SD Reservation Sees Barrage Of Media Attention

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota has for years attracted journalists and activists eager to share the plight of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

The Connecticut-sized reservation is home to some of the poorest counties in America, alcoholism is rampant and the life expectancy for tribal members is the shortest in North America except for Haiti.

That and a recently dismissed lawsuit against several beer makers and beer stores filed by the tribe have ratcheted up the attention paid to the reservation.

But some Oglala Sioux tribal members both on and off the reservation think the stories are exploitative, with too little emphasis on the people who are working every day to try to make a difference.