Jomay Steen Journal staff - Posted: Sunday, November 1, 2009 9:20 pm
When it comes to housing, Fred Sitting Up compared the reservation he lives on to a Third World country.
In 1985, because of a disability — he was blinded in his right eye — Sitting Up says he was promised a house by the housing commission.
“It’s been 28 years, and I’m still waiting,” he said.
At the time of her husband’s death, Jessie Pulliam was forced out of government housing that she had called home for years. She now lives with relatives in an unorganized trailer court of nine trailers, two of which have running water and seven have electricity. Electrical cords strung across side yards power space heaters in the other two trailers.
“We struggle every day,” she said.
About a dozen people from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation gave testimony Sunday afternoon on the lack of adequate housing on reservations throughout the United States. It was part of a United Nations investigation on human rights to housing.
Raquel Rolnik, the United Nations Special Rapportueur on the Right to Adequate Housing, toured Wanblee and Porcupine before hearing testimony at the administrative building on the Oglala Lakota College campus near Kyle. It was part of Rolnik’s investigation of conditions in public housing as well as homelessness.
Ina Pacheco of Pine Ridge had received a 14-day notice to vacate her home at Cherry Hill, a complex that houses elderly and disabled people.
Pacheco, a single grandmother living with her daughter-in-law and three children younger than three years old, pleaded with housing officials and was given 60 days to find housing near her work, pack up her belongings and move.
Selected as a family for a proposed new home, she knows it won’t be built by January — when she will need to vacate Cherry Hill.
“We were homeless and will be again,” she said. “There is nowhere else to go.”
Marian White Mouse talked of her family getting a house, then having contractors build it on the wrong land. It took years to trade land for the house, but eventually her mother lost it at her father’s death.
“Adequate housing is a human right,” Rolnik said to the audience of 40 to 50. “We thank you so much for coming, and your testimony.”
Rolnik will visit with President Barack Obama on Friday, when she will talk about what she has seen of housing and homelessness in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Pine Ridge reservation.
The information will also become part of a report to be presented to the United Nations in Geneva in 2010.
“We’ll tell what we have seen, and what we’ve heard, and what we know about housing in the United States,” she said.
Once reported, Rolnik believes it will bring change.
“All these things, I’m going to report to contribute to a better standard of living,” she said.
Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_5317787c-c767-11de-9402-001cc4c002e0.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Bill Means
International Indian Treaty Council
Cell: 612-386-4030
Email: Bill.Means@state.mn.us
UNITED NATIONS OFFICIAL TO VISIT PINE RIDGE RESERVATION TO INVESTIGATE HOUSING
CONDITIONS
San Francisco, CA, October 11, 2009 ? The United Nations (UN) Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, will visit the
Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota on November 1st during her official
visit to the United States where she will be focusing on the human right to
housing. She will investigate conditions in public housing as well as
homelessness, the foreclosure crisis and the lingering impacts of Hurricane
Katrina. South Dakota is one of six states Ms. Rolnik will visit in addition
to Washington, D.C., during her official mission to the U.S. from October 23rd
? November 8th, 2009. Pine Ridge is her only scheduled visit to an Indian
reservation.
The Rappporteur’s visit will provide an opportunity for her to view housing
conditions on Pine Ridge, meet with tribal and community members and examine
the Treaty and Trust obligations of the U.S. Government to the Lakota and
other Indian Nations which includes housing, education, health and other
social services. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
adopted in 2007 by the UN General Assembly, affirms the international
character of these Treaty Rights and the obligations of countries to honor and
uphold them. Housing remains a significant problem on the Pine Ridge
reservation and throughout Indian Country. A preliminary report submitted to
the Rapporteur by the IITC in August of this year, included information
provided by the Oglala Sioux Lakota Housing authority (OSLH), and stated:
“?housing built and indirectly maintained by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (through thoroughly inadequate grants in aid to the
Lakota Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation) is in a deplorable state. Holes in
the wall are inadequately repaired by the residents with duct tape and
cardboard, mold is a constant menace to health, the units are severely
overcrowded, and trash is not collected, among many housing problems. The
Oglala Pine Ridge Reservation also raises another problem of many Indian
Reservations and their relationship to the United States. The Lakota Nation,
among other Indian Nations, is a party to treaties with the United States,
signed in the mid and late 1800′s. Among the United States Treaty Obligations
is the provision of subsistence and housing, guaranteed to them for their
stolen lands and the extermination of their primary means of subsistence, the
Buffalo”.
The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing was created by the UN
Commission on Human Rights in 2000 to examine and report back on the housing
situation in various countries in accordance with international human rights
obligations. The report on her first?time visit to the U.S. will be presented
to the UN Commission on Human Rights in 2010.
