AMERICAN INDIAN ACTIVIST VERNON BELLECOURT TO VISIT DANA COLLEGE, MARCH 3

Talk will be first public appearance following
Whiteclay demonstrations in Lincoln

Dana College will host the first public appearance by Vernon Bellecourt, spokesperson for the American Indian Movement, following the March 1-2 demonstrations at the capital in Lincoln about alcohol distribution issues in Whiteclay, Neb. Bellecourt will speak at 2 p.m. on Monday, March 3, in the Dana Forum on Dana’s campus in Blair, Neb. Admission is free.

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 to the 1992 Redskin Superbowl demonstrations. He is co-founder and first executive director of the Denver AIM Chapter. His involvement at Wounded Knee in 1973 led to a federal indictment, and he was jailed for throwing his blood on the Guatemalan Embassy in protest. Bellecourt is president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports & Media and recipient of the City of Phoenix’s Martin Luther King Human Rights Award 1993.

Bellecourt’s talk at Dana will follow a planned 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 Whiteclay, Neb. Whiteclay is a short distance from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, home to more than 38,000 Lakota. 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 will be 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.

The Dana Forum is located in the Margre Henningsen Durham Classroom Center.

Dana College is a private, liberal arts institution that currently enrolls approximately 600 students. The campus is located on 150 acres overlooking the Missouri River Valley in Blair, Neb. Dana grants bachelor’s degrees in more than 20 liberal arts, business, education and pre-professional programs, with an emphasis on personalized teaching from experienced and dedicated faculty. Dana is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and its athletic teams compete in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

More information on Dana College can be found on its web site, www.dana.edu.

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For more information or photos, contact:

Sarah Cavanah
Communications Coordinator
Dana College
(402) 426-7216
scavanah@dana.edu