"The Santee Sioux Nation reservation in northeast Nebraska has been under a no-drink order since 2019. Leaders hope a new state law could jumpstart funding needed to fix the problem."
"Kameron Runnels watches, frustrated, as a pair of Santee tribal members move a pallet of water bottles with a borrowed forklift.
The source of Runnels’ frustration: They’re only moving three pallets of bottled water on this Monday morning, less than a quarter of what the tribe had ordered. The too-small shipment had arrived on the reservation only after an unexplained month-long delay.
They load the water onto a flatbed trailer and roll off down the streets of Santee, dropping only two cases – 48 small bottles – at the front door of each home.
It won’t be enough to get the residents here through to the next delivery, Runnels said. And the Santee tribal members who live outside the village limits won’t get any water at all.
“We gotta get this water fixed,” Runnels said. “We have to get clean water here.”"
Destiny Herbers reports for the Flatwater Free Press May 17, 2024.
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