by Stephen Lendmanl
Monday Oct 1st, 2012 12:27 AM
America betrayed them and all Native Peoples. Throughout US history and earlier, genocide was policy.
Historian Ward Churchill explained four centuries of systematic slaughter. It went on from 1492 - 1892. It continues today against Native culture.
Churchill estimated around 100 million Native People throughout the Americas "hacked apart with axes and swords, burned alive and trampled under horses, hunted as game and fed to dogs, shot, beaten, stabbed, scalped for bounty, hanged on meathooks and thrown over the sides of ships at sea, worked to death as slave laborers, intentionally starved and frozen to death during a multitude of forced marches and internments, and, in an unknown number of instances, deliberately infected with epidemic diseases."
Destruction of their culture continues in new forms. "The American holocaust was and remains unparalleled, in terms of its scope, ferocity, and continuance over time."
Silence and denial suppress what happened and goes on today. Try finding coverage anywhere by America's major media. Virtually nothing is said, let alone explained.
Survivors represent a tiny fraction of original numbers. They also symbolize a longstanding US tradition of butchery and viciousness.
After centuries of systematic slaughter, Census Bureau data estimated around a quarter-million US survivors. Those living struggle to get by.
Raphael Lemkin defined genocide as:
"the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" that corresponds to other terms like "tyrannicide, homicide, infanticide, etc." (It) does not necessarily mean the destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings....It is intended....to signify a coordinated plan (to destroy) the essential foundations of the life of national groups" with the intent to eradicate or substantially weaken or harm them."
"Genocidal plans involve the disintegration....of political and social institutions, culture, language, national feelings, religion, economic existence, personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and" human lives.
The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Convention defines it legally as:
"any (acts like those above) committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the national, ethnical, racial or religious group (by) killing (its) members; causing (them) serious bodily or mental harm; (or) deliberately inflicting (on them) conditions" that may destroy them in whole or in part.
Destroying peoples' cultures, preventing them from practicing their religion, speaking their language, and/or passing on their traditions to new generations are genocidal acts.
Constitutional provisions don't let government abuse people or deny them their rights. They don't authorize genocide, either within or outside the country. They don't permit theft and occupation of their lands or any others.
Nonetheless, binding principles are spurned. America, Israel, and rogue NATO partners violate them with impunity. Crimes of war, against humanity, and genocide are official policy. Millions of corpses bear testimony.
On December 17, 2007, a delegation of Lakota people went to Washington. They declared independence. They called it "the latest step in the longest running legal battle" in history.
It's not a cessation, they said. It's a lawful "unilateral withdrawal" from treaty obligations permitted under the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.
At the time, American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Russell Means said:
"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."
"We offer citizenship to anyone provided they renounce their US citizenship."
"United States colonial rule is at an end."
Signed documents were delivered to the State Department. Sovereignty was declared. The Republic of Lakota was established. It's based on the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. It created the Great Lakota (Sioux) Nation. It states in part:
"The territory of the Sioux or Dahcotah Nation, commencing the mouth of the White Earth River, on the Missouri River; thence in a southwesterly direction to the forks of the Platte River; thence up the north fork of the Platte River to a point known as the Red Buts, or where the road leaves the river; thence along the range of mountains known as the Black Hills, to the head-waters of Heart River; thence down Heart River to its mouth; and thence down the Missouri River to the place of beginning."
It gave Lakota people portions of northern Nebraska, half of South Dakota, one-fourth of North Dakota, one-fifth of Montana, and another 20% of Wyoming.
Unilateral withdrawal from all treaties and agreements became policy. America never honored its own. More on that below.
Earlier events led to the 2007 declaration. In 1974, 5,000 International Indian Treaty Council delegates, representing 97 North and South American Indigenous People, signed a Declaration of Continuing Independence.
It was a "Manifesto representing the wisdom of thousands of people, the Ancestors, and the Great Mystery supports the rights of Indigenous Nations to live free and to take whatever actions are necessary for sovereignty."
Numerous elders approved it. They represented ancestors born to live free. They gave delegates two mandates:
(1) Gain international recognition. In September 2007, the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights affirmed it.
(2) "We must always remember that we were once a free People. If we don't, we shall cease to be Lakota."
