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A delegation from the Lakota Indian Tribe, an Indian nation on United States soil, have signed a document stating that their tribe withdraws and or cancels all treaties with the U.S. and formally establish independence from the country. The letter was hand delivered by activists for the tribe to Deputy to the Public Liaison at the State Department, Daniel Turner.
"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. This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution. It is also within the laws on treaties passed at the Vienna Convention and put into effect by the US and the rest of the international community in 1980. We are legally within our rights to be free and independent," said Russell Means, an activist for Native American rights to reporters at a press conference on Wednesday in Washington, D.C..
The delegation wrote a formal letter to the Department of State which was hand-delivered by activists of the tribe announcing their secession. So far, the U.S. has not issued a public response regarding their decision. Wikinews attempted to contact the State Department, but in an e-mail Director of the Office of Media Affairs Kirsten Petree stated that "this is not an issue for the State Department" and referred us to the Department of the Interior.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Lakota activists declare secession from US
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9 comments:
I can't understand why this story has not been picked up by the major networks and wires. Only USA Today has run this. All the rest are small time outfits.
When was the last time US citizens (are they?) seceded from the US and declared their own sovreign nation?
Thats because all the big time outfits are well aware that the story is outright false. The activists who announced the with drawl have no more authority to speak for the Lakota then my white butt.
They do have the authority to do this -- and it isn't false. They represent around 70,000 Lakota Natives that remain in the region, plus more that are uncounted for.
I'm all for their independence, it was their land to begin with.
Hey they do have all the right to become a sovereign nation. the united states has no legal claim to the land. especially with all the treaties that have been signed in the past twenty years, the lakota have placed themselves in a great spot for nationhood. while i would love to see the united states stay united i do not believe manifest destiney meant starting the trail of tears and many of the other major abuses of power our nation has done to the native americans. our nation has been marked with this stain of indian abuse form Jackson to our modern day reservations. It is time that the native americans get there due. We never promised them anything, no 40 acres and a mule, not even an apology. So while i would love to see our nation together, i do not see a legitamet reason for stopping the lakota on there mission to independence.
It is odd that there is not much news coverage of this.
When the Baltic States declared their independence from teh Soviet Union the Soviet media were silent. It's all part of the strategy. Don't expect to hear anything about this in US media.
Study what happened in the Singing Revolution and be prepared for a similar chain of events here. Be prepared for a violent event. The only defence the Lakota have are their bodies. If they go out in mass, they will win. If they do not, they will loose. That's all there is to it.
But don't expect to hear about it either way in US media!
Yes, this is a group of activists headed by Russell Means. He has run for president of the Oglala Lakota on several occasions and lost, so that shows what kind of support his policies have among his people. However, I think there may be an argument that the existing tribal government is a structure imposed by the US government without consent from the Lakota themselves. Still, it is simply untrue that Means and the other activists speak for the tribe as a whole. If the majority of the Lakota people do get behind this, however, regardless of whether the official tribal government supports it, it should be considered valid.
The Lakota have no claim to the land they are claiming either they took it from other Native American tribes.
This is NOT the soviet union where the government controls all media.
The government actually has offered them 40 ares and a mule to the Lakota in a manner of speaking a large cash settlement now worth over 1 billion dollars. As of yet the Lakota leadership has rejected the settlement and it continues to gain interest. Granted for the 70'000 Lakota that equals out to only 14,000 dollars per person but you can't simply say they've been offered nothing.
Fact is the U.S government conquered the Native Americans it was bloody it was brutal it was inhumane but thats the nature of conquest the Native Americans new the nature of conquest when they went to war and slaughtered each other. And Native Americans did war among themselves often allying with the U.S army if it suited their interests.
The only difference is the U.S won by a large margin.
So if the Native Americans can take land from the people already living their.
Its not a one sided story no matter anyone tells you. Both sides commited atrocies againts one another.
No country in the world feels worse about the common practices of war it commits then our country.
Means intends to take back land but what about the people living on that land.
I've managed to dig up a map which can be see here.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lakotanation.jpg
Isn't taking Land from the people living in those area just as wrong as when the United States took it from them. Wouldn't that make the Lakota guilty of stealing the homes from people who've lived there for generations.
How would feel if the U.S government said you had to abandon your home and move because they were giving that land to the some group forming their own nation.
The Lakota becoming their own nation will solve nothing in terms of their problems. They'd still have all the problems they have now which will be multiplied by the lack of federal aid and the Mob of hostile Americans who lost their homes and livelihoods in the new nations formation.
For the record, that money was offered by the US government after a long and unsuccessful trial in which the Lakota tried to get back control of the Sacred Black Hills in South Dakota, which were given into their protectorship according to their legends by the White Buffalo Calf Woman, 2000 years ago. The situation is roughly equivalent to the dispute over Jerusalem right now.. it's holy ground, and the US refuses to give it back. The natives have refused their offer because they won't settle for anything less than their tribal and spiritual rights..
The white buffalo as well is important in understanding what's going on here, because these events of state are part of a process that the Lakota and other tribes see as vast change for the world. One of the heralds of the return of this White Buffalo woman is the birth of a white buffalo calf, of which several have been born since 1994.
This is a spiritual, cultural and political crucible... an opening for ways and forces that have been brewing to a head in this country. The outright intolerance and violence with which the US has held the Lakota and now other sovereign and independent nations on soil not theirs, is what has bred this reaction... if they say nothing about it, they will be saying everything.
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