[FoRK] Lakota to US "United States colonial rule is at its end!”

[Tom Higgins]

(I found this over on greylodge.org/gpc the other day. Over the last 8
years or so I have traveled around the area the Lakota live. Last year
I  got the bug to learn the language and stocked up on Lakotian
language books and tapes I found in shops around the Black Hills area.
It will be interesting to see what effect this has on th area when the
family heads back for our yearly trip to the farm.)

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1073/1/

"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."

-

Lakota Freedom Delegation | Lakota Withdrawal Letter, December 17,
2007 | Declaration of Continuing Independence (June, 1974)

-

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.

"In order to stop the continuous taking of our resources – people,
land, water and children- we have no choice but to claim our own
destiny," said Phyllis Young, a former Indigenous representative to
the United Nations and representative from Standing Rock.

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.

Young added, "The actions of Lakota are not intended to embarrass the
United States but to simply save the lives of our people".

Following Monday's withdrawal at the State Department, the four Lakota
Itacan representatives have been meeting with foreign embassy
officials in order to hasten their official return to the Family of
Nations.

Lakota's efforts are gaining traction as Bolivia, home to Indigenous
President Evo Morales, shared they are "very, very interested in the
Lakota case" while Venezuela received the Lakota delegation with
"respect and solidarity."

"Our meetings have been fruitful and we hope to work with these
countries for better relations," explained Garry Rowland. "As a
nation, we have equal status within the national community."

Education, energy and justice now take top priority in emerging
Lakota. "Cultural immersion education is crucial as a next step to
protect our language, culture and sovereignty," said Means. "Energy
independence using solar, wind, geothermal, and sugar beets enables
Lakota to protect our freedom and provide electricity and heating to
our people."

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%.

"After 150 years of colonial enforcement, when you back people into a
corner there is only one alternative," emphasized Duane Martin Sr.
"The only alternative is to bring freedom into its existence by taking
it back to the love of freedom, to our lifeway."

We are the freedom loving Lakota from the Sioux Indian reservations of
Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana who have suffered
from cultural and physical genocide in the colonial apartheid system
we have been forced to live under. We are in Washington DC to withdraw
from the constitutionally mandated treaties to become a free and
independent country. We are alerting the Family of Nations we have now
reassumed our freedom and independence with the backing of Natural,
International, and United States law. For more information, please
visit our new website at www.lakotafreedom.com."