Story out of Wolf Point, Montana:
The Wild Horse Stampede is a big deal in Wolf Point, Montana. The oldest rodeo in the state, the annual Stampede draws thousands of equestrian enthusiasts to the town of 3,000.
But while visitors rushed into Wolf Point for the 2013 Wild Horse Stampede, some residents were allegedly pushed out. To clear the streets for 2013’s wave of horse-happy tourists, Wolf Point law enforcement led a raid on local Native Americans, illegally detaining them without charges or toilets in a makeshift outdoor jail, members of two area tribes allege in a new lawsuit.
Wolf Point locals refer to the arrests as the “Wino Round Up.” The name derives from an area slur against Native Americans.
Located on the 2 million-acre Fort Peck Indian Reservation, the city of Wolf Point is home to local Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, as well as a non-Native population, and a city government and police force unaffiliated with the reservation.
Relations between Wolf Point government and the tribe members are sometimes strained, the plaintiffs say. Elected officials and police officers frequently dismissed this group as “Homeless, Winos, Street People, Tree People, Drug Addicts, Alcoholics, or Prairie Niggers,” (Yikes) members of the Fort Peck tribes allege in their lawsuit.
“The Wild Horse Stampede offers a glimpse of unadulterated eastern Montana life. There’s no glitz. Just honest-to-goodness fun based upon decades-old traditions,” the Wolf Point city website boasts. “It’s the Montana rodeo other seeks to emulate.” (Nah) Cont.
Story from - The Daily Beast
Image from - Pexels
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