The right to return to their original free and independent status was asserted. On December 17, 2007, they declared it formally.
In United States v. Sioux Nation (1980), the Supreme Court upheld a $105 million award to eight Sioux tribes. It was compensation for lost land. It was lawlessly taken.
The Court, however, denied what Sioux people most wanted - their land back. As a result, they refused the money. They reasserted their sovereign rights.
Thirty-two years of compound interest makes the 1980 award worth $400 million today. It's a tiny fraction of what Sioux people lost. They demand and deserve what's rightfully theirs. America's highest court has no sovereignty over their rights. Neither does political Washington.
Lakota people say US law supports them. America systematically broke treaties and stole their land. It's theirs and they want it back. The Republic of Lakota claims it.
On September 29, 2012 Means reiterated what he and others declared in December 2007, saying:
"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."
He cited longstanding problems and grievances. They include land theft, resource plunder, poverty, unemployment, repression, and overall human depravation. All of it remains out of sight and mind.
The Republic of Lakota described ongoing genocide as follows:
(1) Mortality
Life expectancy for Lakota men is less than 44 years. It's the lowest of all sovereign countries. It's the highest in America. Infant mortality is threefold higher than the US average. Diseases are a major problem. "Cancer is now at epidemic proportions."
Teenage suicide is150% higher than America's average. One-fourth of Lakota children are fostered or adopted by non-Native people. Doing so destroys their identity and culture. Ward Churchill calls it killing the Indian, saving the man.
(2) Disease
Tuberculosis is 800% higher than America's average. Cervical cancer is fivefold higher. Diabetes is eight times the national average. The Federal Commodity Food Program provides high-sugar foods. They contribute to poor health.
(3) Poverty
Annual median income is $2,600 - $3,500. Poverty affects 97% of Lakotans. Many families can't afford essentials most people take for granted. In winter, many use ovens for heat. Simple luxuries are unheard of. Life is hard, merciless, punishing, and unrelenting.
(4) Unemployment
It's 80% or higher. Government corruption, cronyism, and indifference destroy normal living opportunities.
(5) Housing
In winter, elderly people die from hypothermia. They freeze to death for lack of heat. One-third of homes lack clean water and sewage. About 40% have no electricity. About 60% of families have no telephone.
Another 60% of homes are infected with potentially fatal black molds. On average, 17 people reside in each household. Many have two to three rooms. Some homes built for six to eight people have up to 30 in them.
(6) Drugs and Alcohol
Over half of adults battle addiction and disease. Alcoholism affects 90% of families. Two known methamphetamine labs operate. Authorities haven't closed them.
(7) Incarceration
Indian children imprisonment exceed whites by 40%. Native People comprise 2% of South Dakota's population. They account for 21% of those imprisoned.
Indians have the second highest state prison incarceration rate in America. Most live on federal reservations. Less than 2% are where states have jurisdiction.
(8) Culture
It's threatened with extinction. It's federal policy to destroy it. Only 14% of Lakotans speak their language. It's not shared inter-generationally.
The average fluent Lakotan speaker is 65 years old. In another generation or less, perhaps few or none will remain. Lakotan language skills aren't allowed or taught in US government schools. Nor is much of anything about native history and culture. America wants it destroyed and forgotten.
Lakotan struggle began with the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. They call it "fantasy" US history. France sold America 530 million Native land acres for $15 million. Lakotans owned part of it. They and other Native people weren't consulted.
They've been systematically ignored and violated. From 1778 - 1871, Washington negotiated 372 treaties. Their provisions were systematically spurned.
America's winning the West involved invading, encroaching, stealing, and occupying their lands. That's how imperialism works. It's the same everywhere.
Throughout the 19th century (and earlier), Washington engaged in military, legal, and political battles against Native Peoples. Their rights were contemptuously denied. They were displaced and exterminated. That's how today's America was created.
The 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie was systematically violated. So were provisions of all other treaties. From 1866 - 1868, Washington let the Bozeman trail go through the "Heart of the Lakota Nation."
It was a short cut to Montana's gold fields. Military forts were built on stolen land along its route. Doing so violated 1851 treaty provisions. Battles ensued. Washington negotiated peace. The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty followed. Native People thought they won. Victory was pyrrhic and illusory.
