Lakota Sioux Indians Declare Sovereign Nation Status

[Makalakumu]

http://www.indymedia.org/or/2007/12/898423.shtml

Lakota Sioux Indian representatives declared sovereign nation status on Wednesday, December 19th in Washington D.C. following Monday’s withdrawal from all previously signed treaties with the United States Government. The withdrawal, hand delivered to Daniel Turner, Deputy Director of Public Liaison at the State Department, immediately and irrevocably ends all agreements between the Lakota Sioux Nation of Indians and the United States Government outlined in the 1851 and 1868 Treaties at Fort Laramie, Wyoming.

“This is an historic day for our Lakota people,” declared Russell Means, Itacan of Lakota. “United States colonial rule is at its end!”

“Today is a historic day and our forefathers speak through us. Our Forefathers made the treaties in good faith with the sacred Canupa and with the knowledge of the Great Spirit,” shared Garry Rowland from Wounded Knee. “They never honored the treaties, that’s the reason we are here today.”

And this from a bit farther down...

Property ownership in the five state area of Lakota now takes center stage. Parts of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana have been illegally homesteaded for years despite knowledge of Lakota as predecessor sovereign [historic owner]. Lakota representatives say if the United States does not enter into immediate diplomatic negotiations, liens will be filed on real estate transactions in the five state region, clouding title over literally thousands of square miles of land and property.

My father worked on the Pine Ridge Reservation for a time so this article was a real eye opener. Thoughts?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Well I hope they understand the position that they are placing themselves in. I would hate for them to lose everything.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Send in the troops George! Be a "Decider"!

To the Lakota - Good Luck!

 

[terryl965]

My question is what are they trying to get out of this, that cannot be done in a court of law. Do they believe America will justs it back and do nothing. I hope this has an outcome that is best for all that are involved.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Someone elsewhere posted this:

Key facts regarding all of this:

1. This is not a rumor; Putin has even chimed in on the side of the Lakota! The president of Bolivia has said that nation is intensely interested in this and Hugo Chavez has expressed solidarity. The Bush junta says it "opposes the measure."

2. The four member Lakota delegation traveled to Washington D.C. culminating years of internal discussion among treaty representatives of the various Lakota communities. Delegation members included well known activist and actor Russell Means, Women of All Red Nations (WARN) founder Phyllis Young, Oglala Lakota Strong Heart Society leader Duane Martin Sr., and Garry Rowland, Leader Chief Big Foot Riders. Means, Rowland, Martin Sr. were all members of the 1973 Wounded Knee takeover.

3. “We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children,” Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told the news conference.

4. Russian legal experts further state that of all of the United States Indian Tribes, the Lakota Sioux are the best positioned to have their declaration of independence from the American government recognized by the United Nations as they remain the only indigenous peoples in the US to have refused to accept payment for their lands, estimated to be nearly $1 billion, which they consider their ‘sacred grounds’ and have stated they would never relinquish.

I know locally, NY and the Seneca Nation have been at odds for years over sales tax collection and even trying to price-fix the cost of gas on the reservation (The Seneca's sell it too low so non-res stations can't compete...that whole 50 cent a gallon state tax crap)

My hope is, they win, and that other tribes follow suit and also win.

Of course, the National Guard will be sent in, then the army, people will die. This is just how you treat uppity indians who think they are equal to the white man. (/sarcasm)
I think it's Federal Law or something.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

My question is what are they trying to get out of this, that cannot be done in a court of law. Do they believe America will justs it back and do nothing. I hope this has an outcome that is best for all that are involved.

Probably an end to this:

The Lakota reservations are among the most impoverished areas in North America, a shameful legacy of broken treaties and apartheid policies. Lakota has the highest death rate in the United States and Lakota men have the lowest life expectancy of any nation on earth, excluding AIDS, at approximately 44 years. Lakota infant mortality rate is five times the United States average and teen suicide rates 150% more than national average . 97% of Lakota people live below the poverty line and unemployment hovers near 85%.

Every Indian reservation I've visited has been a dump, as wretched as an inner city ghetto. The land they were left with tended to be as useless as possible, as anytime something of worth was found, they were again evicted. I honestly don't believe the US has ever really honored a single treaty with them.

 

[tshadowchaser]

this could get messy, if the Lakota ask for recognition from the UN.
I can foresee the US government placing an embargo on anything going into that area.
I also have seen nothing but poverty on 90 % of the reservations I have ever been to. It is truly a shame the way the US government has treated the natives of this land

 

[terryl965]

Bob I agree we the Americans have done nothing for those that we thrown to the side but if push comes to shove, the Army will just come in and take without regards to anybody.

 

[Tez3]

and Bush lectures the rest of us......

 

[Xue Sheng]

In NYS they used NYSP not military for the most part.

As for Putin I just have to wonder what his REAL motivation is here.

I wish the Lakota Luck

 

[MA-Caver]

My first thought was... it was THEIR land to begin with. We American settlers, as like Roman conquerors, came in and took it all and slaughtered any and all who resisted... even those who didn't, they were slaughtered in case they resisted or the (imagined) possibility of resistance.
Shameful? Yes of course! In a country where one of our founding principals is/(was?) "...that all men are created equal." HA! Equal... sure, as long as you're white or from European descent and even then your Euro roots need to be somewhere along the Anglo-Saxon lineage.
Among the statistics is the fact that among Native Americans is that they also have the highest alcoholism rate among races as well. And why not? They got nothing better to do on those impoverished reservations other than to sell beads and blankets, fireworks and run far out of the way casinos that no where near make the money their Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City counterparts do.

There are a lot of ironies to this. One of them was that it was Native Americans (primarily Navajo) that created an unbreakable radio code during the second world war. But then we did have the bomb so it probably wouldn't have made too much of a difference anyway (in the War Dept's eyes).

