Ban the Natives/Natives file trespassing suit

[kadee79]

They were here way before any 'white' folks!  Some seem to need another history lesson....

The Black Hills of South Dakota have been inhabited by Indigenous people for thousands of years, but last month the owner of a hotel in Rapid City, located on the eastern edge of the mountain range, said Native people were no longer welcome.

After a Native American man was arrested in connection to a shooting that took place at the Grand Gateway Hotel on March 19, the owner, Connie Uhre, said on Facebook that she'd be banning Natives altogether from the hotel and the adjoining Cheers Sports Bar.

"We will no longer allow any Native American on property," Uhre wrote in a comment that was shared, and condemned, by the mayor of Rapid City, Steve Allender. Uhre also wrote that ranchers and travelers, presumably non-Native ones, would receive a special rate of $59 a night.

In an email chain obtained by South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Uhre wrote: "The problem is we do not know the nice ones from the bad Natives."

Local tribal leaders moved quickly, and on March 26 they hit the hotel with a trespassing notice, citing a 1868 US treaty with the Sioux.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-owner-of-a-south-dakota-hotel-said-she-was-banning-native-people-tribal-leaders-quickly-issued-the-hotel-a-trespassing-notice-citing-an-1868-treaty/ar-AAWhQDd?ocid=msedgdhp&li=BBnb7Kz

[mollyanna58]

How did they think they could get away with such blatant discrimination?

[Opti]

My guess is also the owner thought she would be able to do this. If a white guy had done the shooting, she wouldn't have thought the solution was to ban all white people. 

[tractor]

Rapids City is becoming very unsafe as crime rates skyrocket, drug use is rampant and drug violence is spinning out of control. While the comments were directed at "natives", it's more a failure of the support system for tribal members who are being left behind as the city grows.

First place I ever saw someone pull out a handgun during a traffic argument between to vehicles was in Rapid City. When we stay, even in the "nice" parts of town, we are told to lock our vehicles, remove anything of value, and never walk the streets after dark alone. Sad for such a beautiful area of the country.