AMERICAN INDIAN ACTIVIST VISITS

Dana hosted Vernon Bellecourt, spokesperson for the American Indian Movement, March 3 in The Forum.

Bellecourt has been a leader in American Indian Movement (AIM) actions ranging from the 1972 occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington to the 1992 Redskin Super Bowl demonstrations. He is co-founder and first executive director of the Denver AIM Chapter.

Bellecourt’s talk at Dana followed a protest, march and panel discussion in Lincoln March 1-2 in response to a perceived lack of enforcement of alcohol sales and distribution laws in White Clay, Neb. Whiteclay is a short distance from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, home to more than 38,000 Lakota Indians. Allegations of improper business practices in White Clay, as well as a high rate of violence including several murders, have been among the major issues in the American Indian community.

Bellecourt was introduced by Frank LaMere, also prominent in American Indian activism. LaMere visits Dana nearly every year to speak to students about issues facing American Indians in Nebraska. He received the Nebraskans for Peace Peace Maker of the Year award in 2001.

Both speakers urged students to become actively involved in all sorts of civic issues in their lives, something they said Dana students are well known for. Several of Dana’s students from Hawaii attended the protest and sessions in Lincoln, and former and current students have contributed to pushing for and changing current Nebraska laws.