Lakota Nation Secedes?-Drudge Report

What's this aboot? http://drudgereport Couldn't find anything meaty.

 

You may be referring to the Republic of Lakotah....or something like that formed in 2007. Haven't heard too much about it....I could not get the link for the drudgereport to work for me but my computer acts up pretty often. Russel Means seems to have his hand in this activity. Guess maybe they are finally trying to get some traction?

 

Here's something: http://www.republicoflakotah.com/wp...letter-to-President-of-the-United-States2.pdf

5 million dollars a day penalty?...Check last page of document if you don't have the patience to read whole doc...This is funny.

 

HA...As of 10:00 Mountain Time, Drudge no longer lists that bit..Hmmm.

 

Here's an archived page from the DrudgeReport website which shows the story in question. The link goes to a blog on cnsnews.com, but appears to be broken or removed, which explains why it was dropped from the DrudgeReport.

 

Before anyone reads a lot into the actions of Russel Means they should read this report from AIM itself. Things should be considered in this light, a sad situation no matter how you look at it.
http://www.aimovement.org/moipr/onrussellmeans.html

 

Sorry I am posting again....This news source says it is a second happening of secession. Welcome to The Voice of Dothan - WWNT 1450 AM

 

Personally, I don't blame the Native Americans from wanting to get out from under the federal Government. The Feds have treated the American Indians like red haired stepchildren and made them highly dependent upon Uncle Sugar. The feds have does this to the Blacks in America as well but a lot more subtlety . Now they are trying like heck to get the rest of us (Hispanics first, then Caucasians) dependent upon Uncle Sugar too. So much for Liberty and Freedom. Just my opinion.

 

A little off-subject, but I was completely fascinated with Native Americans when I was a child. I wanted to be a Native American because I so greatly admired the "lifestyle" (I don't mean to be insulting, I know there are many different Native American tribes and cultures, more than one lifestyle). I've always had a great deal of respect for them.

But I had to wonder, as an adult, why I was so obsessed with them as a kid when I was so far removed from that culture, I was a little girl living in the mid-west, and realized that I must have been hearing about the activities going on with AIM during the 70's. It's obviously was something I picked up on.

If I recall correctly, there was a great deal of in-fighting and issues among the members of the American Indian Movement, which caused a lack of cohesion and upheaval. And, of course, a great deal of pressure from the outside, and the violent episodes, so there were a lot of issues.

I don't know enough about the organization to know what any of this means. I couldn't bring up anything on the links above, so I tried to find something on the Internet and found articles about Means announcing the Lakota Nation was breaking away in 2007, and then in 2008(?) and now again, so I am not clear on what is happening, other than the announcements.

I read Means's autobiography a few years back - he is, shall I say, a very big personality. I also read that he is fighting cancer.

 

Sounds a lot like what goes on in Congress.

 

Quebec or any native band- go ahead...see how you do on your own. ...They are utterly dependent on the government nipple....We'd be so much better off if we didn't have to spoon feed those two... And the incredibly ridiculous language laws, makes it seem Quebec doesn't want to be together other than in a monetary sense. Quebec Election 2012: Parti Quebecois Says They Would Strengthen Language Laws Within 100 Days ...The lawyers are working overtime, hoping they win the destruction of Canada.
..And what does everyone think would have happened if Akwesasne - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia occurred in the USA? Or any other country.

 

As a woman you very likely wouldn’t have liked their “lifestyle”. They were very much male dominated and survival orientated. Every day was a struggle and women did most of the labor. Most of what the world knows of Native American culture is tainted by Hollywood.

Internal politics and in-fighting has always been the bain of the Natives, we have never had a sense of being one people, even among the Tribes. We clung to our tribes, clans, and families at the expense of the “big picture” - we still do. Tribal politics, especially in the affluent Tribes (Casino’s and now gas and oil) are brutal.

My people, the Muscogee Creek, fought a war with the US and the majority of us sided with Andrew Jackson and fought their own people. Without this aid Jackson probably couldn’t have won - yet when the war was over Jackson used the fact that some Creeks dared to defy the US as a pretext to confiscated nearly all the Tribe’s land, even the land of the people who fought with him.

