Drunk as an Indian.....and suing

[farmerc83]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02 ... latestnews


LINCOLN, Neb. – An American Indian tribe sued some of the world's largest beer makers Thursday, claiming they knowingly contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota said it is demanding $500 million in damages for the cost of health care, social services and child rehabilitation caused by chronic alcoholism on the reservation, which encompasses some of the nation's most impoverished counties.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court of Nebraska also targets four beer stores in Whiteclay, a Nebraska town near the reservation's border that, despite having only about a dozen residents, sold nearly 5 million cans of beer in 2010.

Tribal leaders and activists blame the Whiteclay businesses for chronic alcohol abuse and bootlegging on the Pine Ridge reservation, where all alcohol is banned. They say most of the stores' customers come from the reservation, which spans southwest South Dakota and dips into Nebraska.

"You 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," said Tom White, the tribe's Omaha-based attorney.

Owners of the four beer stores in Whiteclay were unavailable or declined comment Thursday when contacted by The Associated Press. A spokeswoman for Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide said she was not yet aware of the lawsuit, and the other four companies being sued -- SAB Miller, Molson Coors Brewing Company, MIllerCoors LLC and Pabst Brewing Company -- did not immediately return messages.

The lawsuit alleges that the beer makers and stores sold to Pine Ridge residents knowing they would smuggle the alcohol into the reservation to drink or resell. The beer makers supplied the stores with "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 tribe, tribal officials allege in the lawsuit.

The vast majority of Whiteclay's beer store customers have no legal place to consume alcohol since it's banned on Pine Ridge, which is just north, state law prohibits drinking outside the stores and the nearest town that allows alcohol is more than 20 miles south, explained Mark Vasina, president of the group Nebraskans for Peace.

The Connecticut-sized reservation has struggled with alcoholism and poverty for generations, despite an alcohol ban in place since 1832. Pine Ridge legalized alcohol in 1970 but restored the ban two months later, and an attempt to allow it in 2004 died after a public outcry.

The reservation encompasses some of the nation's most impoverished counties. U.S. census statistics place Shannon County, S.D., as the third-poorest, with a median household income of $27,300 and nearly half of the population falling below federal poverty standards.

The tribe views the lawsuit as a last resort after numerous failed attempts to curb the abuse through protests and public pressure on lawmakers, White said. He said the tribal council voted unanimously about four months ago to hire his law firm.

The lawsuit says one in four children born on the reservation suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The average life expectancy is estimated between 45 and 52 years, the shortest in North America except for Haiti, according to the lawsuit. The average American life expectancy is 77.5 years.

"The illegal sale and trade in alcohol in Whiteclay is open, notorious and well documented by news reports, legislative hearings, movies, public protests and law enforcement activities," the lawsuit states. " All of the above have resulted in the publication of the facts of the illegal trade in alcohol and its devastating effects on the Lakota people, especially its children, both born and unborn."

Nebraska lawmakers have struggled for years to curb the problem, and are considering legislation this year that would allow the state to limit the types of alcohol sold in areas like Whiteclay. The measure would require local authorities to ask the state to designate the area an "alcohol impact zone."

The state liquor commission could then limit the hours alcohol sellers are open, ban the sale of certain products or impose other restrictions.

Nebraska state Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth, whose district includes Whiteclay, said he introduced the measure with support from county officials who have seen their health care and jail incarceration costs rise.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02 ... z1lwQq8Cqj

[BUCKWHEAT]

Pine Ridge Indian reservation is a pretty wild place. I've been turkey hunting there several times. While the turkey hunting is great, it is the most 3rd world feeling place that I have ever been and I have done some pretty extensive traveling out of the country. I felt more uncomfortable filling up with gas in the middle of the day than I have filling up in orange mound at 1 in the morning. Everyon stares you down like you slapped there momma. It is also the site of what I believe was the largest indian massacre in history. So, I guess they have a reason to be pissed. One interesting thing is that at the end of every 3-way intersection is a pile of wrecked cars from people running through the intersection drunk. They just leave them sitting. Also, the military once used the area for bombing test runs. It's not uncommon to find dummy bombs and pieces of exploded ordinance in the middle of nowhere.

That being said, the badlands are really beautiful and there are turkey everywhere. The fellow who guided me is named Jesse Trueblood (you have to have a guide to hunt on the reservation) and he is also the game warden. He is a top notch guy and actually guides elk hunts in Wyoming as well.

