Whiteclay (Lakota: Makȟásaŋ;[4] "whiteish or yellowish clay") is a census-designated place in Sheridan County, Nebraska, United States.

[7] The border town of Whiteclay has always been tied to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to the north within the state boundaries of South Dakota.

They challenged their arrests by Nebraska officials, on the grounds that, according to the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty and subsequent federal law, the White Clay Extension is still under the jurisdiction of the Pine Ridge reservation, where alcohol sales are prohibited.

John Yellow Bird King, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, says that tribal members bring alcohol illegally back from Whiteclay and "90 percent of criminal cases in the court system" at the reservation are alcohol-related.

[10] According to Mary Frances Berry, the 10-year chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Whiteclay can be said to exist only to sell beer to the Oglala Lakota.

[11] Victor Clarke, the owner of Arrowhead Foods, a grocery store in Whiteclay that does not sell alcohol, said he "did more than a million dollars in business last year, with an entirely Native American clientele.

The beer stores in Whiteclay cash welfare and tax refund checks for the Oglala Lakota, taking a 3 percent commission.

[10] Prior to 2017, the status of Whiteclay's beer stores was a constant political issue in the region, prompting waves of activism to end the alcohol sales.

[10] A 2000 report stated that tribal police estimated issuing more than 1,000 DUIs annually on the two-mile stretch of road between White Clay and Pine Ridge.

A pair of unsolved murders of Lakota men in early 1999 led to protest rallies led by various activist groups, including members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Nebraskans for Peace, demanding that Nebraska revoke the liquor licenses of Whiteclay's stores and increase law enforcement in the area.

[10] In the fall of 1999, Native American activists Russell Means and Frank LaMere proposed getting a license to sell beer in Whiteclay, in order to retain some monies to benefit the tribe and build a treatment center on the reservation, but abandoned the project due to disagreement by others of their group.

[14] The OST Tribal Council had approved the agreement in June 2005 in a meeting with Nebraska officials, the State Attorney General Jon Bruning and Congressman Tom Osborne.

The political conflict within the tribe appeared to have resulted in its choosing not to implement the agreement; by May 2007, it had hired no new police nor organized to take advantage of the grant.

He thought the agreement represented a commitment by Nebraska officials to take action but it "shuns the state's responsibility" for the effects of the beer sales.

In 2013, protesters including then-president of the Oglala tribe, Bryan Brewer, and activist Debra White Plume stopped beer trucks from entering the town.

As another example, in 2006, the Omaha Nation in northeastern Nebraska started requiring payment of tribal license fees and sales taxes by liquor stores located in towns within its reservation boundaries in order to benefit in the alcohol revenues.

[23] James N Hughes III suggests that the Oglala Sioux Tribe at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation could "regulate, police and profit from the sale of what has been, for 200 years, an irresistible liquid commodity.

[6] Hughes suggests that a "legalized liquor trade could provide the tribe with its own product upon which to levy tribal taxes and generate much needed revenue to fund healthcare services on Pine Ridge," including building a detoxification facility.

[22] In addition, proper taxation strategy by the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation could be used to eliminate Whiteclay's stores from the marketplace and "turn a social poison into an economic boon.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants knowingly sold and distributed beer with the intent of consumption on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned and alcohol-related problems are rampant.

[26] According to the suit: The illegal sale and trade in alcohol in Whiteclay is open, notorious and well documented by news reports, legislative hearings, movies, public protests and law enforcement activities.

[26]The OST is seeking $500 million in damages for reimbursement of the "cost of health care, social services and child rehabilitation caused by chronic alcoholism on the reservation, which encompasses some of the nation's most impoverished counties.

According to the amended complaint, it is "not reasonable to expect that in the future the State of Nebraska will enforce its laws regulating the sale of alcohol at Whiteclay.

Charles Abourezk, a Rapid City lawyer, said the Whiteclay lawsuit challenges the defendants' "intent to distribute on a dry reservation, contrary to federal and tribal law.

"[5] On October 1, 2012, the U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard dismissed the Oglala Sioux Tribe's lawsuit against the beer stores and associated companies, saying that the federal court did not have jurisdiction over the issue.

In February 2012 Nebraska lawmakers were considering legislation that would allow the state to limit the types of alcohol sold in areas like Whiteclay.

'[26] Under the legislation, the state liquor commission would be authorized to "limit the hours alcohol sellers are open, ban the sale of certain products or impose other restrictions.