A South Dakota hotel owner’s social media post banning Native Americans has prompted a federal civil rights lawsuit as well as calls for the Attorney General to open a racial discrimination investigation.

Connie Uhre, the owner of the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City, wrote in a now deleted Facebook post on March 20, 2022, “Do [sic] to the killing that took place at the Grand Gateway Hotel on March 19, 2022 at 4am, plus all the vandalism we have had since the Mayor and Police Department are working with the non-profit organization (Dark Money). We will no long [sic] allow any Native American on property. Or in Cheers Sports Bar. Natives Killing Natives.”

Uhre is referring to a shooting that took place in one of the hotel rooms. Quincy Bear Robe, 19, was arrested for the shooting and is being held on $1 million bail. The teenager he allegedly shot survived and was hospitalized due to serious injuries. Both men involved are Native American.

In response to Uhre’s post, Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender wrote on Twitter, “In addition to blaming the mayor, police chief, sheriff, candidate for sheriff and the court system, a local hotel bans all Native Americans for a shooting a few days ago on hotel property. Neither the shooting or Grand Gateway’s response to it reflect our community values”2. It’s a community that’s comprised of 12 percent Native peoples and local Indigenous groups are taking legal action against the hotel owner.

NDN Collective, an Indigenous nonprofit, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Grand Gateway Hotel, its parent company, and Connie’s son Nick Uhre, a manager at the hotel. Though Nick Uhre has publicly denounced his mother’s comments, the civil complaint alleges that two days after his mother’s post, an employee at the hotel refused to rent rooms to two Native women, citing a hotel policy that does not rent to “locals.” However, the lawsuit states that the hotel employee also refused to rent a room to a Native woman who was not a local.

The lawsuit alleges that, “On information and belief, Nicholas Uhre has also endorsed and enforced this policy, and hotel management had communicated such a policy to its staff.” The filing states that the women, “were excluded on the basis of their race and protected status as Native Americans.”

Hundreds marched to the federal courthouse in Rapid City on Saturday where NDN Collective held a press conference. The organization’s Director of Racial Equity, Sunny Red Bear, one of the individuals who filed the lawsuit, said at the conference:

“Wednesday NDN Collective and myself filed a Federal Lawsuit against the Grand Gateway Hotel, Cheers, Retsel corporation, Connie Uhre and Nick Uhre. Not only did they threaten to not serve Native people, but they took action on their words and denied myself and my Native coworkers hotel rooms. This egregious act of racism is unacceptable in 2022 and we are looking for justice. It's time we ask ourselves, in the positions and circles we’re in, what behaviors & biases do we continue to practice- in our homes, in our business, in our organizations that are upholding systemic racism & causing harm in our community.”

In addition to the federal lawsuit, The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is asking for a Department of Justice investigation into the alleged racial discrimination incident. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Chairwoman Janet Alkire cites tribal and federal law, “The United States entered into treaties of peace and friendship with our Great Sioux Nation, and other Great Plains Indian nations, and our People are entitled to all the rights of American citizens”. She continues, “The President negotiated our 1868 Treaty the same year that Congress ratified the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, with its equal protection clause. Pursuant to the 14th Amendment, Congress enacted the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodation.”

Chairwoman Alkire also expresses her concern about the possibility of violence, “It is events such as this that unify people, to stand up against inequality, and rightfully so. However, it is also events such as this that can cause rioting and other acts of civil unrest and is why I ask you to take this matter into your hands, handle it with urgency.”

Contiguous with the letter to the Attorney General, the Chairwoman is urging Tribal Leaders to “boycott the hotel, and all businesses affiliated with Connie Uhre,” report the incident of discrimination to the Department of Labor and Human Rights, as well as “relocate the Lakota Nation Invitational tournament if prosecution does not take place,” among other recommendations.

By Tiffany Hearsey

Hotel Banning Native Americans Faces Legal Action from Indigenous Groups