The Natives of Canada (the “First Nationers”) have been much better at organizing than we in the US. In a recent conversation with one of them he was astounded that we couldn’t get together.

Russell Means is an activist and we need more like him, but he has an agenda and not all the Lokata agree with him; and absolutely not all other Natives in the US will agree.

My ex-wife, the mother of my sons, is Assiniboine (Lakota). I wish them well.

 

A very good book on the Plains Indians especially the Comanche is the "The Empire of the Summer Moon" by S. C. Gwynne. muscogeemike is spot on how women were treated. And if you were a captured adult female (white or other tribes/band) it got a whole lot worse! Gwynne quotes fro one such individual female in Texas in the 1840s.

 

We are getting far afield from the Lakota seceding, but I must include this. "Clemintine" might be wishing for a non-existent reality in the post colonial history, but I think that something that is being rather “generalized”, and misunderstood (all deference to our Amerindian contributors) is that until the arrival of the European colonists (from a patriarchal society), the aboriginal populace of the North American land-mass north of the Rio Grande was not only widely diverse from tribe to tribe, but also from band to band within the “tribe divisions”. However in many cases the control was really matriarchal, and remains so in many tribes like the Navajo even today. In those societies, the women inherited property and passed it on, decided subjects concerning divorce and marriage, ran the homes, and were the more powerful members of the tribe or band in many respects.

Inheritance of property and goods went through the mother to those in or out of the extended family, and they were regarded the guardians of life (birth, raising the children, and medicine), while the men were the guardians of death (protecting the tribe, and supplying the animal protein for consumption).

Priscilla K. Buffalohead in her 1983 work; Farmers, Warriors, Traders: A Fresh Look at Ojibway Women, states that until recently it was assumed that traditional Native American women were no better off than slaves (pp.236-44). Klein and Ackerman (1995) believe this is because the first missionaries saw the hard work that the women did and reported that the tribal women were drudges (p.6). Most often Native women were not even mentioned historically because the first traders and missionaries to come in contact with Native tribes did not see them as important (Klein & Ackerman, 1995, p.3). This could have been due to the popular opinion that European women were frail and helpless which made the hard work performed by the Aboriginal women look arduous (Voyageur,1993, p.85). The invisibility of women in history is beginning to change yet even feminist scholars are guilty of seeing tribal women as valuable only to illuminate the origins of sexism (Buffalohead, 1983, pp.236-244). This opinion, however, is proving to be incorrect. We are now coming to learn that many tribal societies were based on egalitarian cultural traditions, concerned less with the equality of the sexes and more with the dignity of individuals and their inherent right to make their own choices and decisions (Buffalohead, 1983, pp.236-244).

In the Iroquois tribes of New York women had the political right to nominate and recall (male) civil chiefs, they controlled and managed their families, they had the right to divorce and could determine how many children they would raise (Buffalohead, 1983, pp. 236-244). The earliest historians still reported that the women were exploited and mistreated which they used to justify policies forcing Natives to adopt the religion and life style of Euro-American society (Buffalohead, 1983, pp. 236-244). An elitist attitude prevailed that Indians were savages in need of fixing and Native women were particularly invisible as European men viewed all women as inferior (Voyageur, 1993, p. 85). The attitude that European culture was superior to that of the Native people led to bias in the observers so that they failed to comprehend the full range of women's economic roles or their political and social power within their societies (Voyageur, 1998, p.85).

In Blackfoot society a woman owned the products of her labor including the tipi that her family lived in (Kehoe, 1995, p.114). A woman was judged by the quality of her work and treated with respect in reference to her good work (Kehoe, 1995, p.115). Women were seen as powerful due to their ability to give life (Kehoe, 1995, p.120). She was so powerful that it was she who unwrapped and rewrapped holy bundles because a man would not be able to handle this power directly without her intersession (Kehoe, 1995, p. 116). A woman's superior spiritual power is seen in her ability alone to hold the Sun Dance ceremony (Kehoe, 1995, p.116). Women are Shaman's as often as men are and bring blessings to the people (Kehoe, 1995, p.117). These show that traditionally Blackfoot women had power, freedom and autonomy.

