Frank LaMere

His parents were John LaMere and Matilda Rogue. His brothers included Anthony, David, Darrell, Larry (Wood, previous marriage), Randall and Willard, and his sisters included Laura, Lauren, Candace, Jackie, Michelle and Karen.

LaMere was a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the early 1970s and was active in demands for reform to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.{{cite news|title=Indians Meet at BIA Office|work=Aberdeen Daily News (Aberdeen, South Dakota)|date=November 9, 1972|page=7}} In November 1972, LaMere was a spokesman for a group of AIM members who assembled in front of the federal building in Billings, Montana. Armed guards were posted at the building in response to the assembly, which desired to present a list of demands to the area director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs whose office was in the building.{{cite news|title=Post Guards in Billings|work=The Daily Plainsman|date=November 9, 1972|page=8|access-date=October 24, 2016|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7162664/post_guards_in_billings_the_daily/}} In Billings, Lamere was director of the Wiconi Project in 1973{{cite news|title=Wanted|work=The Montana Standard|date=February 25, 1973|page=25|access-date=October 24, 2016|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7162734/advertisement_the_montana_standard/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305012228/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7162734/advertisement_the_montana_standard/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 5, 2017}} and the Montana United Indian Association in 1974.{{cite web|work=Montana Commission on Post-secondary Education|title=The Montana native American and post-secondary education (1974)|access-date=October 24, 2016|url=https://archive.org/details/montananativeame3120mont}}

LaMere spoke frequently about stereotypes in the media. In 1984, LaMere's sister, Michelle LaMere, died in a hit-and-run. LaMere used the example of her treatment in the press as an example of the stereotypical treatment of Indians as drunks, rather than innocent victims in his speeches in the late 1980s.{{cite book|last=Hecht|first=Michael L.|title=Communicating Prejudice|publisher=SAGE Publications|date=April 13, 1998|page=54}}

LaMere was an athlete as a young man and helped found the all-Native "North Americans" fastpitch softball team in 1989.{{cite news|last=Been|first=Scott|title=North Americans Continue Tradition|work=News Oklahoma|date=July 11, 1993|access-date=June 13, 2016|url=http://newsok.com/article/2435891}} In the 1990s, LaMere organized 10,000 Sioux, Winnebago, and Omaha who lived in the Sioux City, Iowa, area to protest against the proposed name for the Sioux City minor league baseball team, the Sioux City Soos. The name was changed to the Sioux City Explorers.{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Bruce|title=Redskins: Racial Slur Or Symbol of Success?|publisher=iUniverse|year=2001|page=54}}

In the early 1990s, LaMere was a part of a movement by Santee and Winnebago tribes to seek federal loans to buy back reservation land purchased by non-Indians in deals which he claimed were "less than scrupulous".{{cite news|title=Indians Seek Loans to Buy Back Land|work=Aberdeen Daily News|date=May 8, 1992|page=9}} In 1991, he was the chairman of the twelfth National Indian and Native American Employment and Training Conference in Spokane, Washington.{{cite web|title=30th Anniversary NINAETC program|access-date=October 24, 2016|url=http://www.ninaetc.net/30th%20NINAETC%20Program.pdf|publisher = National Indian and Native American Employment and Training Conference}}

LaMere was involved in a campaign against alcohol sales to Indians in Whiteclay, Nebraska, near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Alcohol sales are prohibited on the reservation.{{cite book|last=Johansen|first=Bruce Elliott|title=Encyclopedia of the American Indian Movement|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=April 9, 2013|page=172}} LaMere considered many different tactics to deal with liquor sales at Whiteclay, from protests, to opening an Indian-owned liquor store and using the proceeds to fund a rehabilitation center, to claiming that the town of Whiteclay should be a part of the reservation based on the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.{{cite news|title=Indian Activists Disagree over Whiteclay Beer Store|work=Aberdeen Daily News|date=October 7, 1999|page=9}}