The Supreme Court's 1883 ex parte Crow Dog decision made no difference. The Court recognized Lakotah freedom and independence. It ruled that tribes held exclusive jurisdiction over their internal affairs. It didn't matter.
The transcontinental railroad facilitated development, land and resource theft.
In 1885, Congress passed the Major Crimes Act. It extended US jurisdiction into Lakota territory. The same year, the last of the great buffalo herds were exterminated. At one time, they numbered 60 million. Native People relied on them for food.
In 1887, Congress passed the General Allotment Act (the Dawes Act). It ended communal ownership of reservation lands. It distributed 160-acre "allotments" to individual Indians. Tribes lost millions of acres. Wealthy ranchers exploit them today.
In 1888, Congress began prohibiting Indian Spiritual and Prayer Ceremonies. It was part of destroying Native culture. In 1891, a Commissioner of Indian Affairs was authorized. It was to assure Native People obeyed white man's laws.
Many more abuses followed. In Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903), the Supreme Court extralegally recognized near absolute plenary congressional power over Indian affairs.
It let US authorities steal tribal lands and resources freely. They did so on the pretext of fulfilling federal responsibilities.
Doing so abrogated fundamental indigenous rights unilaterally. The ruling was used to violate hundreds of treaties. Like other Native Peoples, Lakotans were grievously harmed.
Their sacred Black Hills were stolen. So were valued resources on them. Lakotans want back what's rightfully theirs. Their ancestors thought the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty granted them victory. They were wrong.
Yet in 1904, even after Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, some believed the Treaty was "the only instance in the history of the United States where the government has gone to war and afterwards negotiated a peace conceding everything demanded by the enemy and exacting nothing in return."
Until the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, Native People got what no one had the right to deny them in the first place. In fact, rights afforded them nominally never existed in fact.
The entire history of Native People in America reflects horrific struggles lost. From 1492 to today, they experienced promises made and broken. Disenfranchized people remain. Most are bereft of hope.
On reservations or assimilated, they're out of sight and mind. Once they lived peacefully on their own land. White settlers changed things. Western civilization destroyed their way of life. There's nothing civilized about it.
They're either ignored, mocked, or demonized in films and society. They're called drunks, beasts, primitives, and savages. America always was a white supremacist society.
Rich powerful elites run it. Native People and most others don't matter. They're systematically used and abused. They're not served. It's the American way.
by Stephen Lendman
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
I am so sorry! It is not all the humans, some of us are ready to stand with you, against the government and corporation.
I applaud your efforts to become your own! I sometimes wish we could all do it and break away from all the turmoil that we have to live with! Best of luck and greatest wishes to all the Lakota people!
My heart grieves for what we have lost. I too am part Native American. I do not know where my Cherokee ancestors are. I have only one family name & it tells me nothing. Because of the laws over the years my great grandfather refused to register as an Indian. He did not want his children to be treated cruelly by the white man. All of our history is lost. If only the white man could have shared the land with us & hadn't broken all the treaties we could have lived in peace. I dream of another life where we are honored as the true people of what is now called America. I wish you well my brother.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Very informative and truthful...Blessing to you for your honesty and sharing...
Congratulatios! You derserve your land back, don't stop fighting for it despite the energy it demands. Revolution is on the lips of people everywhere on the planet, we have enough of the cold systematic manner society treats individuals. Iceland is an extradinairy example. I have hope for your nations. If you've survived the massacres of the white man this far, you should be able to gain what has once been yours.
As a white woman, I want you to know that I have the highest respect for all Native Americans. I am heartily sorry for what my ancestors have done. Please know that I stand in solidarity with you and that my God mother is a Native American. Love and light to you all.
Russell Means is extremely well informed through education, life experience and CULTURAL education. Everything he speaks of is based on fact, my grandmother was the only one in the family that did not run a deaf-ear when I asked about our American Indian blood-line, everyone else discouraged it so as I wee child, I sought out fact based history & everything Russell Means is speaking about, I found through my own quest for why I was more connected with the earth & it's bounties. The term "Apple" was coined for Indians that are red on the outside but white on the inside, a term needs to be coined for those of us that through genetics are white on the outside but red on the inside...I cannot help that my mother's Germanic traits gave me blue eyes & light brown hair. I am proud that my grandmother encouraged me to seek the truth...I lost her when I was 7 but at the age of now 54, I have never lost my continous to need to seek & refine that part of my culture that draws me deeper into the spirit of who I am & the better person I seek to be everyday.
