Sioux Indians of Lakota Tribe Tell State Dept. of Succession

[chauism]

Le Monde, France

Sioux Indians of Lakota Tribe

Tell State Dept. of Succession


"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America … We are legally within our rights to be free and independent."



-- Russell Means, Leader of Lakota Delegation to Washington



By Corine Lesnes, Washington Correspondent



Translated By William Kern



December 23, 2007



France - Le Monde - Original Article (French)

A group of Lakota Indians has decided to secede from the United States . On December 17, a delegation arrived in Washington to inform American authorities. The leader of the group, writer, actor and activist Russell Means, submitted a letter to State Department officials announcing their decision to sever treaties signed in 1851 [Treaty of Mendota and Traverse De Sioux ] and 1868 [Treaty of Fort Laramie ]. "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," Russell Means explained at a press conference organized at a Church on Washington.



[Editor's Note: An earlier press release said, "Our treaties with the United States government are nothing more than worthless words on worthless paper - repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life." Lakota reservations recognized by the U.S. government include Ogalala Ogalala, Sicangu, Hunkpapa, Mniconjou, Izipaco, Siha Sapa, and Ooinupa. Some Lakota also live on other Sioux reservation in eastern South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska.]



To limit any repercussions, the American government didn't respond to the gesture. The secessionist group has announced its intent to distribute passports and driver's licenses, but it doesn't represent tribal leaders. Mr. Means, who tried to obtain the presidency of the Oglala Sioux in 2006, wasn't elected. At his press conference held in the presence of Bolivia's ambassador to Washington [Gustavo Guzman] - who declared his support for the activists - he admitted that the initiative was not unanimous.



[Ambassador Guzman was also quoted as saying, "We are here because the demands of indigenous people of America are our demands … We have sent all the documents they presented to the embassy to our ministry of foreign affairs in Bolivia and they'll analyze everything."]



"I want to emphasize, we do not represent the collaborators, the Vichy Indians and those tribal governments set up by the United States of America to ensure our poverty, to ensure the theft of our land and resources," Means said. The Lakota are one of the tribes the form the United Sioux Nation and its members are some of the most underprivileged people in the United States. The Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota has a poverty rate rivaling any found in the third world: Ninety seven percent live below the poverty level, 85 percent are jobless and average life expectancy for men stands at 44 years.



In 1980, the Lakota refused a [Supreme Court] decision that granted them no land, but a sum of $122 million. Situated on the Great Plains far from tourists, the Pine Ridge reservation has received no benefit from the casinos that have benefited other tribes.



[Editor's Note: The Lakota have long claimed that the U.S. government stole land guaranteed by treaty - especially in western South Dakota. Means said at his press conference, "The Missouri River is ours, and so are the Black Hills." A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1980 awarded the tribes $122 million as compensation, but not the land. The Lakota have refused the settlement. (As interest accrues, the unclaimed award is approaching $1 billion.)

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/68076-sioux-indians-lakota-tribe-tell-state-dept-succession.html

I know this article was old, but I just found out recently.

My question is how come no one, and no major medias in the world paid any attention to those people as they had with Tibetans.

 

[CardSharp]

I know this article was old, but I just found out recently.

My question is how come no one, and no major medias in the world paid any attention to those people as they had with Tibetans.

Hi Chauism, I suspect you already know the answer. lol

The world is unfair, and despite what well-meaning apologists say, fairness is something that has to be fought for.

 

[chauism]

Hi Chauism, I suspect you already know the answer. lol

The world is unfair, and despite what well-meaning apologists say, fairness is something that has to be fought for.

You should check out their wiki page.

Republic of Lakotah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[CardSharp]

The Lakotah lost the age old game of tribal warfare. Americans may not like to call it that but that's what it was. White settlers caused a tribal displacement on the scales of the Gothic Migrations of the Roman period.

The Sioux (sub tribe of the Lakotah) by the late 19th century having seen all of the eastern tribes go down in flames against the white man, realize they couldn't fight and win. So caught between white people and other tribes, they decided to wage a genocidal war against the Crows in the west hoping to displace them and buying themselves a bit of time.

Here is a war speech by a chef that is telling in their intentions

"Today when the sun sets, there will be no more Absarokee [Crow] left! We will kill all their warriors and even the old men; we will save their young boys and raise them to become Dakota [Sioux] warriors, and we shall marry their wives and daughters to raise more warriors to fight the whites when they follow us to our new land"

Though they were more successful than others, all still came to naught against the steady encroachment of white settlers.

I've always found it odd how these Amerindian genocide victims get romanticized in American popular culture, as if Genocide is ok if we are sad about it afterwards and make movies about you.