TRIBAL WARFARE

Sioux reservation dogged by alcoholism sues liquor stores and Big Booze

By David Knowles Friday, February 10, 2012

Plagued by rampant alcoholism, a South Dakota Native American tribe is suing nearby liquor stores as well as beer manufacturers and distributors.

They claim the industry has conspired to illegally supply the reservation booze — which has been banned there for nearly two centuries.

South Dakota’s Oglala Sioux tribe filed suit yesterday in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska against more than a dozen defendants, including beer giants Anheuser-Busch and the Miller Brewing Co., seeking $400 million in damages.

The lawsuit alleges virtually all of the liquor consumed on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation was obtained at four off-site beer stores just across the state border in Whiteclay, Neb.

“Last year those four liquor stores sold 4.9 million 12-ounce servings of beer in Whiteclay, which has a population of 11 people,” Tom White, the lawyer representing the tribe, told The Daily.

FULL STORY: http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/02/10/021012-news-tribal-lawsuit-...