” This area encompassed about 2/3 of Nebraska, all of North and South Dakota west of the Missouri River, and large areas of both Montana and Wyoming. The reservation today consists of approximately 11,300 square miles of fractured holdings.
A rough map of the Greater Sioux Reservation established by the Fort Laramie Treaty is here:
http://www.republicoflakotah.com/2008/the-treaty-area/
After the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, Congress in 1876 broke up the reservation, appropriated roughly 12,000 square miles and sold the land to “settlers” and mining concerns. There was no compensation for the affected tribes.
The Dawes Act of 1887 allotted 160 acres to every adult Indian from remaining reservation lands and sold the rest to ranchers and farmers, again with no compensation for the Indians. This highly fractured the land holdings, and the land allotted was usually very poor in resources and agricultural capacity (unlike the Black Hills area).
In all, according to the Republic of Lokotah web site, there were fifty-two instances of court proceedings that over the course of eighty-some years reduced the reservation created by the Fort Laramie Treaty from 93,000 square miles of contiguous land rich in natural resources to 11,300 square miles of fractured holdings.
More to the point of this thread, in 1882 the White Clay Extension (50 square miles) was created by executive order by President Chester A. Arthur in part as a buffer to control the illegal sale of alcohol to the reservation from white “settlers.” This extension was (all but one square mile) made available for sale in 1904 by an executive order issued by President Theodore Roosevelt. This is the land that the town of Whiteclay sits on.
It would seem to me that — given the White Clay Extension was created in part to help curb alcohol sales to the reservation in 1882 and that in 2012 the town of White Clay sells upwards of 13,000 cans of beer a day to the reservation — there is a very serious problem here that transcends the normal definition of “retail sales,” as our host puts it.
According to the Republic of Lakotah website 40% of the houses on the Pine Ridge Reservation do not have electricity, 33% have no running water. I don’t know, Bron, if you have ever experienced a winter in either of the Dakotas, but the thought of facing a winter there with no electricity or running water would scare the hell out of me.
Your attempt to tie “socialism” to alcoholism based on your observation of Soviet Russia and the Pine Ridge Reservation because, “[d]ont the reservations provide for everything for the inhabitants,” is a such a twisted thought process that it belies its own simplemindedness and greatly insults the people to which you refer.
Additionally, your sentence of, “[t]hey should depend on themselves and not the great father in the east to provide them the necessaries of life,” exposes a callousness to and an ignorance of the history and current plight of the people you refer to as “they.”
The Sioux and Cheyenne have very few reasons to depend on or trust “the great father in the east” as I’ve briefly shown above. To put it in your parlance, they have had the means of production stripped from them in addition to their cultural references over the last two centuries. The world is not a simple place, Bron, and your continual harping on “free markets” shows that you have much to learn and have little empathy for others not as fortunate as yourself.
I don’t think the suit is frivolous. If you think that alcoholism does not severely impact the Sioux, spend a day volunteering at American Indian Services in Minneapolis.
id707,
Here you go … “In Atlanta, Georgia, a store that sold glass, china, and slaves. (Library of Congress)”
http://blogs.voanews.com/tedlandphairsamerica/files/2011/05/03-1864-in-captured-atl-store-that-sold-glass-china-and-slaves-blow-up.jpg
id707,
Then you learned who ‘coined’ the phrase … nifty spin from a newspaper guy. (I can’t remember his name)
raff,
Long battles are their forte … I wish them well.
“Considering that the matter overlaps a treaty between sovereigns, how culpable is the US government itself in not working to discourage these ‘actions in concert’to violate the law? The case doesn’t look so frivolous to me.” (lotta)
There you go … see … if one uses the gas springs to raise one’s chair a bit, then one can look at the situation and the law from a slightly different perspective and voila …
Blouise: I wikied Manifest Destiny, will absorb that for now.
