Journalist explores history of reservation’s border towns
By KERRI REMPP, Record staff writer Thursday, September 04, 2008
The border between Nebraska and the Pine Ridge Reservation, marked with only a sign, has been a battleground in more ways than one since the area was first settled and the reservation established. Tensions have been known to run high in the border towns, and no place demonstrates that more than Whiteclay, with its history of selling 4 million cans of beer a year to the reservation.
Now, journalist Stew Magnuson, a native Nebraskan, has taken a look at the relationship between the Pine Ridge Reservation and Nebraska’s border towns, particularly those in Sheridan County. In his just released book, “The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder: And Other True Stories from the Nebraska-Pine Ridge Border Towns,” Magnuson attempts to characterize the centuries-old debate over ownership of the land, racism, alcoholism and misunderstandings.
Originally from Omaha, Magnuson had been home from his stint as a correspondent in Asia for only two weeks in 1999 when tensions at Whiteclay exploded after two Native Americans, Wally Black Elk and Ronnie Hard Heart were killed. A march for justice on their behalf had turned into a riot, ending in a fire at the grocery store and a stolen fire truck. With another march in the works, Magnuson convinced the Christian Science Monitor to let him cover the story.
“I covered ethnic and religious conflict overseas. When I came back to America in 1999, I didn’t know what I would be writing about,” Magnuson said. “But I picked up the Omaha World Herald and found that there was a real cultural schism right here in my home state. I didn’t know anything about Pine Ridge or Sheridan County at the time.”
After watching 2,000 Oglala Sioux, led by Russell Means and AIM members Clyde Bellecourt and Dennis Banks, surge through police lines in an act of civil disobedience, Magnuson realized there was a bigger story to be told and set out to do that in 2003.
“Another issue that interested me was the devastating effect of alcohol on lives. It’s a problem on both sides of the border. Almost every tragic story in this book begins with someone drinking n whether they are Native American or white,” Magnuson said.
As he began his research, Magnuson discovered details of Raymond Yellow Thunder’s death in the 1970s, which expanded the storyline further.
“That made me think there was a larger story to be told beyond Whiteclay. That turned out to be the central story in the book.”
In 1972, Yellow Thunder was beaten by four whites, stripped from the waist down, shoved into a car trunk and then tossed half-naked into the Gordon American Legion hall during a dance. Eight days later he was found dead in the back of a truck. Leaders of AIM, including Means and Banks, came to Pine Ridge for the first time and protested Yellow Thunder’s death in Gordon, occupying the town’s city auditorium. The incident gave AIM a foothold on the reservation and set frustrations ablaze, resulting in what Magnuson calls “a dirty war between the militant organization, the FBI, federal marshals and the corrupt tribal government.”
The trial for Yellow Thunder’s death took place in Alliance, and Magnuson is the only journalist to have interviewed Les Hare, the ringleader of the crime.
Over the years, Yellow Thunder’s story grew and became exaggerated.
“The (rumor) that survives today is that Yellow Thunder was stripped naked and forced to dance “Indian Style” to the delight of the crowd after he was pushed into the American Legion Hall. That never happened. However, he was abducted, stripped from the waist down and pushed into the hall, and thrown in the back of a trunk when it was 22 degrees,” Magnuson explained. “I’ve always said that there is no need to exaggerate what happened that night. Because what really happened was horrific enough.”
In addition to the stories of Whiteclay and Yellow Thunder, Magnuson’s book also follows the story of Bob Yellow Bird Steele, the Nebraska AIM coordinator who was a Chadron resident and CSC student. Magnuson believes his book is the fullest account yet of Yellow Bird’s life.
“Yellow Bird was a complex individual who organized nonviolent demonstrations against perceived racism and prejudice in Nebraska,” Magnuson said. “Unfortunately, he was a drinker, and a frequent customer in bars in Chadron, Gordon and other border towns. That’s where things would turn violent. His actions there gave law enforcement the ammunition they needed to go after him for other offenses. These sensational crimes derailed his efforts to tackle prejudice in Sheridan County.”
Magnuson’s research into the 130-year history between the reservation and its border towns included time spent digging through the Nebraska Historical Society archives, attending Unicameral hearings on and protests over the state’s border town law enforcement and access to the Nebraska State Patrol documents and videos of the 1999 Whiteclay troubles. He also lived in Gordon for four months and made several follow-up visits to the area while conducting over 70 interviews for the book.
It wasn’t always easy.
“There were folks on both sides of the border who were reluctant to talk, or refused, to consent for an interview,” Magnuson said. “Any time a white male shows up on Pine Ridge and announces that he’s writing a book about PR, he will be treated with some suspicion. In the end, only two people I wanted to interview there turned me down. There were a lot more in Sheridan County who declined.”
Magnuson’s book, published by Texas Tech University Press as part of its Great Plains Histories series, was scheduled for release this month, but the publication date was moved up and the book was released a few weeks ago. Magnuson will complete a book tour through the Panhandle with several stops already scheduled. Regional appearances include: Knight Museum in Alliance Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.; Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, S.D., Oct. 24 from 1-3 p.m.; Prairie Edge Bookstore in Rapid City, S.D., Oct. 26 at 2 p.m.; and a tentative appearance at the United Methodist Church in Gordon at 6 p.m. Oct. 27. He’s also working to schedule a reading/panel discussion in Chadron at some point in the future.
“My main goal is that folks read the book on both sides of the border; that they understand a little more about each other’s history,” Magnuson said, adding that he hopes the book clears up misinformation and rumors once and for all.
“I hope when I come through on the book tour that I can arrange some panel discussions that will spark some dialog. My observation is that there are many whites in the border towns who are quick to criticize the Oglalas, but who don’t have even a basic understanding of their history and how they came to the area. But there are also folks north of the border who look at the white communities to the south as monolithic places where everyone ‘hates Indians.’ That’s far from the truth.”
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