Whiteclay Beer Ban Long, Elusive Goal

 Whiteclay, Neb. - The heartaches and headaches are nothing  new.

 Problems linked to the sale of beer here to Indians from the neighboring Pine Ridge Reservation have lingered for decades.

But two and three years ago, there was hope, a hope from an unprecedented flurry of discussions - top state, federal and tribal leaders all focused on curbing the chronic alcoholism evident up and down main street.

Much of the talk then was about stopping the flow of beer through an outright ban on beer sales.

That proposal went nowhere then, however, and it faces the same legal, political and practical obstacles today -  notwithstanding three consecutive weeks of Indian protest rallies and discussions anew among state, federal and Oglala Sioux tribal leaders.

 There also was talk of tougher enforcement of liquor sale regulations and laws against public drunkenness. That has  occurred, but without the result - the shutdown of beer stores - that tribal leaders had sought.

 Whiteclay itself, the nearest alcohol outlet for residents of the dry reservation, is a desolate reminder of drinking's devastation.

The four packaged liquor stores still sell beer. People still drink along the street, sleep along the street and fight along the street.

"These people are dying," said Leon Matthews, pastor of a  nondenominational Indian church on the reservation. "They stay there all day and drink."

  While solid statistics are unavailable, tribal leaders say most  adults on the reservation have a significant alcohol abuse  problem. Some leaders estimate as many as eight or nine of every 10 residents have a problem.

Although alcohol is available in several South Dakota towns  within a 30-minute drive of the reservation's borders,  Whiteclay is the most accessible beer stop, especially for residents of Pine Ridge, the reservation's largest town.

Nebraska law appears to offer no way for a community or the  Liquor Control Commission to outlaw beer sales here or  anywhere else. Individual villages and cities can vote on  whether to allow hard liquor and wine to be sold, but beer sales appear to be exempted from the impact of such a vote.

It probably will take an attorney general's opinion to clarify the issue, said Terry Schaaf, a Lincoln attorney who specializes in liquor law.

Nebraska does have at least a couple of dry communities.  However, Tryon (and all of McPherson County) and Henderson in York County are dry by historical tradition - not a modern vote.

Whiteclay has the opposite tradition. Originally named  Dewing, the town was established on March 11, 1914, by Thomas and Caroline Dewing, who moved here to trade with the Indians to the north. After Prohibition, Whiteclay began to  develop its reputation as Nebraska's "Wildest Saturday Night Town," a title noted in 1966 in The World-Herald.

 In the early 1970s, sales of hard liquor and wine were banned,  and the bars were converted into package stores, selling only beer. But problems persisted. The community's notoriety  resurfaced in 1996 after a special report by this newspaper on problems on and around the reservation.

Gov. Ben Nelson formed a task force to explore solutions, a  group of 40 Indians and non-Indians representatives called Border Tiospaye, which means "extended family."

 The Liquor Control Commission held public hearings and  recommended in January 1998 that the Legislature prohibit liquor outlets within a certain distance of a dry reservation.

The law would have been modeled after the current ban on liquor businesses near churches, schools and nursing homes.
But no bill was even introduced in the Legislature.

 "It was talked about, but we didn't do anything. The issue was  pretty hot at that time, and we just thought it wasn't the time  to address it," said Sen. Jim Cudaback of Riverdale, a veteran senator on the General Affairs Committee, which deals with  liquor laws.

 "I don't think the body wants to address it, unless you could  show that it absolutely has to be done."

 Sen. Bob Wickersham of Harrison, whose district includes  Whiteclay, said an alcohol ban here would just spread the drinking problems over more of northwest Nebraska, into towns such as Rushville and Chadron.

"If people want alcohol, they will travel, walk, drive, do  whatever," he said.

Such an answer would not sell if the problem were in Omaha or Lincoln, said Frank LaMere, a Winnebago tribal member and an Indian spokesman in the Midlands. LaMere was among nine men arrested July 3 in a protest and participated in Saturday's rally as well.

 "We would not allow this to happen at a university bar in  Lincoln, nor would we allow it to happen in west Omaha,"   LaMere said. " But we have this perception that they are just  a bunch of drunken Indians and anything goes. That is wrong."

People in and around Whiteclay resent the suggestions that  they or Nebraskans in general are racists.

Vic Clarke, owner of VJ's Market, said he has annual sales in the millions of dollars and serves up to 2,000 customers a week at the store. All but a handful of his customers are American Indians, he said.

"Why do people shop in Whiteclay if it's such a bad place?"  he asked rhetorically. "It's because we provide good service, they're treated fairly and we provide charge accounts."

 The State Patrol and local Sheriff's Office did increase their activity in Whiteclay in 1998, resulting in two citations for  liquor law violations.

The Arrowhead Inn had a five-day suspension for allowing consumption on its off-sale-only business in April and a 10-day suspension for serving an intoxicated person in June.

Don Schwarting, owner of the Arrowhead Inn, said his business had not changed as a result. "We have always had to be careful and follow the law. Every bar owner in Nebraska  has to be careful."

Before 1998, the last citation against a Whiteclay beer outlet  was when the Jumping Eagle Inn had a 10-day suspension for extending multi-day credit in May of 1992.

Lt. Col Mike Behm of the Nebraska State Patrol said the liquor law violations are difficult to prove.

 Undercover work is tough in a community as small as Whiteclay, population 22, because it is hard to hide your  identity for long or find residents willing to share information  about their neighbors.
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                                World-Herald staff writer Leslie Reed contributed to this report.