Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community

Posts Tagged D.C.

Leonard Peltier’s freedom05 November 2009; 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Oct 24th, 2009 Posted in GROUPS & ORGANIZATIONS | Comments Off

*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*
> “I would like to ask you why when we speak you do not listen, and
> when you listen, you do not hear, and when you hear us, you do not
> choose to understand what we say. This is one time that I ask you
> to listen carefully and understand what we have to say.”–Frank
> Fools Crow
> *’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’*:-.,_,.-:*’“’
>
>
> * Call to Action *
>
> What: Peaceful demonstration in support of Leonard Peltier’s freedom
> When: 05 November 2009; 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
> Where: Washington, DC
>
> President Obama will host his first annual White House Tribal Summit
> on 05 November 2009. The Nations will be given the opportunity to
> interact directly with the president and other top administration
> officials. All of the 564 federally recognized tribes are invited
> to send a representative. This is a prime opportunity to be seen
> and heard on the issue of Leonard Peltier’s wrongful conviction
> and imprisonment. Please plan to attend.
>
> Supporters will gather in Lafayette Park on Pennsylvania Avenue
> (across from the White House) at 6:00 a.m. Bring signs and banners,
> wear Peltier T-Shirts, etc. From Lafayette Park, supporters will
> walk to the Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, where
> tribal leaders will assemble for their meeting with President Obama.
>
> In support of this action, tribal members are asked to (1) urge your
> Tribal Chairpersons to speak to Obama on Mr. Peltier’s behalf – Free
> Peltier NOW; and (2) lobby your Tribal Councils to pass resolutions
> calling for freedom for Peltier, the release of all case-related
> documents still withheld by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
> (FBI), and a congressional hearing on the government’s role in the
> turmoil on Pine Ridge Reservation during the 1970s.
>
>
> * Do It and Keep Doing It *
>
> Clemency is one path to freedom for Leonard Peltier. However, there
> are other issues that deserve as much attention – an Executive
> Review by Attorney General Eric Holder, for example. We’ve pushed
> for a review recently, as you know. But there are other important
> initiatives that we all need to work on:
>
> –> Congressional Hearing – In the early 70s, the Select Committee to Study
> Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities,
> or the Church Committee, investigated the counterintelligence
> activities of the FBI. The FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO
> operations before the programs were officially discontinued in
> April of 1971. (While the programs themselves were discontinued,
> the FBI’s practices that the Church Committee found so objectionable
> were not.) The Church Committee had intended to investigate the
> American Indian Movement as another dissident group targeted by the
> Bureau. Witnesses had been investigated by congressional staff and
> called to provide testimony. However, one day after the firefight
> at Oglala, the Church Committee cancelled the hearings. We need
> to work hard to see that official misconduct in Indian Country -
> past and present – is finally addressed.
>
> –> FOIA Documents – The FBI continues to withhold tens of thousands
> of documents related to the RESMURS investigation. These documents
> are over 25 years old and, at minimum, should be turned over to
> the National Archives. Why are the documents important? You have
> all heard about information uncovered after Mr. Peltier’s trial.
> Given the nature of that evidence -the withheld ballistics report,
> for example – there is every reason to expect that other evidence
> is contained in the documents that may allow Mr. Peltier to appeal
> his conviction.
>
> On his first full day in office, President Obama signed an Executive
> Order with regard to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). He
> encouraged accountability through transparency, and said FOIA should
> be administered with a presumption of openness. Due to subsequent
> guidelines established by AG Holder, the Peltier Legal Team may
> succeed at getting Peltier documents released. But the attorneys
> need your help to make that happen.
>
> We host online petitions on these issues, of course. We urge
> you to sign them. That’s easy. However, petitions are not
> as effective as letters and phone calls to your senators and
> representative in Congress, or to the congressional committees and
> subcommittees responsible for oversight of government agencies and
> their activities. Mr. Peltier needs everyone to work hard toward
> achieving movement in the above areas.
>
> You’ll find Guidance on the above issues on our home page at
> . We’ll provide more information in
> our upcoming digests.

Leonard Peltier’s freedom05 November 2009; 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Tags: D.C., Leonard Peltier / Washington

Longest Walk II converged in Washington, D.C.

Jul 20th, 2008 Posted in ANNOUNCEMENTS | Comments Off

Posted: July 18, 2008
by: Lisa Garrigues / Today correspondent

Northern, southern routes converge to deliver manifestoWASHINGTON – After five months of walking across the United States to draw attention to Native and environmental issues, the northern and southern routes of the Longest Walk II converged in Washington, D.C., July 11 and were greeted by more than 1,000 people. The walk commemorated the 30-year anniversary of the 1978 Longest Walk, which was held to protest the United States’ refusal to honor Indian treaties. The 2008 walk, under the theme ”All Life is Sacred: Clean Up Mother Earth,” successfully drew attention to universal issues like global warming, as well as the hard issues currently affecting Native communities, said Dennis Banks, organizer of the walk. Banks, flanked by a crowd of walkers, delivered a manifesto to Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., in a park near the Capitol building. Volunteers had stayed up all night working on the manifesto, which was the culmination of 8,000 miles of walking and visits to Native communities in more than 26 states. ”What we have come to understand alarms us greatly,” they wrote. ”Many of the same issues that were presented to the Longest Walk in 1978 are ongoing issues that have not changed or have even worsened.” The manifesto specifically mentioned health, environmental exploitation, poverty and Native mascots as ongoing issues. Sixteen resolutions in the manifesto asked Congress to enact legislation to protect Native sacred sites, ensure Native consent and sovereignty over actions affecting their lands, and halt resource exploitation and environmental damage in the Arizona Peaks, Pilot Knob, Glen Cove, the Colorado River, Black Mesa and Desert Rock. A call for improved Indian health services, the ratification of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, federal recognition for the Houma Tribe, freedom for Leonard Peltier and the establishment of an Environmental Bill of Rights were among the other resolutions. There has already been talk at international conferences of implementing an environmental bill of rights, Banks said. ”I think that’s important,” he stressed. ”Does the air have a right to remain the way it is? I believe it has.” Conyers promised to establish an investigative committee to look into the issues brought up in the manifesto. In a ceremony near the Washington Monument, Banks officially retired as a leader of the American Indian Movement, an organization he started with other Native activists in the late 1960s. He said he would continue to stay active as an elder and adviser, and passed four staffs on to younger Native leaders. A pow wow was held near the Museum of the American Indian July12 and 13. Performer Harry Belafonte, actress Darryl Hannah and activist Dick Gregory showed up to offer their support. The walkers, who started with a sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Feb. 11, included Natives and non-Natives from all over the continent, as well as Japanese and Europeans. Of the several hundred walkers and supporters who pitched their tents in Greenbelt Park outside Washington, approximately 20 had walked the entire way. But thousands participated along the two routes by walking, picking up trash, carrying water and luggage, preparing food, and greeting the walkers with pow wows and other events. Those who walked endured aching muscles, blisters, torn ligaments and other injuries along the way. Tempers flared, and chaos and unpredictability were constant companions. But new friendships and alliances were formed, and tribes and communities along the way repeatedly told walkers they brought not only the flags, prayers and songs of many nations with them, but also hope. For the walkers who made it ”all the way” to Washington, D.C., the journey was worth it. ”I did this walk to pay my respects to my auntie and my cousin who did the walk 30 years ago and helped out a lot of Native communities,” said Willie Sittinghorse Kirk, Chippewa/Cree, who started in Alcatraz and also raised funds by dancing. ”I’m really glad that I did this, because everybody needs to experience something good in their lives. And for me, this was good.”