American Indian, Alaska, Hawaiian Native and other Indigenous Peoples living
in the U.S. are invited to present information to the Rapporteur during her
visit to Pine Ridge and in the cities listed below. The National American
Indian Housing Council in Washington, D.C., is also hosting a policy briefing
for the Rapporteur on November 7th in which various Tribal and community
leaders will also participate.
For more information on the Pine Ridge visit contact: Bill Means, IITC,
612-386-4030, Bill.Means@state.mn.us, or Andrea Carmen, IITC, 907-745-4482,
andrea@treatycouncil.org.
For more information on the November 7th Indigenous Peoples Policy Briefing in
Washington, D.C. contact: Wendy Helgamo, National American Indian Housing
Council, 202-789-1754, whelgemo@NAIHC.NET.
Lead Organizers and Contact Information for other Site Visits:
Chicago: Willie J.R. Fleming, Coalition to Protect Public Housing at
iamcabrini@gmail.com
Los Angeles: Becky Dennison, Los Angeles Community Action Network (LACAN) at
BeckyD@cangress.org
New Orleans: Sam Jackson, Mayday New Orleans at jackson-action@hotmail.com
New York: Rob Robinson, Picture the Homeless at rob@picturethehomeless.org
Wilkes Barre: Frank Sindaco at frank@nepaorganizingcenter.org
You may also contact Tiffany Gardner, Human Right to Housing Program Director
at NESRI (National Economic and Social Rights Initiative) for general
information about the UN Rapporteur’s upcoming visit to the United States,
tiffany@nesri.org.
A hearing is set for this coming Tuesday in Lewisburg, Pa., where Peltier is incarcerated in a federal prison, according to this story.
Peltier is serving two life sentences for the deaths of two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He has claimed the FBI framed him, which the agency denies. His case has become a cause celebre among activists and celebrities.
A 1992 documentary film, “Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story,” was produced and narrated by Robert Redford. Author Peter Matthiessen’s book, “In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,” which came out that same year, also details the events surrounding Peltier’s case.
Imprisoned Native American Activist Leonard Peltier Parole Hearing
RIGHT NOW, today, Tuesday 28th, 2009!
Video tribute to Leonard Peltier Original music by Buggin Malone
Leonard has been in prison longer than many people convicted of murder. He has been eligible for parole for many years and every appeal has been denied. Both his parents have died while he was incarcerated and he has survived two attempts on his life; had his jaw wired shut after botched surgery and is now suffering from old age. During the 1996 Democratic Convention I asked a Deputy in the Justice Department about Leonard and he told me, "When you first spoke to me, I thought you were crazy. I’m embarrassed to say that everything you told me was the truth. All I can say is that there are some very powerful people in Washington that do not want to see him leave prison alive."
Here are the facts of the case.
In 1973 the highest per capita murder rate in the country was the Sioux reservation at Pine Ridge. The head of Oglalla Sioux police force, a virtual dictator named Dick Wilson and his GOON Squad (Guardians of the Oglalla Nation) were systematically picking off everyone working for electoral reform on the reservation and traditional elders—more than 60 in that year alone. The situation got so bad, that the tribe’s elder women called the American Indian Movement (AIM) for help, and they arrived and set up an encampment, with women and children, schools and kitchens.
In this tense and murderous climate, on June 26, 1975, two FBI agents in unmarked cars followed a pick-up truck onto the Jumping Bull ranch supposedly to serve a warrant on a young boy who had stolen some cowboy boots. It also happened to be the same day that GOON Squad chief Dick Wilson was in Washington, illegally signing away the tribe’s uranium rights to multinational mining corporations. The families immediately became alarmed and feared an attack. Shots were heard and a shoot-out erupted. Tribal police had been readied as back-up outside the ranch, but when they heard the return fire, they abandoned the FBI men who were wounded, then eventually executed at close range. Everyone who was there insists that Leonard was minding the children and not even involved in the gun-fight. When they searched the bodies and found the Federal ID the Native leaders dispersed far and wide, correctly anticipating that the reservation would be over-run ‘y Federal forces. It was, and they shot it to pieces, instituting a week long reign of terror where elders were harassed and beaten, houses burned and shot up, and the native population terrorized.
Leonard was finally captured in Canada and brought to trial where he and his cohorts were freed by an all-white jury. The FBI was enraged and assembled a new case by fabricating evidence, suborning witnesses, breaking the chains of evidence, having witnesses perjure themselves—all errors cited by the Appeals judge who later petitioned on Leonard’s behalf, but despite numerous errors, Leonard was sentenced to life in prison.
