{{Short description|Native American politician (born 1952)}} {{Infobox person | name = Alex White Plume | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1952}} | birth_place = [[Pine Ridge Indian Reservation|Pine Ridge reservation]] | spouse = {{marriage|[[Debra White Plume]]|1988|November 10, 2020|end=died}} | children = 9 | occupation = Hemp activist<br>President of the Oglala Sioux tribe }}
'''Alex White Plume''' (born 1952) is the former vice president and president of the [[Oglala Sioux]] Tribe of the [[Pine Ridge Reservation]], located on [[South Dakota]] of the United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Melmer|first=David|date=Aug 31, 2006|title=Oglala Sioux President Alex White Plume sees the old ways as better|url=https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/oglala-sioux-president-alex-white-plume-sees-the-old-ways-as-better|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Indian Country Today|language=en}}</ref> He served as president from June 30, 2006 to November 2006 after [[Cecilia Fire Thunder]] was impeached.
From 2000 to 2002, he earned unwanted publicity when United States federal drug agents raided his farm and destroyed his crop of [[industrial hemp]] before he could harvest it for seed as intended. They got a court order prohibiting him to grow the crop. Although the Oglala Sioux have [[sovereignty]] on their land and hemp does not have [[psychoactive]] properties, the agents operated under a 1968 federal anti-drug law prohibiting the cultivation of ''[[Cannabis]]''-related crops. By contrast, the sale of hemp products is allowed in the United States. Issues of tribal sovereignty on this issue are still at play, although the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the DEA action. They acknowledged that the DEA registration process could be a burden for farmers like White Plume.<ref>{{cite web|title=United States Court of Appeals - Eighth Circuit|url=http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/06/05/051654P.pdf}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Alex White Plume was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He grew up strongly connected to traditional Lakota culture. He joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Berlin, Germany, until his enlistment ended in 1978. After returning to Pine Ridge, he lived in the Manderson housing project. At that time, he joined the Tribal Police as an officer. White Plume's interest in socio-political issues developed later in life. In 1988, he married [[Debra White Plume]].<ref name="nytobit">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/us/debra-white-dead.html |title=Debra White Plume, Defender of Her Tribe, Is Dead at 66 |first=Michael |last=Astro |work=The New York Times |date=27 November 2020 |accessdate=November 28, 2020}}</ref>
==Career== White Plume has pursued a life of farming but had difficulty succeeding with crops on the limited agricultural lands of the reservation, where physical conditions are harsh and challenging. He and his extended family, or ''tiospaye,'' tried alfalfa, barley and corn; they also tried to raise raised horse and [[bison]], which are being raised by ranchers in growing herds on the [[Great Plains]]. All yielded little more than subsistence under the harsh conditions.<ref name=pov/>
After considerable research, in 1998 the [[Oglala Sioux]] Tribe passed an ordinance to allow the cultivation of low-[[THC]] [[hemp]] on the reservation. The market for the crop was high around the world, and it is a [[sustainable]] product with a short growing season. During [[World War II]], the US government encouraged hemp's cultivation for its qualities of "hardiness, utility and low cost."<ref name=pov/>
In April 2000 White Plume and his family planted industrial [[hemp]] on their farm on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He is reportedly the only farmer to date to openly plant, cultivate, and produce [[Cannabis|cannabis-related]] crops within the borders of the United States since they were prohibited by federal anti-drug laws in 1968.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cbdoiled.com/modern-hemp-farming-pioneer-alex-white-plume/|title=Modern Hemp Farming Pioneer - Alex White Plume|website=CBD Oiled|date=9 February 2011 |language=en-GB|access-date=2019-01-01}}</ref> While hemp products can be sold in the United States, its cultivation is prohibited, a law implemented by the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA). Although related to cannabis, hemp does not have [[psychoactive]] properties and is in demand worldwide for a variety of uses, including processing as a cloth and as food.<ref name=pov/>