LaMere along with Russell Means, John Yellow Bird, Tom Poor Bear, Webster Poor Bear, Gary Moore, and Benedict Black Elk were arrested for crossing Nebraska State Patrol police lines during a protest on July 3, 1999.{{cite news|title=Whiteclay Plea Agreement Fails in March 6 Cases|work=Aberdeen Daily News|date=September 15, 2000|page=13}} In the fall of 1999, Means and LaMere proposed getting a license to sell beer in Whiteclay, in order to retain some monies to benefit the tribe and build a treatment center on the reservation, but abandoned the project due to disagreement by others of their group.{{cite news|last1=Hendee|first1=David|last2=Hammel|first2=Paul|title=Whiteclay Beer Proposal Divides Indian Leaders|work=Omaha World-Herald|date=October 6, 1999}} Other activists who worked with LaMere regarding Whiteclay include Clyde Bellecourt and Dennis Banks.

LaMere's activity in the Whiteclay issue continued into 2016. In 2008, film-maker Mark Vasina produced a documentary about the activity in Whiteclay of Lamere, Means, and Duane Martin, Jr., called The Battle for Whiteclay. On May 13, 2019, LaMere received an honorary degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University for his work in Whiteclay.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/05/13/native-activist-receives-honorary-degree.asp|title=Native activist receives honorary degree for work in border town|date=May 13, 2019|website=indianz.com}}

LaMere served as chairman of the Democratic Party's National Native American Caucus. He served as executive director of the Nebraska Inter-Tribal Development Corporation.{{cite book|last=Johansen|first=Bruce Elliott|title=The Encyclopedia of Native American Economic History|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1999|page=84}} He was a member of the Nebraska Indian Commission. Frank LaMere was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention seven consecutive times from 1988 to 2012.{{cite news|last=Hayworth|first=Bret|title=Siouxland Democrats heading to convention to boost Obama|work=Sioux City Journal|date=September 2, 2012|access-date=June 13, 2016|url=http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/siouxland-democrats-heading-to-convention-to-boost-obama/article_cc0c56e2-2718-5453-a6e8-607d42cf4f23.html}} In the 2010s, he was executive director of the Four Directions center in Sioux City. In 2011 he was awarded the "War Eagle Human Rights award" by the Sioux City Human Rights Commission for his lifelong activity, including his work in Whiteclay and lobbying in support of the 2003 Iowa Indian Child Welfare Act.{{cite news|last=Zerschling|first=Lynn|title=Sioux City community members honored for civil rights work|work=Sioux City Journal|date=December 10, 2011|access-date=October 24, 2016|url=http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/sioux-city-community-members-honored-for-civil-rights-work/article_90c784f2-346c-5f50-8551-f0799d75947f.html}}

LaMere was active in groups opposing the Keystone XL pipeline in the early 2010s, work which brought him in close contact with Bold Nebraska's Jane Fleming Kleeb, husband of Scott Kleeb. Jane became chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party in 2016, and LaMere was elected first associate chair.{{cite news|first=Zach|last=Pluhacek|title=In Democratic shakeup, Jane Kleeb elected state party chairman|work=Lincoln Journal Star|date=June 18, 2016|url=http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/in-democratic-shakeup-jane-kleeb-elected-state-party-chairman/article_b509ca52-07c7-5dd4-9eeb-2a146ded7632.html}}

LaMere was married to Cynthia (Rouse). He had four children, Jennifer, Hazen, Manape Hocinci-ga, and Lexie Wakan. Lexie Wakan died of leukemia in 2014.{{cite news|title=Lexie Wakan LaMere (Obituary)|work=Sioux City Journal|date=January 5, 2014|access-date=June 13, 2016|url=http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/lexie-wakan-lamere/article_5693f7ad-0f5a-5483-8639-87c2a47f8fe9.html}} In early 2012, LaMere suffered a stroke. On June 16, 2019, LaMere died of bile duct cancer, aged 69.{{cite web|url=https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/06/17/winnebago-activist-frank-lamere-passes-o.asp|title=Winnebago activist Frank LaMere passes on|website=Indianz.com|access-date=June 17, 2019}}

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