His case was masterfully explained by author Peter Mathiessen in his book, The Spirit of Crazy Horse which was kept off bookstore and library shelves for eight years due to a suit brought by two FBI men who did not like the way they were portrayed. More than 16 million people around the world have signed petitions demanding his release. Amnesty International, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Congress of American Indians, the Robert F. Kennedy
Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Rev. Jesse Jackson, among many others, have called Leonard a political prisoner who should be immediately released. Even the government finally admitted they had no idea of who had killed the agents. Native warrior has confessed to the crime, but refuses to turn himself in saying it was an act of war.
29 years later Leonard languishes in prison, a political prisoner, tarnishing the reputation of the legal system of our country; offering cheap propaganda to our enemies, and a reminder of the deep injustice any country is capable of committing when they abandon the rule of law, to seek a predetermined outcome. I have been Leonard’s friend since before he went to prison. I have never abandoned efforts to see him freed and I am asking anyone who hears or reads these remarks to learn something about the case by reading Peter Mathiessen’s book or going to www.freeleonard.org If you do, you will certainly want to do something. You might begin with a call or hand-written letter to your congress-person. Thank you.
SHARE THIS STORY AND VIDEOS BY CLICKING HERE
This story from http://www.NewsForNatives.com
Love him or hate him, Think he should remain in custody or think he never should have been, Please leave your comments below:
Standing Rock Sioux get $30 million casino loan
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is getting a $30 million loan from a Minnesota tribe to upgrade its casino complex in south central North Dakota.
The tribe will use the money for such things as more hotel rooms, an indoor pool and underground parking at Prairie Knights Casino and Lodge.
Construction is set to begin in September and take about 1½ years.
The money is part of $86 million in economic development loans the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux is giving to three tribes, through a charitable giving program funded by profits from its casinos and other ventures.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has about 11,000 members. Its reservation straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.
Find THIS and other Native American News, Politics, Stories and Humor from http://www.NewsForNatives.com
St. Mary was site of memorable Blackfoot Confederacy Conference, Sobriety Campout By John McGill Wednesday, July 1, 2009 10:10 AM MDT
This year’s Blackfoot Confederacy Conference was remarkable in several areas, including the Southern Piegan’s hosting the event. But what was even more remarkable was its being held inside Glacier National Park at St. Mary.
 |
| With Divide Mountain providing a backdrop, traditional Blackfoot lodges made the perfect setting for tipi shops, tipi transfers and the headdress transfer ceremony at St. Mary last week. Photo by John McGill |
A group of traditional Blackfoot lodges graced a space near the St. Mary Visitors Center in Glacier Park, also near a newly made medicine wheel of rocks. This year’s conference was combined with the Blackfeet Chemical Dependency’s Sobriety Campout, and while Confederacy related issues were being discussed and displayed, and ceremonies conducted, the auditorium at Glacier Park’s Visitor Center hosted a series of lectures about chemical dependency, organized by Crystal Creek Lodge.
The Conference opened with painting the rocks at the medicine wheel. Bruce Wolf Child later explained the wheel has an entryway on the east, that being the only proper way to approach the wheel. Blackfeet Councilman Peter Tatsey conducted the opening ceremonies Monday, June 22, with welcomes from Joe Old Chief and Blackfeet Chairman Willie Sharp Jr. Tipis were transferred that first day, under the direction of Herman Yellow Old Woman, and the Blackfeet Manpower program hosted the lunch.
The weather wasn’t very cooperative Monday, but the Conference-Campout continued on Tuesday, with the leadership and elders meeting and breakfasting at the Cattle Baron in Babb. Lunch on Tuesday was presented by Crystal Creek Lodge under sunny skies and cool, windy conditions. The highlight of that day’s activities was a traditional Blackfoot headdress transfer ceremony. Conducted by Bruce Wolf Child, the seldom-seen ceremony was witnessed by a crowd of more than 100 people, surrounded by Glacier County Sheriffs and National Park Service personnel for security.
Because the ceremony is rare, organizers allowed photographs to be taken, but not for profit. The pictures, said Wolf Child, should be used to instruct the nations’ children so the knowledge will not be lost.
Several men were chosen to be honored with the transfer, including Blackfeet Chairman Willie Sharp. Four veterans, representing each of the four bands of the Blackfoot Confederacy, danced and ceremonially "captured" the four men; then the elders painted their faces and conducted an elaborate transfer of the traditional, upright Blackfoot headdresses.
A powwow, stick games and horseback riding into Glacier Park completed the second day’s activities.
