Column: Pine Ridge Reservation is drowning in Whiteclay alcohol

Thursday, May 31, 2012  

"Just six hours from Denver is the town of Whiteclay, Neb. Its population: about 12. Yet in 2010, this tiny town sold 465,000 gallons of beer, enough for nearly 5 million 12-ounce servings.

There's no place in Whiteclay to legally consume beer, and state law prohibits its resale. So where is all that beer going?

Just 250 feet from Whiteclay's border is the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of the Lakota people of the Oglala Sioux Tribe — population about 40,000.

It's illegal to drink, possess, sell or transport alcohol onto the reservation. Yet Pine Ridge is drowning in beer: Alcohol abuse impacts 85 percent of families and accounted for 90 percent of arrests in 2008. "

Get the Story:
Lisa Wirthman: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is drowning in beer (The Denver Post 5/27)

Also Today:
Q&A: Oglala Sioux tribal members are proud of Pine Ridge Reservation (The Denver Post 5/27)

Related Stories:
Opinion: Liquor companies profiting from addiction in Whiteclay (5/21)
Frank LaMere: Lakota blood on the hands of liquor companies (5/17)
Tim Giago: 'Beer sniffing' reporters descend upon Pine Ridge (05/14)
Letter: Anheuser-Busch responds to controversy at Whiteclay (05/09)
Liquor companies reply to Oglala Sioux Tribe's Whiteclay suit (5/1)
BBC News: Oglala Sioux Tribe goes to bat with liquor industry (4/27)
Alcohol industry spends big despite Whiteclay problems (4/12)
Kevin Abourezk: Oglala Sioux Tribe amends Whiteclay lawsuit (4/4)
SDPR: Oglala Sioux Tribe sues over liquor sales in Whiteclay (4/2)
Five from Pine Ridge Reservation face bootlegging charges (03/16)
Liquor from Whiteclay invades every aspect of reservation life (3/6)
Letter: Oglala Sioux Tribe should consider a 'wet' reservation (3/5)
Stephanie Woodard: Whiteclay Liquor -- Gold mines in hell (2/22)
Letter: Alcohol sales at Whiteclay nothing short of 'genocide' (2/16)
Lawmakers consider alcohol zone bill amid Whiteclay lawsuit (2/14)
Kevin Abourezk: Legal doubts in Oglala Sioux Whiteclay suit (2/13)
Kevin Abourezk: Oglala Sioux Tribe in $500M Whiteclay case (2/10)
Oglala Sioux Tribe files lawsuit targeting liquor in Whiteclay (2/9)