The Indian Wars are not over, according to the American Indian Movement. The latest casualties are two Native men found murdered and mutilated, with their bodies dumped on the Pine Ridge Reserve in South Dakota.
The murders have provoked an outcry over police brutality toward Native people in the area. Rumours are flying on the internet that a police officer may have been involved.
Dead are Ron Hard Heart and Wally Black Elk of the Oglala Lakota Nation.
Tom Old Bear, an older brother to one victim and cousin to the other dead man, can’t understand it. “These men were quiet, humble, gentle men who didn’t have an enemy in the world,” he said. “We don’t know who did this.”
Old Bear said local cops should be considered as suspects because of their past history of excessive force when dealing with First Nations peoples.
In an interview with The Nation, Sheridan Sheriff Tim Robins said, “My office is not involved in this.” A deputy sheriff said the FBI is investigating. “It’s ongoing at this time.”
Old Bear said violence by border towns against Indians is nothing new. “It’s been researched and there is white supremacist activity in the area. That’s been documented.”
This is one of the reasons Old Bear called in AIM to set up a Rally for Justice for Saturday June 26. Scheduled speakers included Clyde Bellecourt, Dennis Banks, Russell Means and the families of the victims. Old Bear said they would be walking to nearby White Clay, Nebraska.
White Clay is a town that only exists for the purpose of selling alcohol to the Pine Ridge Reservation nearby. No one lives in this town that sees $15 to 20 million in alcohol sales each year. “This is a town whose sole purpose is to destroy the Oglala people through alcohol,” said John Old Horse, an Oglala Lakota and interim director of Denver’s AIM chapter. AIM-Denver is calling on all warriors and supporters for support.
To get more information contact Oglala Sioux Tribal President Harold Falway at (605) 867-5821, or email harolds@oglala.org.