Meanwhile, Crystal Creek Lodge began their campout with lectures from Darrell Rides At The Door, Herman Whitegrass and Marilee Crow and ended the day with storytelling. Lectures continued on Tuesday, all of which were conducted in the auditorium at the St. Mary Visitors Center, and Crystal Creek Lodge also turned out to barbecue up a luncheon for everyone in attendance at the twin events.
Breakfast on Wednesday was presented by Crystal Creek Lodge, and leadership meetings and tipi workshops headlined that day’s events in the Confederacy Conference. Stick games and horseback rides were also featured while Crystal Creek continued its lecture series throughout the day on such topics as suicide prevention, healing through humor, youth mentoring and more.
On Thursday, both events came to a close, with the focus slated to have moved to the Stampede Park in Browning.
After the Dakota Conflict in 1862, Congress passed legislation banning Dakota Indians from Minnesota and the Dakotas.Now, over 140 years later, one state lawmaker is asking Congress to repeal the law.
As News 12′s Bryan Piatt reports… it’s stirring up mixed emotions among area tribe members. Sheldon Wolfchild read the news 
when he opened the newspaper a few days ago.Sheldon Wolfchild says, "I’m going…all kinds of emotions run through me. I didn’t know it was still in the books."It still is… a ban on all Dakota Indians after war declared on these lands. That may soon be repealed after legislation brought forward by State Representative Dean Urdahl.Dean Urdahl says, "It basically is a bad law that’s still on the books. I felt there was some need for reconciliation and a need to take a bad law off the books." Wolfchild and Pam Halverson are both members of the Dakota tribe. They say the repeal would provide healing for them and also teach an important lesson to everyone in the state. Sheldon Wolfchild says, "It’s going to open up another avenue of healing for us. Not only for the Dakota people but for the other people in Minnesota to realize that we have to look at each other as common human beings from the heart…not just from the mind." But both point out it doesn’t erase what happened here over 100 years ago, when their ancestors were taken to prison camps… some even hung. Pam Halverson says, "It’s the start of a healing process for my people. It’s not going to take anything away from what happened in 1862 but it’s a start." A start Wolfchild says he’s shocked he may get to witness. Stephen Wolfchild says, "I never thought this would happen in my lifetime but I’m grateful for it." All that is needed now… is vote from Congress and a signature from President Obama.
Get this and other news. politics and satire from http://www.NewsForNatives.com
FORWARD ON to networks, listserves, allies, people– local and beyond! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Hello to those acting in solidarity with the Dakota Nation:
I’m writing to ask you for your solidarity in the struggle to return Coldwater Springs to the Dakota Nation. Please sign the petition linked below, and post a comment on the national park website. These two – minute gestures, if widespread, will help to illustrate the power and support behind Dakota communities as they struggle to have regain this particularly sacred part of their ancestral homelands.
Background and Updates on the Coldwater situation: Coldwater springs is the most sacred place on earth to the Dakota people. It is the site of the Dakota genesis story. It is also the site of the genocidal concentration camp that followed the US – Dakota war of 1862. This land has been fenced off, polluted, scattered with abandoned buildings for many many years, under holding by the Department of the Interior : Bureau of mines. Now, finally, the bureau of mines is going to clean up and transfer the land out of their possession. The National Park Service is trying to take over the land, with interest in turning it into a tourist attraction and “historic site.” Dakota people and their allies see this as a further act of colonization within a long history of genocide and the violent domination of Dakota land, people, culture and history. If the National Park gains control of the land, the Dakota will not have access to the site on their own terms. Dakota people have been denied the ability to hold ceremony on this most sacred site since colonization, and if the Park service takes the land, this denial and colonization will be reaffirmed once again.
On February 23rd, Dakota people took over the “community” meeting set up by the Park Board to marginalize Dakota voice. There is a one-month comment period following this meeting, in which (you!) allies to Dakota people are strongly encouraged to let the NPS hear their opinions.
Here, with our voices, we can send a message to the government that the Dakota Nation stands strong with many allies. There will be future opportunities to continually show solidarity in other ways, but for now, please sign the petition below, and post a comment on the National Park Service website, linked below. On the NPS website, please make sure to mention:
– Restoration of Coldwater Springs means restoration of Dakota rights to the land
- The federal government must clean up the land before returning it to the Dakota
To sign the petition to get the site returned:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/return-coldwater-springs-to-the-dakota
File a public comment with the National Park Service:
http://www.nps.gov/MWR/sendmail.htm?o=11HS%28J%2A%2B%3AH%3BJ%3BFQV%5FZEFLHE%20%20%0A&r=/miss/parkmgmt/bomcurr.htm
Thank You!