Is this moving forward this time? If it is we are very interested.
I AM SO ASHAMED OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT FOR STEALING YOUR LAND AND KILLING YOUR PEOPLE !~IT IS HELL ON EARTH !~ THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND AND ALWAYS WILL BE !~ MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOUR PEOPLE !~ I ONLY WISH THERE COULD BE CHANGE FOR ALL THE WRONG THAT HAS BEEN DONE AND IT COULD BE MADE RIGHT !~ I AM BUT ONE PERSON WHO IS TRUELY SORRY FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART !~ THIS WORLD MUST CHANGE BEFORE ITS TOO LATE !~ WAKE UP PEOPLE !~
You go, go, go. Take your land back!
I also have wondered why except for the shame or outright denial that the American government was so brutal in the slaughter of innocents, has never been made a required part of American History studies. The Holocaust became part of American History because of our participation in World War II...Hitler was brutal & so was the American government in their quest to steal, relocate & imprison the various tribes to reservations, as Means puts it correctly, prisoner of war camps.
The white man has now pushed his own ppl to the point from which there may not be a return .We the ppl like you have been enslaved by the elitists and the globalists to do there will this has always been the case and will be coming to an end shortly .Many have awakened to this and are ready and willing to stand with you and fight for our rights as a ppl .Not all white men are evil and this I am sure you know throughout history we have lived together without bloodshed until the powerful rich men of old came and forced their will's upon us .I am an Oath keeper and believe all men are created equal and deserving of equal rights under God and the law of the land but when the law of the land is detrimental to one's growth and potential it needs to go .We are all one on this planet and what was done to you and your ppl was and to this day is still wrong,and I for one will fight beside you against all forms of tyranny and oppression and until my last breath is taken .This government has always been run by the rich and powerful and it will soon stop and we shell not let it happen again period .We the Good ppl of these United States affirm this and you Native American's will get back what is rightfully yours in our new future ,we will rebuild this we swear .Oath keepers united Forever !
I have some hope that within our generation, a great number of native peoples will awaken...
I don't know what tribe but I have native american blood in my veins. My grandmother told me about it when I was very young and made me promise to never forget. She died and her children refused to acknowledge what Grandmother told me and claimed it was "a dirty lie."
I am keeping Grandmother's promise. I will never forget. I don't know what else I can do.
Best wishes and good luck,
Annie
When it says you welcome people as long as they renounce their citizenship, does that mean anyone at all? I have a little bit of native ancestry but it's apache.
Take what is and was yours all the time!
TEARS JUST TEARS
We are all people of this earth. No mater your color or age why are we fighting over what corner we are from? Its all the earth.
Man belongs to the earth the earth does not belong to man.
The usa is disgraceful. I honor all native nations. The land should be yours.
ARIZONA STATE BILL 1070 & ALABAMA HOUSE BILL 56 ARE NO MORE THAN A MODERN DAY INDIAN REMOVAL ACT AGAINST THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WHO NEVER RECEIVED THEIR CITIZENSHIP OR A RESERVATION.
THE RACISM AND HATRED IS NOT OF THE PAST.
I personally live in SD, and have been listening to this information about the things to come, and simply just want to know since the Sioux Nation has asked to become Sovereign and Independent Nation once again and reclaim their land how much longer must they wait for this to happen?
I've heard of New Town, ND where they are pumping oil out from beneath the Reservation, which the Native's only get 15% of the profits, and the US Government gets 85% of the profits. For as I have heard it stated, the land is the Native's the oil underneath belongs to the US government. How much longer must these horrors continue with the cries for help continue to fall upon deaf ears? When there was an oil spill from this oil pumping, I heard the Native's had to clean it up, as it became their problem not the US Government's because it was now on top of the land.
How long before these people will get their land back, how much longer must Native people of all Tribes continue to endure these hardships before these five States are rightfully returned to the people they belong too?