Dredd,: Your epístomology(?) blog covered a lot of sick places. fine work.
id707,
Ayn Rand … spit, stomp, throw-up … 👿
The Native Americans have an uphill battle as Prof. Turley has suggested. Maybe this is just their first salvo in what they expect will be a long struggle to regain their tribes health and well being.
The FBI says purchasing your morning coffee with cash is a suspected terrorist act (last sentence), so would buying beer with cash be a suspected terrorist act too (whether Indian or not)?
Blouise: “Manifest Destiny is my code phrase for greed and legalized murder …”
—
I think you and history are in agreement 🙂
Does the U.S. and Mexico not work to stamp out drug production in Mexico so the product won’t be sold on American streets? If the First Nations people are sovereign (as President Bush said they were) do they not have a valid gripe that a neighboring country has set up distribution points for drugs (illegal in the Sioux nation) on their very doorstep with that country knowing that the drugs they sold were being smuggled? Is that not acting in concert to break the law?
Why can’t legal retail practices also be ‘acting in concert’ if those practices facilitate lawbreaking? Where’s the cooperation between sovereigns?
Considering that the matter overlaps a treaty between sovereigns, how culpable is the US government itself in not working to discourage these ‘actions in concert’ to violate the law? The case doesn’t look so frivolous to me.
“Manifest Destiny may be the foundation, but greed is the driving force.” (id707)
Manifest Destiny is my code phrase for greed and legalized murder … 😉
id707,
I’ve read so many different studies on the Financial aspect of the Slave business … as you can see from the link provided, actually drawing together the figures is difficult but possible.
I’ve read that in the early to mid 1600’s the practice of ‘indentured servants’ was largely abandoned for the ‘lifetime’ benefits of slave holding. After 1808 importing slaves became illegal and the Made-in-America Slave Industry really took off. After 1808 till mid 1850’s, in New Orleans alone, over 134,000 slaves were bought and sold. In the South, Slave Shops existed in many towns right next door to the General Store or Post Office.
It is a complete myth that Slavery was a dieing investment by the time of the Civil War. In fact the Slave Industry Financial Profits in 1860 were greater than all the Banks, Railroads, etc combined (North and South). It was huge.
All protected by law … State and Federal.
”Wasi’chu does not describe a race; it describes a state of mind.” … then and now.
Hey, just ask the Banks and Wall Street how they managed to get all those laws in place to protect them from any blowback during this latest crisis. Manifest Destiny, baby, Manifest Destiny.
I’m just ignorant and stand amazed. No compliment, just truth.
Where can I read their propaganda on Manifest Destiny? Ayn Rand concept? Or…..? Am proud to at least have read that in the early sixties, I think, in LA between girls. One said I didn’t have the soul that AA’s had. She was right, but few of us honkies had. Only hurt a little.
In the South, we didn’t have much else to do except hothouse food and slaves. I mean it’s the usual thing as with all over:
grow what you can, refine it and sell it. Don’t try to compete against the other guys tomatos with your corn.
In north Italy it’s grass, beef and butter. They grow pigs and olive oil in the south. In Firenze, it’s Biftecca fiorentina, from a local race. etc. Ahhhh!
T-bone divine. The owner and host had played goalkeeper for a Swedish team once. Showed us special attention. That was Kerstin’s home district.
Manifest Destiny may be the foundation, but greed is the driving force.
Trite but true.
Selling to children is forbidden, weren’t there similar one for Indians.
Retail rights don’t trump protection of those not capable of protecting themselves. Bulk sales of alcohol is forbidden here for just that reason,,,,,risk of re-sale.
At any rate greed will find a way; via legislators pockets, and use of the tobacco industries’ pioneering marketing..
id707,
I was there to study the songs and the drum which meant I was also allowed to study the “dance”. Such a wide range, variety, if you will, and significance with respect and reverence … much preparation.
Lakol Wicohan
Blouise,
I wish the people would start a course: “Humanity for dummies, ie whites”
Might get some results. Going to India was/is too high a threshold. Of course many would flunk out here too.