Decision invalidates earlier ruling based on 19th-century trust, and Congress’ land deal.
WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court has ruled against a large group of Mdewakanton Dakota Indians claiming a share of the lands and gambling revenues from casinos in Prior Lake and Prairie Island.
The group, led by former Lower Sioux Community Chairman Sheldon Wolfchild, has been suing the U.S. government since 2003, claiming rights to casino riches as descendants of Mdewakanton Indians who helped white settlers during the 1862 Dakota rebellion in Minnesota.
The descendants, numbering more than 20,000 Indians in the United States and Canada, had been bolstered in recent years by decisions in the Federal Court of Claims finding that some of the lands forming part of the present-day Mystic Lake and Treasure Island casinos were intended for their use.
But the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday invalidated earlier rulings that found the government had breached a legal 19th-century trust to the "loyal Mdewakanton." The court also found that Congress did nothing wrong in 1980 when it handed control of the lands to the present-day Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community, which owns the Mystic Lake and Little Six casinos, and the Prairie Island Indian Community, which owns Treasure Island.
Membership in the two communities is limited to several hundred tribal members who enjoy millions in annual gambling profits. Many of the plaintiffs live on economically depressed reservations in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Morton, Minn.
Erick Kaardal, a Minneapolis attorney who represents Wolfchild and some 7,500 other Mdewakanton Sioux, said Thursday that he plans to appeal, probably to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Brian O’Neill, an attorney for the Shakopee tribe, said an appeal would be pointless. "This should be the end of it," he said. "It ought to be closure for an awful lot of folks who put their faith on this less-than-substantial lawsuit."
Read more or share your opinion at: www.NewsforNatives.com
COMMENTS:
BS! My gt grandfather had Indian Land Certificate for Scott county which is now where Mystic Lake casino sits now, Mystic Lake is built on greediness of people who think they are lineal descendants of who the land should belong too…they all need to be shot
posted by Ida69 on Mar. 13, 09 at 11:36 AM
Go figure Bogus 1980 Act
But Brian O’Neill, an attorney for the Shakopee tribe, said an appeal would be pointless. "This should be the end of it," he said. "It ought to be closure for an awful lot of folks who put their faith on this less-than-substantial lawsuit." How would this be pointless???? It wasn’t pointless when he appealed the original decision…At this point I’d say the decisions are a wash….Take it to the Supreme court Mr Kaardal, I do hope that you win this for those people who have been stabbed in the back by the gov time and time again! Thanks for your hard work and many years of dedication. It is really sad to see this tribe being so charitable to different tribes and to places such as The University of Minnesota and then turn around and deny those that are actual lineal descendants….I agree…greed thru and thru….posted by dillypot on Mar. 13, 09 at 2:04 PM
The sad part is the govt once again comes out smelling like a rose. I have family,Aunts,Uncles and cousins, at two of the three communities involved They,the members, deserve some of the credit also for keeping people out. My Dad left there in the late 60′s to FIND A JOB. Once the communities realized what they could do,with the federal governments blessing, they started to turn people away altogether or make it very difficult to become a member. Even for the people that meet their strict guide lines to become a member.I never did meet my dad, he passed away before we had the opportuniy. I have to say though, growing up on the outside so to speak,I almost feel sorry for some of those members. Money does not solve everything and trust me, the ones that are in control of it at theses communities have plenty of their own problems to deal with.Sad deal for sure.posted by terrylb on Mar. 13, 09 at 4:50 PM
"The court also found that Congress did nothing wrong in 1980 when it handed control of the lands to the present-day Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community…" The 1980 Act needs a Congressional investigation. It stinks to high hevean, and one has to wonder how many palms were greased for Congress to hand the 1886 lands over to a so called tribe created just eleven years earlier in 1969. A "tribe" made up of thirteen family members. Something stinks in Washington and the stench is coming from the BIA and it lingers over Prior Lake.posted by renosioux on Mar. 13, 09 at 7:55
Please do share your comments HERE!
Lori Carlson on March 12, 2009 – 2:01pm.
www.NewsForNatives.com
By Lori Carlson, Editor
A court battle for tribal land rights, called “the most momentous issue in modern Indian history” by one of its champions, was halted by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday.
The court determined that self-described “lineal descendants” of the “Loyal Mdewakanton” Dakota are not owed money for land promised to their ancestors in the late 1800s. The lawsuit, Wolfchild vs. U.S., originally was filed in 2003 by the Minnesota Mdewakanton Dakota Oyate (MMDO), included land on the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux reservation. The suit is named for Lower Sioux tribal chairman Sheldon Peters Wolfchild, the main plaintiff in the lawsuit.