As another poster said above, I can't find all of my Cherokee or Choctaw relatives either. The farthest we can go back is only the 1930 census where my great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Little Running Deer, was registered as White. It breaks my heart that we can't go farther!
Don't stop your fight, Mr. Means! There are plenty of us "white" people who are behind you!
I stand with my relatives....Lakota.
I also have Native Indian genealogy (Cherokee). I also know nothing of their whereabouts, and only imagine that they were slaughtered. I know that they were chased out of Georgia and Tennessee into Arkansas. From there, the tribe dissipated. My German genealogy follows the same issue, but I've always lived in the U.S (rather than Germany). Regardless, within this country, why do we celebrate holidays for every oppressed ethnic group and ethnic minority except for Native Indians? Oh, yes, that's because this civilization prefers to insist that the earth belongs to us instead of the fact that WE belong to the EARTH.
They have done all these things to bring down the people, but they will never break our spirit! I'm Cheyenne, Blackfeet, and Irish. I may be white on the outside but I have a Native soul. As a child Crazy Horse was my Hero! I love you for being a true warrior for the people and keeping up the fight! I know if they come to try to take me to a FEMA Camp, I'm going to fight. My husband is full Hidatsa, and like a lot of his people, we may die, but we will not lay down. The Elite have been killing for thier cause since they stepped foot on this land. Every person in this country should come together and fight!
I come from england and have always felt the spirit of the land. The wise ones here, the druids and witches were slaughtered centurys ago by the holy ones and their swords. No teachings, no hope survived. You were part of their world or your a freak and only suffered but we are feeling the way back and brothers and sisters, fellow warriors remember yes they are strong but their souls are black and have no honour, they are evil even in their ignorance but things change, by the gods i pray things change, even if it needs to go through cleansing. time is coming we need to live with and from the mother, the earth again, we cannot be free if we are surviving from scraps from the table of our jailor. Politics and words are good but we need to need nothing but ourselves our comunities self supporting, feeding nurturing ourselves then our neighbours and the world can become inspired to live properly.
Good food, good spirit, good life.
I stand with you. A good day to die, a good day to live well
Thank you so much for sharing the truth and your heart with us. I learned so much.
I remember as a child in the 50's that my father was a big fan of the westerns. I always had hopes the Indians would win. I cried then and I cry now with you. I was born with a native heart, I think. I think children just sometimes know their connection to the universe.
I just said to my friend the other day that I believe the GMO's and such were made to make us sick. That way they can sell us more drugs. I know way to many people who are sick. I also remember when food was real and tasted good. When you could grab a tomato off the vine and eat it and it tasted like heaven. Every summer we would go pick strawberries at a local farm. Ok, so I mostly just sat there and ate them, but we didn't have to wash them first. They weren't covered in pesticides.
I agree you, the Republicrats are all the same and their sole purpose is to take away our freedoms. I'd vote for you in a heartbeat :)
The knowledge of the suffering caused by those driven by greed and a lust for power has always caused me deep grief. All over the world and throughout history there have been groups who impose their will on other groups, denying them basic rights including often the right to live. This knowledge causes me pain all the time, knowing of the inflicting of suffering on people and other beings at times makes me want to give up and die.
It seems, though, that the tide might be turning as people all over the world are waking up to reality and saying enough of this. We want change.
With hope for a better future for all beings ♥
Amen Russel !!
I am a white woman, but I have always had a special place in my heart for the Native Peoples. My mother had Canadian Native blood in her, and she spoke highly of those that were here before us...before the invasion of the white man. She believed that one day, the land would once again belong to the rightful ones that were here for thousands of years. She taught me to respect the Native Americans.
I stand with Russel Means...I pray the Lakota can get back their rightful lands...and they can heal and become a strong Nation once again!
I am white, but I have a small amount of Choctaw in me. I am sorry for what my ancestors did.
wish you the best Mr Means!!! Sending Healing Love and Light!!! Carmela
This Ojibwe always has and always will stand alongside my Native American/First Nations family, immediate or extended. Enough is enough. Well done Russell; may others be inspired by the movement and follow in your footsteps. I would gladly renounce all my European ancestry if I could...Sometimes my mixed racial heritage makes me sick and resent myself. I look forward to the day, even if it's not during my lifetime, that the U.S. and Canada finally acknowledge their crimes against humanity...and do something about it. I'm glad to know the Lakota Sioux Nation is not willing to wait for that day and has taken a stand.