In addition, White Plume thought that the tribe's sovereignty on its land would enable him to grow the crop. Federal DEA agents made a surprise raid on his field that August and destroyed his crops.<ref name=pov>[https://www.pbs.org/pov/standing/film_description.php "Standing Silent Nation: Film Description"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019103857/http://www.pbs.org/pov/standing/film_description.php |date=2015-10-19 }}, ''POV'', PBS, 3 July 2007, accessed 5 June 2011</ref> In August 2002, he was served with eight civil charges by the US District Attorney related to the hemp cultivation, and a court order prohibiting continued growing of the crop. Although he appealed, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the DEA, while acknowledging that its registration process could be a burden and that hemp might be a good crop for the Pine Ridge Reservation.<ref>[http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=885&Itemid=33 Chet Brokaw, "Fight with DEA over hemp leaves White Plume broke"], ''Indian Country News'', July 2007, accessed 5 June 2011</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Alex White Plume (Lakota) - Discrimination in Indian Country|url=https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-red-town-radio-31040925/episode/alex-white-plume-lakota--37453740/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208170435/https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-red-town-radio-31040925/episode/alex-white-plume-lakota--37453740/ |archive-date=2020-12-08 |access-date=2020-11-29|website=iHeartRadio|series=Red Town Radio|language=en}}</ref>
After several movements leading to the legalization of marijuana for both recreational and medical, White Plume was able to get the [[injunction]] lifted in 2016<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tupper|first=Seth|date=Apr 3, 2016|title=Hope and hemp: The unfinished odyssey of Alex White Plume|url=https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/hope-and-hemp-the-unfinished-odyssey-of-alex-white-plume/article_8bd594bc-fbc3-56b0-85ff-a5cfa88ccc7a.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Rapid City Journal|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408084526/http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/hope-and-hemp-the-unfinished-odyssey-of-alex-white-plume/article_8bd594bc-fbc3-56b0-85ff-a5cfa88ccc7a.html|archive-date=2016-04-08}}</ref> and has since been able to cultivate hemp.<ref>[https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/company-features-hemp-from-pine-ridge/article_46ac1cec-4dad-5918-b486-0556ee001845.html Seth Tupper, "Company features hemp from Pine Ridge"], ''Rapid City Journal'', September 2018, accessed 1 February 2020</ref> In 2017, Alex White Plume partnered with Evo Hemp to make hemp food products.<ref>[https://evohemp.com/blogs/hempweek/who-is-alex-white-plume "Alex White Plume and the Lakota Tribe's Role in Hemp"], ''Evo Hemp'', 23 July 2019, accessed 1 February 2020</ref> "Evo Hemp anticipates that the White Plume hemp line of extracts will account for 25 percent of Evo Hemp’s revenue in 2018"<ref>[https://www.nativebusinessmag.com/hemp-warrior-for-alex-white-plume-sovereign-resolve-is-finally-paying-off/ Native Business Staff, "Hemp Warrior: For Alex White Plume, Sovereign Resolve Is Finally Paying Off"], ''Native Business Magazine'', 30 September 2019, accessed 1 February 2020</ref>
==Political career== Described as a [[Traditional values|traditionalist]] Lakota,<ref name=taliman>[http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/?s=Alex+Plume&x=24&y=14 Valerie Taliman, "Selling the Sacred"], ''Indian Country Today'', 14 October 2009, accessed 5 June 2011 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510073003/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/?s=Alex+Plume&x=24&y=14 |date=10 May 2012 }}</ref> White Plume was elected vice president of the [[Oglala Sioux]] Tribe in November 2004,<ref name=":0" /> serving until June 29, 2006. After the Tribal Council impeached President [[Cecilia Fire Thunder]] and removed her from office for working to establish family planning services on the reservation without Tribal Council consensus, White Plume served as president until the next election in November 2006.
As president, he believed in a return to the "traditional government" of the Oglala. In particular, he proposed returning to use of the Lakota language for government business and to only allow traditional language speakers to be candidates, stating "we created all these problems by using the English language ... my feelings [is we] have to use a different language to solve those problems, this is the only way this can happen".<ref name=":0" />
He was succeeded by [[John Yellow Bird Steele]], who had served as president before Fire Thunder was elected.
In 2009, White Plume criticized the two deaths and 19 people hospitalized resulting from [[James Arthur Ray]]'s crowding 64 people into a sweat lodge. Ray, a non-Native, multimillionaire, self-help guru, had for years been running [[sweat lodges]] and retreats for "Spiritual Warriors" — customers who paid a high fee. White Plume said the Lakota were working with other tribes to try to prevent their sacred ceremonies being stolen and abused by such outsiders.<ref name=taliman/>
{{S-start}} {{Succession box | title = President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe | before = [[Cecilia Fire Thunder]] | after = [[John Yellow Bird Steele]] | years = 2006 }} {{S-end}}
==References== {{Reflist}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929191902/http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/content.cfm?id=1096413261 ''Indian Country Today'' reference]
{{DEFAULTSORT:White Plume, Alex}} [[Category:People from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota]] [[Category:Farmers from South Dakota]] [[Category:Lakota leaders]] [[Category:Oglala Sioux Tribe politicians]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1952 births]] [[Category:Cannabis in South Dakota]] [[Category:Cannabis on American Indian reservations]] [[Category:American cannabis activists]] [[Category:Activists from South Dakota]] [[Category:Native American people from South Dakota]] [[Category:Native American activists]]