The MMDO – which grew from 200 to nearly 20,000 members over time – said it could prove its members are descendants of the Loyal Mdewakanton listed on the 1886 census. The group claimed the government breached its trust when it created an act in 1980 affirming that the land belongs to the Shakopee, Prairie Island and Lower Sioux communities.
Barbara Feezor Buttes, a Prior Lake resident, was among the main plaintiffs in the case. Buttes, who in 2006 called the case “momentous,” has maintained that she and the other descendants are fighting for the rights and identities of their families. Buttes even wrote a book about the issue, called “Beyond Sovereignty: The Mdewakanton Identity Heist.”
A federal judge ruled in 2007 that the so-called descendants could sue the U.S. government for mismanagement of tribal lands occupied by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux, Prairie Island and Lower Sioux tribes in Minnesota. But on Tuesday, the appeals court reversed the judge’s ruling. According to the court decision, the Interior Department does not have owe trust land or money to the descendants even though appropriation acts created in 1888, 1889 and 1890 stated that the federal government was supposed to hold land for the “permanent benefit” of the Minnesota Mdewakanton listed on the census.
Tuesday’s court ruling states that even if those early appropriation acts could be interpreted as creating a trust for descendants, the 1980 act approved by Congress confirms that the land belongs to the reservations operated by the Shakopee, Prairie Island and Lower Sioux.
The issue stems from an 1862 Sioux uprising, after which Congress terminated the trust status of the Sioux reservation. At the same time, Congress allowed the Loyal Mdewakanton to remain in Minnesota and later created the appropriations acts of 1888-1890 to permit the secretary of the interior to buy land, cattle, horses and agriculture for the Loyal Mdewakanton. Over the years, the Mdewakanton and others formed the three federally recognized tribes involved in the case.
In addition to his 2007 ruling allowing the descendants to sue, U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Charles F. Lettow also granted requests by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux and Prairie Island communities to stay out of the lawsuit. He granted the two communities’ request to quash a summons that would have required them to be defendants in the lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the plaintiffs’ attorney, Erick Kaardal of Minneapolis, issued a brief statement on the court’s opinion, saying he and other attorneys for the group are reviewing their options for appeal.
Lori Carlson can be reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.
Submitted by Lori Carlson on March 13, 2009 – 11:09am.
By Lori Carlson, Editor
A federal judge’s April deadline has galvanized a group claiming it represents “lineal descendents” of the original occupants of tribal land in Prior Lake.
The group, Minnesota Mdewakanton Dakota Oyate (MMDO), has fought the U.S. government through the court system, claiming rights to land, money and tribal identity it says it is owed.
The group says the U.S. government helped other Mdewakanton tribes, including the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), grab land owned by the original land occupants, “the Loyal Mdewakanton.”
The group’s members say they can prove they are descendents of the Mdewakanton Sioux members listed in an 1886 census.
The beginnings of the conflict stem from the Sioux Uprising of 1862, but a judge’s affirmation this December of an earlier decision is a major advancement in the case, according to representatives of the MMDO.
U.S. Court of Claims Judge Charles F. Lettow originally ruled in October 2004 that the U.S. government breached a trust by allowing organizers of other tribes to take over Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux land, including tribal land in Prior Lake now owned by the SMSC. Lettow said the government breached a trust created by appropriation acts in 1888, 1889 and 1890, which he believes stated that the federal government was supposed to hold land for the permanent benefit of the Minnesota Mdewakanton listed on the census.
In December, Lettow upheld his earlier decision, saying the United States is the holder of a trust for the Loyal Mdewakanton. He also called for all potential descendents of the people listed on the 1886 Mdewakanton census to submit proof of descent by April 28 and join the class-action suit.
The SMSC, along with the Prairie Island Mdewakanton in Red Wing, has filed an amicus brief in court saying it supports the government in the case. The Lower Sioux Mdewakanton in southern Minnesota recently announced its support for the lawsuit. The main plaintiff in the lawsuit is Sheldon Peters Wolfchild, tribal chairman of the Lower Sioux.
The U.S. government is considering whether to appeal Lettow’s ruling.
Roots
In 1862, after money promised by the federal government through a land-for-gold treaty never reached the Sioux (Dakota) living near the Minnesota River, the people rose up, raiding white settlements. After six weeks, hundreds – both white settlers and Sioux – had died.
That same year, 38 Sioux were hanged in Mankato for their participation in the uprising.
