The decision was a dream come true for Sen. Tom Brewer, the first Native state senator in Nebraska history whose district encompasses Whiteclay. After the vote, the Oglala Lakota U.S. Army war veteran-turned-politician gave a jubilant fist pump and broke into a wide smile.
“To hear those words come out of their mouth, you just felt this relief,” he said. “It’s almost like you’ve been sick for a long time and now the fever’s broken and you can see some hope for the future.”
For Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, the decision will have a ripple effect. And, she said, it won’t be contained to Native people, or Nebraska, or the United States. It’s international in scope.
“It means that my life matters,” said gaiashkibos, a member of the Ponca tribe. “It means that we don’t have to be invisible. It means that we are being afforded due process. It means that our voice is heard.”
And it was a day Bryan Brewer, former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, thought would never happen. Before he left Pine Ridge on Monday for the hearing, he heard rumors that the beer stores had already won.
Now that the rumors have ceased and the truth prevails, he said, it’s a happy day. But it’s also not the end.
“We have to start the healing process,” Brewer said said. “We don’t have the resources to help our people. Our children go to school every day. Many of them are abused mentally, physically, sexually abused. And they get to school and we have no resources to really help them.”
Omaha attorney Dave Domina, who brought the case against the beer store owners, was emotional after the vote.
“I don’t think you can be a human being and not be moved by it,” he said breaking into tears.
Meanwhile, Scottsbluff attorney Andrew Snyder, who represented the beer store owners, said he and his clients will appeal the case as soon as they receive a written decision from the LCC.
“We believe the decision is wrong and contrary to law,” he said.
Snyder said it’s clear there were forces in play beyond the LCC that were aligned against them. His clients, he said, felt railroaded.
“It’s pretty clear it’s not a random occurrence,” Snyder said. “This was coordinated above their heads on a political level. By political, I mean the governor’s office.”
The case must be appealed within 30 days to the Lancaster District Court. After hearing the case, the court could either reverse, modify, overrule or sustain the LCC’s decision. The court could also send the case back to the commission for further hearings.
The district court could also hold the decision and restore the beer stores’ licenses throughout the appeals process, which Snyder said they will request. The appellate process could take weeks, months or even years depending on how far the case is appealed.
But as of Wednesday morning, the four beer stores—which sold 3.6 million cans of beer last year largely to the Oglala Lakota’s nearby dry reservation—will be out of business in 11 days.
The hearing on whether to renew the four beer stores’ licenses—those of Arrowhead Inn, Jumping Eagle Inn, Stateline Liquor and D & S Pioneer Service—was the result of an Oct. 11 hearing when a county commissioner who oversees Whiteclay said there is not enough law enforcement to address the crime-laden unincorporated village.
On April 6, the LCC heard from complainants and the beer store owners in a hearing room inside the capitol to decide whether Whiteclay had enough law enforcement presence. During the 12-hour hearing, testimony from Whiteclay residents and Pine Ridge officials affirmed that. It also spilled over into issues like bootlegging, human trafficking and public health hazards.
Although the beer stores and their attorney argued that the LCC had no legal right to question the license renewals, the commission felt it was not only a right—but a duty.
“I believe these activities of Whiteclay have gone on way too long and my vote is to not renew the licenses,” said Commissioner Bruce Bailey.
He cited the Nebraska Liquor Control Act at length, pointing to seven specific provisions of the statute as reasons for making the decision.
He also noted that several witnesses had provided critical testimonies—witnesses who work for the Christian-based Lakota Hope Ministry in Whiteclay.
“I’ll be out of a job, which is gonna be good,” said Abram Neumann, a 22-year-old missionary who’s tended to Whiteclay’s street people for the last two years.
Bruce BonFleur, who founded the ministry 13 years ago, said this could be a transformative decision for Whiteclay.
“We look at this decision as an initial and vital early step in what will be a transformed Whiteclay, one that promotes life, healing and hope.”
The Wounds of Whiteclay: Part 2 – The Tap Runs Dry