It was understood in most Native cultures that men and women's work is of equal value and is complimentary. Men hunted and women processed the fruit of his hunts. One did not function well without the other. Each person worked for the betterment of the band and power was counted in the possessions one had that they would then give away (Kehoe, 1995, p.114). It was actually through the giving away of gifts that Natives gained prestige and power (Kehoe, 1995, p.115). One more bit of evidence that women had power and respect was that traditionally many societies, including the Iroquois, Cherokee and Navajo were matriarchal and some were matrilocal (Maltz & Archambault, 1995, pp.234-236). Unfortunately European patriarchal ideology has taken over in most contemporary Native societies. In the past most Native women were considered equal to men. They had power politically, spiritually, medically and generally in everyday life.

Goto:

Native American Women, Past, Present and Future

 

I must add a little information.......we cannot generalize across the vast array of cultures that make up the American Indian, each group has its own identity, culture and customs. When you bring up the treatment of the female you must study the tribes and determine what group specifically you wish to generalize over. It is kind of relevant for me who lives near the tribes of New Mexico of which there are so many, to note that the Navajo was in the past a matriarchal society. So if you saw these women working at a job and laboring over it....you could simply conclude that was by her choice.....as in this matriarchal society she was in charge of a great deal of decisions although there were cultural expectations that also influenced what a person would "do". I value the friendships, the culture, the hard work, the stamina, and many other things living in New Mexico amongst this vast array of cultures has brought to my entire life, since childhood. In my mind I make a separation for the "politics" that befell the native population, and their values and culture which are not the same thing. If they are on the "dole" it is because of items of the past I had no control of and neither did my contemporary counterpart with in the tribe. How to change things to make it better is an eternal quest they are engaged in with government rigidity working against anything that solves permanently. When they serve our country at war they have overcome all the difficulties within their own lives to contribute to all of our welfare as a nation. I really have respect for soldiers that serve from the tribes and many do not get the recognition of the great "Code Talkers" but serve successfully anyway. Even the Code Talkers were silent until it was permitted for them to speak of the secrets of their contributions and how great that was to finally learn what they did for all of us.

The American Indian Movement often has expressed distance from the ways of Russel Means and I for one certainly understand why if you study Mr. Means in some detail. I would add to that by saying that many natives do not like all of the goals of the American Indian Movement and we should be cognizant of that as well. Some are very tired of the extreme elements always the subject of the attention of the press and media while their immediate needs are ignored. I am for all people to learn more about the natives of this country but we must realize there are many needs there, and they are not the same from group to group but rather need more individual solutions based on the cultural needs as well, so the government approach of one solution fits all, will not ever work. The failure of one size fits all, is the reason tribes end up on the "dole". That is the only government solution that can be administered when all other things fail. This is an area where outsiders can contribute a lot of criticism, but nothing constructive........so for me there is a conundrum we all face here......so we should encourage those whom we know to work towards solutions of their liking that money is not always a solution for. All that I can say is their presence in my life has been an enriching experience through the years and I am thankful for their presence in my life and country. The problems are many, the solutions rare, so let us all be supportive and encouraging when criticism is so much easier. The incidence of suicide, drugs, and all the ailments of society are present here working against all of us when discouragement wins over hope. It boils down to that for me. I believe I may be 1/8 Apache but have not been raised in the traditional ways....rather I was pretty much raised by Hispanic traditions, next to my good anglo and native classmates. (a typical New Mexico upbringing) I am just realizing Brndirt had a post up before me addressing many of my concerns so a tip of my hat to him ......very often I am a slow poster and rather dense at times, having to edit and re-edit just to make a small amount of sense, correcting so many mistakes I will have to ask forgiveness for....sorry for the mistakes I must miss. Alas I would also say, don't feel overwhelmed when trying to gain an understanding of cultures of our country.....I have studied since college and learn many new things daily and weekly so you are not behind at all..........if you have made a beginning at studying our problems relating to this subject. I found Clementines interest at learning to be commendable as it is a fascinating subject to explore the ways we view things differently from those who have lived here first.