After the uprising, captured Sioux were moved to South Dakota and Nebraska, while a small group of those who did not participate in the uprising (the “Loyal Mdewakanton”) hid along the river banks. The group fought to remain in Minnesota, with its leader, Bishop Henry Whipple, appealing to Congress to provide land for the Loyal Mdewakanton. Congress obliged, though the group members had bounties on their scalps and were not allowed to use land they leased or purchased from white settlers.
The government began asking Mdewakanton who had fled after the uprising to return to Minnesota for the 1886 census. The appropriation acts of 1888, 1889 and 1890 set aside trust land here, in Red Wing and in southern Minnesota for the 208 Mdewakanton who were counted for the census.
‘Simple breach of trust’
Barbara Feezor Buttes lives in Prior Lake in her mother’s house on Eagle Creek Circle, on land where the last five generations of her family have lived.
An anthropology professor who is leading the effort to identify descendents, Buttes said the case is “a very simple situation of breach of trust” in which the government helped the SMSC – along with the Prairie Island Mdewakanton and the Lower Sioux Mdewakanton – take over land that the MMDO says belongs to the Loyal Mdewakanton.
The group contends that government incompetence – and even illegality – turned the land over to the current tribal governments, including the SMSC. The Indian Reorganization Act in 1969 established the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, which formerly was called the Prior Lake Reservation.
“The federal government was supposed to hold forever the land in Minnesota for the permanent benefit of the Mdewakanton people,” Buttes said. “And in 1969 [the year Norman Crooks’ SMSC was established in Prior Lake], they handed over this land to this little group of people in Prior Lake. Then they told us we have to go ask them if we can be a member of their community.”
Buttes said she’s fighting for the rights, and the identity, of her family. Her mother, Winifred Feezor, and grandmother, Louise Bluestone, tried to take their own cases against the U.S. government to federal court in the 1980s. The John Bluestone family is the only Mdewakanton family in Prior Lake that has continuously occupied an original 1886 land assignment, she said, adding that her great grandfather, John Bluestone, lived on the land before it became part of the U.S. title in 1886.
Buttes said Louise Bluestone’s parents, Ellen and Harry Bluestone, both were listed on the 1886 census.
The current lawsuit “recognizes the sacrifices they made to remain in Minnesota,” she said.
The three tribes, including the SMSC, are not parties in the lawsuit.
“The judge can’t order us to do anything at this point. That’s a very important point, because there are a lot of rumors out there about imminent takeovers,” said Willie Hardacker, the SMSC’s legal counsel.
“For tribal government, it’s operations as usual. We’re not concerned about any imminent takeover,” Hardacker added.
Though the SMSC, Prairie Island and the Lower Sioux are not party to the lawsuit, the judge said he believes he has the jurisdiction to bring the tribes into the suit. Hardacker said if the case gets to the point in which the judge orders the tribes into the case, “We would make arguments.”
But Hardacker cautioned that the lawsuit could “drag on” for years.
“We are very much in the preliminary stages of the lawsuit,” he said. “Any impact on the tribe here is very much down the road.”
Buttes and the MMDO view the situation differently. Erick Kaardal, attorney for the plaintiffs, said after the judge’s December ruling, “the court’s Dec. 16 opinion is a huge step forward for us.”
Buttes’ Wicanpi Research group has organized thousands of documents that she says prove the descent of the roughly 2,500 people named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She said by the judge’s April 28 deadline, hundreds more plaintiffs could be added.
Buttes has written a book – available only online – called “Beyond Sovereignty: The Mdewakanton Identity Heist.” She maintains that the federal government assisted Norman Crooks (father of current Tribal Chairman Stanley Crooks) and the SMSC in taking over land she says belonged to the Minnesota Mdewakanton people.
The SMSC’s stance has been that the lawsuit plaintiffs have not proven they are descendents of those Mdewakanton on the 1886 census. Buttes said she believes in some cases, SMSC members cannot prove that they are descendents of the 1886 Mdewakanton, either.
Hardacker maintains that such proof from the “lineal descendents” has yet to be seen.
Still, Buttes said everyone on the lawsuit has proven his or her descent through submittal of birth certificates or baptismal records. She describes the judge’s recent decision as “a thrilling moment for the Mdewakanton people.”
“This is the most momentous issue in modern Indian history. It’s absolutely remarkable,” she said.
Lori Carlson can be reached at editor@plamerican.com.
