A South Dakota hotel that racially profiled Native American customers, specifically barring them from visiting the property, appears to have not only run off more business than it intended but also sparked a lawsuit.
On Sunday, Connie Uhre, owner of the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City, wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post, “Due to the killing that took place at the Grand Gateway Hotel on March 19, 2022… we will no longer allow any Native American on property,” according to a tweet shared Monday by Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender.
The Rapid City Journal reported Uhre added that she couldn’t tell “who is a bad Native or a good Native.”
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In response, the NDN Collective, a Native American-based organization in South Dakota—filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the hotel, its parent company, Uhre, and her son Nick Uhre, a manager of the hotel, for “explicit racial discrimination.”
According to the Rapid City Journal, NDN Collective President and CEO Nick Tilsen said during a protest march, “We’re going to hold them accountable.”
The hotel room shooting at Grand Gateway on Saturday left a man with severe injuries, Rapid City Police said. Quincy Bear Robe, 19, was arrested on multiple charges, the Rapid City Journal reported.
Uhre, meanwhile, offered a special rate for non-Native travelers and ranchers. She also blamed the city’s mayor and police department for a so-called increase in crime.
After Uhre said Native Americans would be barred from the hotel, Tilson said a few members of the NDN Collective tried to visit, the Rapid City Journal reported. One person was denied from booking a room. Another person was also barred from booking multiple rooms and removed from the hotel lobby.
Lakota elder Tim Giago, publisher of The Native Sun News in Rapid City, said that, ironically, many Native Americans stay at the Grand Gateway Hotel when they come to Rapid City.
“I saw [the post] and I thought, ‘That’s kind of a stupid thing to put out there in the internet.’ That place has had Native American customers for the last 50 years or however long it’s been there,” Giago told The Daily Beast. “It’s one of the places a lot of the Native Americans stay when they come up for the basketball tournaments or conventions.”
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe chairman Harold C. Frazier told The Daily Beast he was outraged by Uhre’s blatant racism and discrimination, and demanded an “immediate apology.”
“This type of behavior will no longer be tolerated in this day and age. Not too long ago, an Indian was murdered when someone shot him point blank in a bar in this very city. You did not hear us condemn a whole race of people, so don’t condemn our people,” he said, referring to the shooting death of Dallas Quick Bear in February.
“When those wagons first began their way to break treaties and settle on our territory, we were classified as lesser beings and genocide was justified as such. The words uttered by this person is a reminder to my people that this is still the case: No Indians allowed,” he added. “To those who will try to distance themselves from these words and thoughts to save face and business, I say to you that it is unfair to be generalized.”
Rapid City’s mayor also took Uhre to task.
“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,” Allender tweeted along with screenshots of Uhre’s Facebook posts. “Neither the shooting or Grand Gateway’s response to it reflect our community values.”
In a statement to the Rapid City Journal, Allender explained why he shared the post. “I just felt that I couldn’t be silent and pretend like this is just a harmless venting out of frustration,” he said. “This is an attack on not only the 12 percent of Rapid Citians who are Native American, but also the larger Native American population nationwide.”
Social media users weren’t buying what Uhre was selling either.
“Close this business forever. This family should never own any businesses in this city or state,” Sarah Ann wrote on the Grand Gateway Hotel Facebook page.
“They got bedbugs,” Matagi I’atala commented under an ad that marketed dining options at the hotel.
“Roaches live here,” Arlene Marie added.
On another post on the hotel’s page that advertised “comfort and peace” as its priority, Lauren Levinson commented, “White supremacists only.”
In a Facebook ad for the hotel that boasted providing a place for a “peaceful staycation,” Celeste Viau-Navetta replied, “Your unprofessional and unkind policies will reap untold consequences.
Nick Uhre told South Dakota Public Broadcasting that a ban on Native Americans staying at his family’s property would not go into effect.
Allender, a retired police chief and Republican in his third term, told The Daily Beast there is nothing the city can do to impose sanctions or otherwise punish the hotel or its owners.
“The hotel owner made the statement, a hotel manager may have made similar statements, but there is no evidence they have actually imposed a ban on Native Americans,” he said.
Ahead of a meeting with tribal leaders, he said, ultimately, Uhre’s comments could cause harm to the city.
Giago said the owner’s comments were like they were cutting their own throat, as many Natives will now avoid the Grand Gateway.
“I think probably a lot of them won’t,” Giago said. “No one wants to go where they’re not welcome.”
