John A. Maisch

John A. Maisch grew up five hours from Whiteclay, but he had to move to Oklahoma, graduate from Tulsa Law School, and work as that state’s liquor prosecutor in order to learn about the devastating impact Whiteclay’s beer sales were having on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

In the Summer 2013, Maisch decided to conduct video interviews of four Lakota men who had left their homes in Pine Ridge in order to drink beer on the streets of Whiteclay. When he returned two months later, Maisch was surprised to find that all four men had returned to the reservation and were attempting to become sober. These men’s stories became the basis for his documentary, Sober Indian | Dangerous Indian.