David Martinez Presenting Friday, March 6 @ 7pm Celebrate the debut of Dakota Philosopher--Charles Eastman and American Indian Thought, David Martinez's new critical study of the early Dakota author. Charles Eastman straddled two worlds in his life and writing. The author of Indian Boyhood was raised in the traditional way after the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War then became an Ivy League-educated doctor, author and helped found Boy Scouts. Martinez's important work gives context to Eastman as a founding American Indian intellectual. Martinez will give a Q & A and sign books. Birchbark Books 2115 West 21st Street Minneapolis, MN 55405 (612) 374-4023
FORWARD ON to networks, listserves, allies, people– local and beyond! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Hello to those acting in solidarity with the Dakota Nation:
I’m writing to ask you for your solidarity in the struggle to return Coldwater Springs to the Dakota Nation. Please sign the petition linked below, and post a comment on the national park website. These two – minute gestures, if widespread, will help to illustrate the power and support behind Dakota communities as they struggle to have regain this particularly sacred part of their ancestral homelands.
Background and Updates on the Coldwater situation: Coldwater springs is the most sacred place on earth to the Dakota people. It is the site of the Dakota genesis story. It is also the site of the genocidal concentration camp that followed the US – Dakota war of 1862. This land has been fenced off, polluted, scattered with abandoned buildings for many many years, under holding by the Department of the Interior : Bureau of mines. Now, finally, the bureau of mines is going to clean up and transfer the land out of their possession. The National Park Service is trying to take over the land, with interest in turning it into a tourist attraction and “historic site.” Dakota people and their allies see this as a further act of colonization within a long history of genocide and the violent domination of Dakota land, people, culture and history. If the National Park gains control of the land, the Dakota will not have access to the site on their own terms. Dakota people have been denied the ability to hold ceremony on this most sacred site since colonization, and if the Park service takes the land, this denial and colonization will be reaffirmed once again.
On February 23rd, Dakota people took over the “community” meeting set up by the Park Board to marginalize Dakota voice. There is a one-month comment period following this meeting, in which (you!) allies to Dakota people are strongly encouraged to let the NPS hear their opinions.
Here, with our voices, we can send a message to the government that the Dakota Nation stands strong with many allies. There will be future opportunities to continually show solidarity in other ways, but for now, please sign the petition below, and post a comment on the National Park Service website, linked below. On the NPS website, please make sure to mention:
– Restoration of Coldwater Springs means restoration of Dakota rights to the land
- The federal government must clean up the land before returning it to the Dakota
To sign the petition to get the site returned:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/return-coldwater-springs-to-the-dakota
File a public comment with the National Park Service:
http://www.nps.gov/MWR/sendmail.htm?o=11HS%28J%2A%2B%3AH%3BJ%3BFQV%5FZEFLHE%20%20%0A&r=/miss/parkmgmt/bomcurr.htm
Thank You!
“The first public meeting will be Monday, February 23, from 5-9 p.m. in the
auditorium of the VA Hospital in Minneapolis. It will focus on getting
Public comment on future reuse and restoration of the Camp Coldwater
Property (former Bureau of Mines). A second public meeting is tentatively
scheduled for April 13. A letter announcing the first meeting was sent out.
Lets pack the auditorium.
“The first public meeting will be Monday, February 23, from 5-9 p.m. in the
auditorium of the VA Hospital in Minneapolis. It will focus on getting
Public comment on future reuse and restoration of the Camp Coldwater
Property (former Bureau of Mines). A second public meeting is tentatively
Scheduled for April 13. A letter announcing the first meeting was mailed out..”
Tell everyone you know, to pack the room.
More informations coming ASAP.
Han Mitakuyapi,
I just received an email from Steven Johnson, who is one of the officials helping to organize the community meetings to decide what happens to Coldwater Springs. They have the meeting scheduled:
“The first public meeting will be Monday, February 23, from 5-9 p.m. in the
auditorium of the VA Hospital in Minneapolis. It will focus on getting
public comment on future reuse and restoration of the Camp Coldwater
property (former Bureau of Mines). A second public meeting is tentatively
scheduled for April 13. A letter announcing the first meeting is being
mailed today.”
Pack the room. Anybody you can think of. Get them there.
Wicanhpi Iyotan Win de miye.
Johnny Depp, with his bodyguard at his side, paid a one-hour visit to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, May 16th. Johnny is wearing sunglasses, a trucker hat, his favorite camo shirt, and a black “Homeland Security” tee shirt that honors Native Americans.
Very cool!! Actually, I came across your shirt because Bill Cosby was here performing and was wearing it. I loved it and looked you up online. I’ll be wearing it often. And yes, it is the real thing. Though I am not Native, I have much respect for Native people. And it would be my pleasure to wear that t-shirt. I can’t wait to get it. –Kate Ross Marketing Manager Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
who else is wearing homeland security: find out
CONTROL CLICK
FOR NEW WINDOW
Just think, if YOUR add had been here, thousands of people from all over would have seen it.