 

Women were oppressed in many, many cultures, and still are, so it would have been the same in any number of societies. My father's mother bore 13 children and worked herself to death, I daresay I wouldn't have cared much for that lifestyle either.

I apologize before I even say this, I am very lacking in knowledge and do not mean any disrepect, I was always interested/impressed by the Native American respect for the land, and spiritual ideas and what seemed to me to be a more common sense approach to life, more than what the supposedly "civilized" society exhibited, if that makes sense. That is what I was trying express, albeit very clumsily.

 

Victor Gomez.... Very well said.

IMO, It is a national shame the way our country has failed the Native Americans. The cultural ways of the diverse tribes was banded and labeled by us, the European Settlers. When 2 cultures collide, the one with the majority wins... Instead of a partnership in the new country, we divided and corralled a brilliant people. It never should have happened.

I'm here due to German immigrants from the German Lutheran Flotilla. Instead of bringing my folks into Ellis Island, New York, they brought them up into middle America through New Orleans. They were needed to farm the Mississippi and Missouri rivers valleys. The folks on my mother's side settled in Maries County, Missouri, around the Osage and Gasconade Rivers.

The settlers of Maries County embraced and befriended the local Osage Indians tribe. We helped doctor them, building permanent shelter and together they grew crops. It's been documented in historical records that Germans and The Osage held picnics and meat shoots all summer long. On Sunday's the Germans held services in our family chapel, the local Osage assembled in the neighboring grove.After services it was picnic on ! In our family Chapel, a Osage Chief is buried along side our family. His headstone is hand carved and chiseled.

Find A Grave: Skaggs Chapel Cemetery

It's not the only time settlers and indigenous people got along, but it was too few....

 

I would agree Steve....there is a very large variance as to how different groups got along with the natives of this country. I would add that in certain states/regions there was little to no co-operation but I would add that in New Mexico the recognition of the vast majority of Pueblos was recognized by Spain as a vice royalty or city state and had a governance for themselves that was passed on through the treaties the U.S. signed and pretty much honored giving a unique ability of those Pueblos listed to have traditional governance since those days. I believe this has blessed New Mexico with a very large diversity just within the native groups that has increased the cultural richness of the region although it has remained quite lacking in resources to sustain and continue everything. Some groups do better than others as you would expect, many problems remain. Eventually under the U.S. government the plains Indians were defeated that often wreaked a havoc on settlers and the Pueblos which is a separate story altogether, yet our understanding tends to fail to understand the vast difference in their history as part of our heritage in what we "ought" to know about it all.

 

Without doing any research I think I know this story (the capture woman) and after she got back to her family she was treated badly and didn't she eventually (I think) kill herself?

 

The book I cited is more about the conflict of Comanches with Texicans, Mexicans, Apaches,and others but Cynthia Ann Parker was only part of the book. She didn't exactly commit suicide but it was a sad ending.

From Wiki-Pedia
Cynthia Ann Parker, or Naduah (also sometimes spelled "Nadua" and "Nauta," meaning "someone found"; some research has shown that the name Naduah actually means "Keeps Warm With Us"), (ca 1827–1870) was an American woman of old colonial stock of Scots-Irish descent who was captured and kidnapped at the age of nine by a Comanche war band, who massacred her family’s settlement. She was adopted by the Comanche and lived with them for 24 years, completely forgetting her European ways. She married a Comanche chieftain, Peta Nocona, and had three children with him, including the last free Comanche chief Quanah Parker. She was "rescued" at age 34, by the Texas Rangers. She spent the remaining 10 years of her life refusing to adjust to life in white society. At least once she escaped and tried to return to her Comanche family and children, but was again "rescued" and brought back to Texas. She had difficulty in understanding her iconic status to the nation, which saw her as having been redeemed from "savages". Heartbroken over the loss of her family, she stopped eating and died of influenza in 1870.