Don Preister fought for change in Whiteclay before it was cool.
The former Omaha state senator introduced bills each year from 2002 to 2005 that sought to re-establish a 5-mile alcohol-free buffer zone around the Pine Ridge Reservation and ban liquor licenses in cities that lack adequate law enforcement. He introduced a 2006 bill that would have funded a Whiteclay police force through a new tax on alcohol.
None of those bills made it out of committee, though he did help secure a $100,000 federal grant that allowed tribal police and Nebraska State Patrol troopers to enforce laws within each other’s boundaries.
Preister takes pride in being among the first to call for change in Whiteclay.
“I couldn’t turn a blind ear to their cause, even though it seemed like a lost cause.”
