Students from Winner High School turned their backs on the team from Little Wound High School during a March 3, 2016, game on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Photo courtesy Santee Baird

OST demands action against Winner High School
By Brandon Ecoffey
Lakota Country Times Editor
www.lakotacountrytimes.com

PINE RIDGE-- The Oglala Sioux Tribe is demanding action against an off-reservation high school for the actions of its students during a regional high school girls championship game.

Each and every night student athletes engage in competition with rivals in arenas all across the country. Over the course of the last few decades the choreographed acts of high school and college cheer sections have become more and more intricate. One of these acts performed by the Winner High School student body prior to a crucial high school girls basketball game against Little Wound at Pine Ridge High School has become the object of scrutiny.

On March 3, roughly a thousand people crammed themselves into the Pine Ridge High School gymnasium to watch Winner and Little Wound collide in a game that would award a trip to the South Dakota Class A State Tournament.

During the introduction of the starting lineups, Winner's student section -- dressed uniformly in camouflage hunting gear -- turned their backs to the Little Wound players. A photo of the Winner students with their backs turned to the court was was captured by tribal citizen Santee Baird and posted to Facebook with a statement calling the act "disrespectful."

In a letter addressed to Mr Wayne Carney, executive director of the South Dakota High School Athletic Association, the Oglala Sioux Tribe is demanding that some sort of reprimand be issued against Winner School for the actions of its students.

"Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe's Tribal Council, and Tribal members throughout our Reservation await confirmation from you that some official action will be taken by the South Dakota High School Athletic Association and officials of Winner High School to address the egregious actions by members of the Winner student body," wrote Oglala Sioux Tribal President John Steele.

"The collective act was not only unsportsmanlike, but was hurtful and disrespectful to our girls," he added.

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Although the tribe has taken the initiative to pursue the reprimand, Little Wound head coach Lyle LeBeau said that to crowd's action were part of the game.

"The crowd is part of the game and they try to get in the players' heads," he said. LeBeau would go on to emphasize that the call for action against Winner did not originate from his staff.

Winner would go on to win the game in overtime.

(Contact Brandon Ecoffey at editor@lakotacountrytimes.com)

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