Let them have it I say. We've (as a nation) taken away just about everything else. They're hard pressed to find even a pure blood straight lineage Sioux, Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Navajo, Apache, Cherokee, Flathead, and dozens of others in any of their reservations. Most are now mixed tribal heritage descendants out of necessity. I've the privilege of participating in a drum ceremony and sat and chatted with some tribal elders and just basically found them to be just as human as the rest of us. Still nothing could still that under-current of sadness of the knowledge of the past.

Sure, one George (Custer) set out a campaign to wipe them out over 100 years ago. It'll probably take another George to finish the job.
(rant off)

Hopefully, like everyone else feels, there will be a good resolution to this. Time will tell.

 

[Big Don]

The Federal government doesn't need to send in the National Guard, which, would be a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. All that the feds would have to do, is stop sending money to those who have declared themselves sovereign, they shouldn't want the money anyways, and the Lakota Sioux will fix themselves soon enough.

 

[Big Don]

BTW, why can't I open a casino and rake in the cash, but, Indians can? Isn't that discriminatory? If all discrimination is wrong, than my family ought to be able to have a casino, and rake in the obscene amounts of money the tribes here in CA do. Some of the tribes with casinos here, I've read, have fewer than 50 members, and net profit sharing per member is over $1 million per MONTH. I could live really well on a tenth of that...

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Here's the kicker. I say let them all be fully soviergn. That means, passports, border stations, customs, duties, etc.


As to the "Posse Comitatus Act", well, dunno if that applies to NY but I know the both the state police and the national guard have been involved in some of the skirmishes here in the past. A few years back they even closed off the NYS Thruway with a wall of burning tires. Seems the land is theirs and is only leased to NY...who hasn't really been paying for it since the 50's.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Found this in the Wikipedia entry.

Independence movement

Beginning in 1974, some Lakota activists have taken steps to become independent from the United States, an attempt to form their own nation. These steps have included drafting their own "declaration of continuing independence" and using Constitutional and International Law to solidify their legal standing.

On December 20, 2007, a group of Lakota activists[4][5] that included Russell Means and Phyllis Young informed the State Department that the Lakota people were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties signed with the U.S. federal government, some of the treaties are more than 150 years old. "We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said.[6] The Lakota country would include parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

This new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free - provided residents renounce their U.S. citizenship.[7] It is as yet unclear whether the statements of the activists represent the view of the elected government(s) of the Sioux Nation, or how federal authorities will respond. According to the declaration,[8] their grievances include the following:

* Homestead Acts
* Allotment Acts
* Citizenship Act forcing United States citizenship upon all American Indians
* Indian Reorganization Act a.k.a. Howard Wheeler Act (the first Apartheid Act)
* Forced relocation during the decades of the 1950's over the 1960's.
* Supreme Court decision disallowing our religions.
* Even though we are citizens of the United States of America, we are denied protections of the United States Constitution while living on Indian reservations, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

– Lakota Freedom Delegation, Lakota Withdrawal Letter, December 17, 2007

Among the list of other grievances Phyllis Young stated, "we have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children."[9] Lakota teen suicide rates are 150 per cent above the norm for the U.S.; infant mortality is five times higher than the U.S. average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

According to a report in the Rapid City Journal, Russel Means stated that the nations of Ireland and East Timor are "very interested" in this declaration.[5] As well in September of 2007, the United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. There is opposition to the UN declaration from the United States, as it has been reported that it clashed with its own laws.

 

[SFC JeffJ]

All it takes for Posse Comitatus to be revoked is declaration by the President and then federal troops can go in. Like during the LA riots.

 

[Makalakumu]

After experiencing the reservation conditions they live every single day of their lives, I say good for them. I agree with other posters. The US should cut off all aid and all support until new treaties can be negotiated...if they ever are.

The Lakota have give themselves a rare gift. Freedom. They now can determine what they want to do with their own people in the ways that they want to with whatever resources they have. For too long have they kowtowed to a beauraucracy that has cared little for their well being.

My hope is that other tribes across the country follow suit and that Americans take notice. Depending the path they choose, this could end badly for the Lakota, but at least that end will be of their choosing...which implies they can undo it at their choosing.

 

[donald]

Being of Native blood(my Mom is1/2Cherokee & 1/2Napolitan)myself I am on one hand rooting for the Lakota, but on the other hand very concerned for them. This has the potential to get get very ugly. If there was ever a situation where people needed to have the wisdom of Solomon in them this in my opinion is one. I pray that everything is able to get worked out peaceably in the court system.
1stJohn1:9

 

[tellner]

The Lakota have always been a bit exuberant about this sort of thing. I expect that Wounded Knee III - The Hose Out Continues will involve fewer deaths than the other two. But there may be some Lakota leaders heading to Nebraska or the other camps pretty soon as Domestic Terrorists.

 

[shesulsa]

If the Lakota develop or have developed their own constitution and establish their independent citizenship and judicial system the effect on everyone else could be terrible, especially if they get monetary, military and commercial backing from other powerful nations. You know ... like certain middle-eastern countries. What better gateway into the US than within currently drawn borders?

I've camped on the Warm Springs reservation in Orygun several times where there lives and breathes a casino and resort. Whenever I drive in I am astounded to find structures clearly imperiled to collapse at any moment and people living in them. Barrels to catch the rainfall. Natives staring at me as at an enemy. I was awe-struck and appalled that the youth service organization I volunteer for was not allowed to conduct any relief service projects for our native brothers and sisters on reservations.

They have been in no-man's land long enough. I hope they can turn this into something positive for them and us. They deserve it and so do we.