If you go, there will truly be no America left. If you go, you will have succumbed to a small percentage of people who are more ignorant and greedy and ugly and I don't think the World can take another round of the good and decent leaving and the crooked cowards scooping up to hoard hat others have worked so hard to build and preserve. I am white. My ancestors were driven here from Europe. My people are not part of the gang that murdered your people and stole your land. My people have sufferred the same fate in the past and are sufferring the same now. It isn't Red against White. It is ignorant vs. Compassionate. Not Have vs Have Not, but Have learning value from Have Not. And so much more. Politics is toxic right now......bring Medicine.
Now here is a man I would vote for President. He has the wisdom to lead not only Native Americans into a better future, but all Americans. I applaud you in your stand and efforts to reclaim what is rightfully yours and sincerely hope you succeed. I do not know if I have any Indian blood in me but I stand with you in spirit. May you truly be blessed!
This was very well done and thank you to the producers for allowing Russell Means to speak his peace without interpreting his words. He is a well spoken and intelligent man whom we would be wise to let inform the economic and political future for this country.
I have one criticism of this production and that is that the music is clearly not American Indian or Sioux, but is a middle eastern, slow belly dance rhythm. I would prefer to hear some of this culture's music instead.
Yes, Teresa, it's a Chiftetelli/Taksim rhythm and a middle eastern nay playing. That is right! :-)
I am white, but I am a native in my heart. I would always stand with you, with all natives. Of course. There is no question about that! And many people think and feel like me. Don't underestimate the amount of your friends in this world. And I don't think that the culture is dead at all! It is coming back. That is what the prophecies say, too.
Stephen Lendman should have spelled the name correctly: REPUBLIC OF LAKOTAH
http://www.republicoflakotah.com/
white.wolf_43
I am not US citizen, but I am from far Central Asia, and I always felt bad and mad for how your land was taken away from you, and your nations had to go through genocide, whole world knows about it. What is sad that even nowadays the world don`t hear anything about modern Native Americans, their present live style, and sadly Native American culture is not stated as a part of US or even people. Nothing can be changed about past, but perhaps the future can cange for a better. You deserve respect, recognition and your land with all it`s treasures should have belong to you. I wish you lot`s of patience and strength to keep on doing what you are doing for such a long time. I will pray for you. with love and respect, CA.
keep up the fight and never back down, proud till the end
I am a human being. I believe Russell Means to be a very informed and intelligent human being as well. We need to hear these words of truth. Tonight while others watched a presidential debate, I was educating myself to the truth as I have always known it. I am far from my own tribe but this helped me to think more, to work harder and educate not only myself but my children. I believe in the Native American Indians and will stand with them in their endeavor for truth and what is right. It is time, now is the time for all the people to start coming together. You are right Russell Means we must stand by The Constitution, know our Constitution and fight for our Constitution! Peace, Strength and Knowledge be with you.
TALK TALK TALK ...............where is the action
SO, WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO ...??? hOW FAR ARE YOU WILLING TO GO.??? who is ready and willing to take up the challenge to stand tethered to a spot of your land and ready to defend your rights to which the creator only has the right to take away. If I alone return to do this who will stand there next to me instead of hiding in a comfortable hotel room and talking as they were a fighter for freedom of our Native ways.. who will>>? I ask . who would be true to the fight and not be scared to stand against the usa ..?? Would we have any allies for they must come to be judged equal to the task to stand with us....Just as a certain number of native people fought the battle of the greasy grass, and as example those whitemen stood the challenge against Santa Ana at the alamo...this means no fence riders ,no politicians,no more negotiations, and beware the spies for they shall be found ..laid out and skinned as an example that we mean business ....no one hides in hotels and only shows up when there is a news crew coming to take film.. It must be all or nothing .... Let's see how many are ready to do this as our grandfathers... drive out those from the designated lands. > : Signed documents were delivered to the State Department. Sovereignty was declared. The Republic of Lakota was established. It's based on the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. It created the Great Lakota (Sioux) Nation. It states in part:
"The territory of the Sioux or Dahcotah Nation, commencing the mouth of the White Earth River, on the Missouri River; thence in a southwesterly direction to the forks of the Platte River; thence up the north fork of the Platte River to a point known as the Red Buts, or where the road leaves the river; thence along the range of mountains known as the Black Hills, to the head-waters of Heart River; thence down Heart River to its mouth; and thence down the Missouri River to the place of beginning." How many would stand let us count starting with ONE .
