Statement of the Lakota Student Alliance
Objecting to the ILLEGAL Land Transfer of Treaty Lands to the State of South Dakota also known as
Title VI of the 1999 US Appropriations Bill ("Mitigation Act")
We base our statement on the ILLEGAL TRANSFER of Lakota Lands to the State of South Dakota. This land transfer, known as the "Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, and State of South Dakota Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Mitigation Act," preferrably called the "Mitigation Act" is directly violating Article 12 of the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty with the Great Sioux Nation.
Article 12 states: "No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the reservation herein described which may be held in common shall be of any validity or force as against the said Indians, unless executed and signed by at least three fourths of all the adult male Indians, occupying or interested in the same.
We, the Lakota Student Alliance, recognize the free and Independent Status of the Great Sioux Nation as being legal and just under the terms of the US Constitution but more importantly under the terms of the inherent rights granted to all Native people by the creator of all living things.
Article 6 of the US Constitution states: "treaties...shall be the supreme law of the land." Article 6 was violated by the state of South Dakota and the United States.
We, the members of the Lakota Student Alliance know these truths, but the state of South Dakota and the U.S. Empire do not want the world to know. Therefore, we must immediately charge the United States and South Dakota with violating:
1. The United Nations Genocide Convention of 1948.
2. The Declaration of Continuing Independence of 1974.
Page Three of the Declaration of Continuing Independence states that our free and independent Native Nations have established traditional chiefs and head men under the provisions of the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty with the Great Sioux Nation at Wounded Knee on March 11, 1973.
The U.S. Government and the state of S.D. refuse to recognize the Independent Oglala Nation. The US and State of SD continually fail to acknowlege their genocidal practices at the expense of the Lakota. Such practices come in the form of Executive Orders, Legislative acts, and judicial decisions since 1871, when the US unilaterally suspended treaty making with native nations. These genocidal practices include but are not limited to: The Major Crimes Act; The General Allotment Act; the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924; the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934; and the Indian Claims Commission of 1946.
Now comes the SD Mitigation Act of 1998, drafted by SD Governor William Janklow and SD Senator Tom Daschle with the intent to destroy member tribes of the Great Sioux Nation and Conspiring to commit genocide based on their knowlege of Article 12 of the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty.
Therefore, the Lakota Student Alliance demands a Congressional Oversight Hearing into the Land Transfer and urge an immediate Environmental Impact Statement, based on these charges. We also demand a CEASE SLAUGHTER of the Yellowstone Buffalo Nation, in Wyoming.
We redirect our demands to the Great Sioux Nation to open negotiations with the Dept. of State, Dept. of Justice, Dept. of Interior, and Dept. of Defense. We seek these negotiations to establish Diplomatic Nation to Nation Relations with the United States in the return of our resources. When the Diplomatic Relations have been established, the first order of business shall be to deal with US violations of treaties with the Great Sioux Nation and also to deal with violations of those Native Nations who have refused to sign treaties with the United States.
We the members of the Great Sioux Nation, following the guidance of our ancestors and with respect for our Sacred Mother Earth, all her children, and those yet unborn, Continue to offer our lives in the struggle against all injustices against our people...
Signed by the following members of the Lakota Student Alliance on this 22nd Day of March 1999.
/s/ Clint Yellow Bird
/s/ Charles Yellow Bird
/s/ Robert Quiver Jr
/s/ Richard Shangreaux
/s/ Tom Cheyenne
/s/ Dan Merrival
/s/ Loren Black Elk