American Indian Movement activist Dennis Banks, left, and Clyde Bellecourt during rally at the Pine Ridge Reservation.

PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) It's been nearly three months since two Sioux men were found slain in a culvert near the Nebraska line, and many Indians doubt authorities even care whether they solve the crime.

In fact, some Indian activists say the apparent standstill in the investigation only confirms their suspicion that white Nebraska lawmen helped kill Wilson Black Elk Jr. and Ronald Hard Heart or helped cover up the crime to make it seem as if Indians were responsible.

"It's just two dead Indians to them," Tom Poor Bear, who was Black Elk's half brother and Hard Heart's cousin, said of the FBI. "If these were two white people who were murdered, this place would be swarming with FBI agents. They'd be turning over every blade of grass."

Deaths lead to protests

 
U.S. flag flies upside down on March 3, 1973, at Wounded Knee.

The FBI says it is doing all it can. And the sheriff's department in Sheridan County, Neb., denies having any role in the killings or discriminating against Indians. But those statements do little to diminish the distrust on the reservation.

In a measure of how deep the distrust runs, the Sioux who believe white deputies were involved in the slaying can't cite any direct evidence. They believe the men were killed in Nebraska and their bodies were dumped on the reservation to make it seem as if a tribe member did it. But investigators have not said whether the bodies were moved.

Bad blood from 1973

Many of the bad feelings are left over from the American Indian Movement's 1973 armed takeover of a trading post at nearby Wounded Knee in a protest over the government's handling of complaints about Indian affairs. In 71 days of unrest, two Indians were killed and a deputy marshal was wounded.

Distrust of law officers also run high on South Dakota's eight other reservations, where unemployment often is staggering and alcoholism widespread.

In Mobridge, just across the Missouri River from the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, Indians have rallied to protest the way authorities have handled the death earlier this summer of Robert "Boo" Many Horses, 22, whose body was found face-down in a garbage can.

Alcohol kills man

The autopsy found that Many Horses died of alcohol poisoning. Four white teenagers who were drinking with him the night he died have been charged -- one with manslaughter -- for allegedly stuffing him in the can.

Indians are angry that the defendants are free as they await trial, while three Indians accused of severely beating a white man near Pine Ridge in August were denied bail.

"There is deep-rooted racism in South Dakota, and it can't be denied," said Alfred Bone Shirt, who is on the Lakota Nation Human Rights Committee. Lakota is the name some Sioux call themselves.

A series of protests

Indians have held a series of protests over both the Pine Ridge slayings and alcohol sales in tiny Whiteclay, Neb., where a few stores do a brisk business selling beer and booze to Sioux. Alcohol is banned at Pine Ridge, just two miles from Whiteclay.

During the first march, in June, several people attacked a store, threw soda, cigarettes and other items into the street and set fires in the building.

Before a rally the following week, the town's 22 residents were evacuated, and 100 troopers met the marchers in riot gear. Several demonstrators were arrested for crossing a police line.

Soon after, a group of Indians set up tents and tepees at "Camp Justice," near a grove of stunted elm trees on a hill overlooking the spot where the bodies were found. Poor Bear and about a dozen others have vowed to stay there until the crime is solved.

"All I want to do is have my brother rest in peace," said Edward Hard Heart. "Right now his spirit is wandering around, and he won't rest until we find out who killed him."

Cops reluctant to release details

Few details of the investigation have emerged. The FBI has shown autopsy results to the families but said releasing the results publicly might compromise the investigation. Poor Bear, who helped identify Black Elk's body, said the man was severely beaten.

Mark Vukelich, the FBI agent overseeing the investigation, said his agency and tribal police are making every effort to find who killed the men. A $15,000 reward for information has been offered.

"Because these remain in the unsolved category, they receive the highest priority," Vukelich said. "I disagree that we're not doing all we can."

Vukelich would not say whether Sheridan County law officers are being investigated. "We are investigating all angles of this case," he said. "That includes anybody who had any involvement in the crime scene."

Sheridan County Sheriff Terry Robbins said his department played no role in the deaths. As for allegations of racism, he said: "I have no idea why that sentiment is there, other than we have a large influx of Native Americans into our county and there is a number of them arrested. We try to treat everybody as equals, no matter what race, color or creed."