[Wingman]

Is that reservation directly north of Valentine, Nebraska? If so, we went through it this summer and it was one of the most run down places we saw on our 5,000 mile trip. The other was a reservation in WY. Both reminded me of certain areas of the Delta.

[winterville]

For what is worth, I have been had to do some work in nesoba, co., ms., and I am sure there are a lot of good folks that live there, but I had to deal with the redskins for the most part. They had more cans of beer on bottles of spirts thrown out in their yards than I have ever seen. I even had one fellow explain how distill shoe polish. I hope to never go there again.

[JDgator]

Let me get this straight - the Oglala Sioux tribe of Native Americans want local store clerks to discriminate on the basis of race and refuse to sell alcohol to people who appear to be Indian? That's the sum of their game plan for dealing with chronic alcoholism?


Thanks GHGR, I needed a laugh.

Edit: I understand alcoholism is serious and feel bad for those affected by its harsh realities. I just thought their reaction was laughable.

[davidees]

Let me get this straight - the Oglala Sioux tribe of Native Americans want local store clerks to discriminate on the basis of race and refuse to sell alcohol to people who appear to be Indian? That's the sum of their game plan for dealing with chronic alcoholism?


Thanks GHGR, I needed a laugh.

Edit: I understand alcoholism is serious and feel bad for those affected by its harsh realities. I just thought their reaction was laughable.

+1

[cwink]

I wouldn't be surprised if they win this arguement, I'm no attorny but isn't this similar to the tobacco settelment from the 90s??

[Bourbon]

I wouldn't either, but I think this is a key piece of the puzzle.

"The beer makers supplied the stores with "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 tribe, tribal officials allege in the lawsuit."

If this is true, then I can see them winning.

[deltadukman]

Plus they are indians so someone will take pitty on them.

If there is such a "limit" as to how much alochol a distributor can sell in a certain area based upon population, then I guess they can be heli liable....but I'd be suprised if there were such limit. I wonder if they are just going off of assumptions.

[Jelly]

Headed up that way to shoot Turkeys in May, wasn't worried til now

[huntersmky]

sad part is, they will win.

Indians and their soverign immunity is nothing to play with. Hopefully the hearings will take place in a Federal court and not on the indian tribal lands.

[SNOT]

American Indians are a good example of what happens to people when government "takes care" of them. They don't actually own crap - so they don't give a damn about it.

[duramax]

As bad as this place is, I can guarantee it isn't as bad as the reservation I went to in northern Manitoba Canada when I guided at a fly in fishing lodge when I was 17. It was called Poplar Rivers Reserve. No roads in or out until everthing freezes in the winter. This was the Reserve they would send indians too after they would get out of jail to keep them away from society. The only thing indians did up there was get high, drink (lysol if they couldn't get beer), or screw. We flew in there to get barrels of gas for the lodge since it was the closest place for the plane to fly in to. Those 2 hours when I sat there with the other guide waiting for the pilot to come back to pick us up were some of the longest two hours of my life. Every female looked at you like they wanted to screw you (not a good thing), and every male (kid or adult) looked like they were going to stab you. They told me to be careful not to let them intimidate you, or they would jump you. It was like dealing with wild animals where if you show fear when they stared or lunging at you, they most likely would jump you. I imagine it was like prison where a young good looking white boy stands out like a sore thumb. White people in general generated a lot of attention every time they were there. Thankfully the other guide I was with was this bush country Canadian dude who looked and was built like Paul Bunyan, so that helped.

[farmerc83]

If there is such a "limit" as to how much alochol a distributor can sell in a certain area based upon population, then I guess they can be heli liable....but I'd be suprised if there were such limit. I wonder if they are just going off of assumptions.

Exactly. If the store had the proper licenses/permits and the buyers were of legal age with valid IDs, what is the problem? Supply and demand, doesn't get any more simple. The most obvious crime committed is by the purchasers or "smugglers" that were reselling the beer on the reservation....blind eye has been turned to the multiple ABC/IRS crimes tho because they are probably injuns, too.

[Wingman]

American Indians are a good example of what happens to people when government "takes care" of them. They don't actually own crap - so they don't give a damn about it.

Yeah, but at one time they owned it all. If somebody took my stuff and stuck me on the back 40, then took that too when they found out it was worth something, I probably wouldn't have much pride in "my" little reservation either. Everything we own in Mississippi was owned by a Choctaw or Chickasaw a couple hundred years ago.

It is a sad cycle but where does it end? Just like riding through Belzoni. You may not be rich or have any land, but that doesn't mean you can't pick up the junk in your yard.