I am 62 years old and this was one of the best 90 minutes I have spent in my life.
One thing he didn't point out was how native people where used as slave's just as the black's in usa time's. It sad because native where all over the north america. I would have think he would call him self the people of north america not america. Why...because that what they where native where all over North america. It is some what sad how Canada is or sound close to what he has said. It very sad when a power of one group has grip's on many other groups is when being human is nothing. Governments know people are just living rental property's
My great grandmother was full blood and was murdered shortly after she had my grandfather. He spent his entire life denying his hertiage and passed that on to the rest of our family. Before he crossed I begged him to tell me more. I never heard my grandfather raise his voice or say a single mean thing to me my entire life. But when I pressed him for more information he became very upset and yelled at me that I didnt understand, it was legal to kill indians back then, indians werent able to go into stores or even be in town. He yelled at me that I didnt know what I was talking about and I needed to leave it alone. I know he was trying to protect me and I understood and loved him, but it hurt so bad. I cant explain the feelings I felt from him.. fear and shame and loss I guess would come close
i am descended from black slaves on one side and oppressed irish on the other and have always felt an overwhelming desire for freedom.had a horrible repressed controlled childhood which probably helped bring this to the fore.
I live in the south pacific and we tend to know more about the rest of the world than the rest of the world bother to learn about us, so have read many things on the plight of the native americans. it is heartbreaking the way wholes nations were just butchered. They did their best to wipe these people off the face of the earth. The usa makes a big deal of sending millions of dollars to help 3rd world countries and spend billions on fighting wars that they have no business being in. What happened to the old adage "charity begins at home" There are so many white people there on poverty line and all the native americans living well below the poverty line. These billions of dollars would be far better spent improving the lives within the usa who desperately need it. I knew things were bad with the people but didnt realize that they were this bad. They were proud nations and they had some great men. Such a pity they were destroyed because of the greed and callousness of white men. Makes me ashamed of the white blood in my veins. There is always hope, and as long as hope remains there is a chance for success. My wee nation stood up to the mighty usa and won. Please Russell never give up hope and never give up your fight for your people.
I am part-Cheyenne, when my full blooded grandfather was alive he taught me the language. I wish I could remember all of what he said to me. As a child you just don't understand the importance of it all. Now that he is gone, so is the wealth of knowledge he had to offer.
I would love to renounce my US citizenship for a Native one! I wish that more people would take their blinders off so there could be a true revolution!! I don't know if this quote from Chief Two Eagles is true or an internet lore but I think it still fits perfectly.
“When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work. Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex. Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that.”
i would like to know why we lost a whole county in 1910 from pine ridge and sold off by the gov. its not all fun and games im a 1/4 indian great grandpa liked to drink but had a succesful working ranch on and off the res. my grandma grew up on the res. and mission schools and nuns and priest would beat them for speaking the native tongue so she only remember some she was in the schools after the 1948 convention sooo ya it helped a lot ,ya right !!we were in wounded knee in 1973 great grand-pa ,grandma and my mom .... great grand-pa helped family and friends all the time gave them jobs and food and beef.In 1978 fellow lakota killed his breeding stock horses and cattle and burned the ranch to the ground why hurt your own fellow man who tryed to help the cause .. my grand ma lives now in a nurcing home with a broken heart the ranch has never been rebuilt ..... im still proud of my latota blood but would like to understand why we tend to hurt each other more than help?????
Let us hear more. I will stand with you as will many others.
Wow you give them too much credit...rich and powerful cough cough. . .they pull money out of thin air for their magic carpet ride. . . It's not the settlers. . .they were trying to get away from the turds. . . and saw their share of the genocide and wars after war after war after war. . .and black priests. . .get my drift. . just a bunch of idolators. . who say 'possession is 99 percent of the it" yeah right. . .notice I didn't say earth. . anything living disappears with these apes. . .their working for someone else who isn't upstairs.
PLZ.. the rich and powerful. . .LOLOLOLOLOL it really sounds like something out of OZ
I will stand by your side ...this happened to my people here in australia I am a Ngaatajarra Wonkatja person from the western deserts of central australia my people have been living here for more than 70,000 yrs and the wotjela(white) folk came here less than 200 yrs ago & say that our country is now theirs. they sent not 1 army person here but took it by writing on a peice of paper that they own it...the govt is a collection of liars thieves and unscrupulous folk who have no heart...walaya ngaamadiki this land is our mother
I congratulate you and your people for standing up against the tyranny of this so-called "free" land of ours! I am white on the outside but 1/4 red Huron on the inside! I know of genocide, our whole peoples where wiped out with the blankets they first gave to us! I have spent my life searching for history of my people, and not with much luck. Most of the people in this country owe their lives to the original Native American Indians, without them they would have perished! And yet they were scorned and killed as "wild, uncivilized natives". Who was actually being wild and uncivilized by taking land and subjecting our people to these horrors! We will never forget and this should be taken to the UN and demand that the US as a nation stop the Genocide and return land to our people, the rightful owners! The Jews were never persecuted as much as the Native Americans! The worst part is that it still happens today! Where I live in the NW in Washington State the Native populations have a few more rights and are more respected here! The only thing I don't like is when they turn to the White man's means of making money and open up more Casinos and gambling places! At least they can make money on their cigarette sales here! But they seem to be following in the white man's footsteps. Will this money go to the nation as a whole? I have not seen that. In fact I don't hear any peeps from the native culture here. Why can't all the tribal nations stand together as one and create a united front? You would have so much more power if ALL Native Peoples joined together!
I grieve that somehow all this hard work will be for naught if no-one else picks up the ball after Russell Means has passed! I sincerely hope he mentored many that can continue the fight! I wish the best to all of you! Many Blessings from Grandmother and Grandfather! May the light surround you and the love of the elders guide you!
May God bless you and your family, its people like you that have made my existence with the freedom that I have had. for that I am truly grateful.When God calls me home I'm hoping to meet you up there in heaven. Sincerely Reva Maria Johnson
Acts that can be considered as genocide
any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
— Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II
Population history of American indigenous peoples
From the 1490s when Christopher Columbus set foot on the Americas to the 1890 massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee by the United States military,
the indigenous population of the Western Hemisphere may have declined, the direct cause mostly from disease, to 1.8 from as many as 100 million.
All this, and yet no US trail has ever taken place, to give the Indian back what was taken, or to pay them for the land and lives lost.
Everything we are taught as children in public schools is basically a lie.
It is a lie...not basically a lie. It is a lie. And it continues today.
Sooner or later US has to face up to genocide caused by Europeans and then Non Native Americans
So does this mean we need to send our disability checks back ? Who is going to surport that 86 % unemployment in the rez area.
Some one has to answer for what happend they are quick a pointing fingers at other countrys for the killings they have to answer for there own killings to i hope to be alive to see your people get what they deserve back...i wish you all the best of luck and my best wishes go with you all...never stop fighting...for what is yours by right and birth and ancestors....ive all ways thought of you as the first and only american people..You are strong and have a heart like my own Scottish people..keep the good fight going...You are and have all ways been a great nation of people... BRAVE..was and is the perfect name for you all...My love and wishes of good luck to you all..♥
Very well said.
Be well
Very well said.
Be well
My grandfather and grandmother came out of Tennessee to Southern Illinois with some of the family. Grandmother said they were ran out by invading nightriders who stole and burned their homes. Grandfather only would say he went to school with Indian children. When asked if he had Indian lineage, he would say the past is best left and not told. He also said some of his cousins went west. After doing geneology research, I find that many of mixed bloods did not register and would not admit to being of Indian heritage. He did admit the family had to leave most everything, including land and livestock behind. My mom always said how much he loved his beloved mountains of Tennessee.
not one word to speak im sorry about your life but I will stand by you no matter what! the governor lies everything ! its shame !