The Lakota declare independence from the USA

[HunterSeeker]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22955129-401,00.html

THE Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the US.

"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,'' long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said.

A delegation of Lakota leaders has delivered a message to the State Department, and said they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the US, some of them more than 150 years old.

The group also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and would continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months.

Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free - provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Mr Means said.

The treaties signed with the US were merely "worthless words on worthless paper," the Lakota freedom activists said.

Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said.
"This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution,'' which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.

``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 Means.

The Lakota relaunched their journey to freedom in 1974, when they drafted a declaration of continuing independence -- an overt play on the title of the United States' Declaration of Independence from England.

Thirty-three years have elapsed since then because ``it takes critical mass to combat colonialism and we wanted to make sure that all our ducks were in a row,'' Means said.

One duck moved into place in September, when the United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples -- despite opposition from the United States, which said it clashed with its own laws.

``We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children,'' Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told the news conference.

The US ``annexation'' of native American land has resulted in once proud tribes such as the Lakota becoming mere ``facsimiles of white people,'' said Means.

Oppression at the hands of the US government has taken its toll on the Lakota, whose men have one of the shortest life expectancies - less than 44 years - in the world.

Lakota teen suicides are 150 per cent above the norm for the US; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

 

[2real]

yeah good luck with that.

 

[Eejit]

About time.

 

[Tagaziel]

I'm just waiting for a military intervention to "ensure stability" and in the name of "freedom".

 

[Raziaar]

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[nurizeko]

Brave move, and I support it, but the US won't let things like law, treaties, self determination, and you know, fairness to get in the way.

 

[Raziaar]

My family has Sioux blood from my great grandmother's side, and we have some property in the black hills(my dad owns it, small property but on beautiful land). I fully support this, I'm just hoping it isn't ignored.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

living there would be tax-free

Am I reading this wrong?

 

[Icarusintel]

Lakota teen suicides are 150 per cent above the norm for the US; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

Something tells me they won't be around too long to enjoy their newfound freedom.

I wish them the best of luck, but something tells me this will probably fail miserably.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Something tells me they won't be around too long to enjoy their newfound freedom.

I wish them the best of luck, but something tells me this will probably fail miserably.

Its pessimism like that that will get you know where

Nowadays you either hear stuff about Iraq, Lawyers or Religious Zealots. This is an article that is kind of a relief to read.

 

[Irksome]

I'm sure they'll be named "Enemy Combatants" and be taken to Gitmo to undergo "Advanced Questioning Techniques".

 

[Raziaar]

I'm sure they'll be named "Enemy Combatants" and be taken to Gitmo to undergo "Advanced Questioning Techniques".

It'll be more soft than the treatment they've received in the past.

 

[Pesmerga]

I doubt the US Government gives a shit about a bunch of indians.

 

[Solaris]

I support these people fully in this.

 

[Tyguy]

Friggen Indians....

Its all out of spite. get over it, we slaughtered your people a long time ago.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Let's go invade them!

 

[simonjedi]

"I was gonna call it Peterland, but that gay bar at the airport already took it"

 

[<RJMC>]

I support these people fully in this.

yeah right you caring about people

 

[K e r b e r o s]

As someone who is half Cherokee, it'd be a real honor to see these peoples attempt at establishing a nation succeed.

Go for it!

 

[Tyguy]

honor? Theres no point other than a proverbial "f you". We let people that are the tiniest but indian go to college for free, among many other things. How long are we going to pretend to feel sorry for taking their land.

Im also part Indian

 

[K e r b e r o s]

Uh-huh. Sure.

You can't just be, "Half-Indian". What tribe are you?

Or, perhaps you're "creek".

 

[Irksome]

honor? Theres no point other than a proverbial "f you". We let people that are the tiniest but indian go to college for free, among many other things. How long are we going to pretend to feel sorry for taking their land.

Im also part Indian

We did more than just take their land...

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

We tuk their jubs!

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Good luck to them.

 

[2real]

you guys realize that they won't get any more freebies,I highly doubt they can last very long.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I would find it funny that after a few hundred years, the United States becomes as small as half-a-dozen States, because all the natives takes back what is rightfully theres......with the backing of the UN

You can't just be, "Half-Indian". What tribe are you?

Its in the bloodline

 

[Dog--]

I'm 1/8 indian (can't remember which one.. My parents know) and the rest Hungarian/Irish, and I couldn't give 2 shits. They'll get invaded by the U.S. I know it. That is, of course, if they even get a country (which they won't).

 

[Tyguy]

i hope they fail and have to go back to their casino

 

[Top Secret]

Meh.

I am part Native American (Sioux)

Seriously, you lost the god damn war. Start paying taxes and get with the rest of society.

 

[bvasgm]

That's all well and good, but... do they have a flag?

 

[phantomdesign]

All we have to do is no handouts, no defense, no trade, no economic support, refuse travel on US property/waters/airspace, and arrest all illegal imigrants. They'll starve in no time. It's not our fault a few hard-headed morons want to live in the 17h century. Oh yea, while we're at it, the only travel on US land should be a massive US Government run casino with cheap alcohol.

Or we can just not allow them to seperate.

 

[Eejit]

Or we can just not allow them to seperate.

Why don't you want them to separate?

 

[Thunderclap]

This barely deserves mention. It is the last defiant gesture of a people long bereft of dignity. The government does not care in the slightest. One might as well spit in the face of the sun on a hot day.

The butchery of their people was a century and a half ago, the blood is not on my hands, or anyone living's. At this late hour, their declaration seems only vain and spiteful. They must put aside their pride and accept that they lost. They are subjects by right of conquest, and they must pay their taxes.

Lakota teen suicides are 150 per cent above the norm for the US; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

Independence will not change any of this. I am one quarter Cherokee, and have been on an Indian reservation. I remember it as a grim, miserable place, where all hope is lost and the only respite can be found in a beer bottle or a bullet through the brain.

The hubris of this movement will be matched only by its catastrophic failure. If they refuse to pay their taxes, then America can and should withhold all the privileges held by citizens of the United States. Like phantomdesign said, cut all economic support of any kind. When their hunger (and thirst for cheap liquor) overcomes their pride, they will come crawling back like the pathetic, defeated people they are.

 

[Top Secret]

This barely deserves mention. It is the last defiant gesture of a people long bereft of dignity. The government does not care in the slightest. One might as well spit in the face of the sun on a hot day.

The butchery of their people was a century and a half ago, the blood is not on my hands, or anyone living's. At this late hour, their declaration seems only vain and spiteful. They must put aside their pride and accept that they lost. They are subjects by right of conquest, and they must pay their taxes.



Independence will not change any of this. I am one quarter Cherokee, and have been on an Indian reservation. I remember it as a grim, miserable place, where all hope is lost and the only respite can be found in a beer bottle or a bullet through the brain.

The hubris of this movement will be matched only by its catastrophic failure. If they refuse to pay their taxes, then America can and should withhold all the privileges held by citizens of the United States. Like phantomdesign said, cut all economic support of any kind. When their hunger (and thirst for cheap liquor) overcomes their pride, they will come crawling back like the pathetic, defeated people they are.

Well said.

 

[Muffin Man]

One of my friends is largely indian. The asshole gets $70,000 a year. $70,000! For doing nothing! And free school!

 

[phantomdesign]

Why don't you want them to separate?

They can go away if they want, but the idea that they can just take a chunk of land out of the middle of the US (or any other country) by revoking a 200 year old contract, after all the benefits we've given them?

Maybe this is a step in the right direction, because with the contract void, we can stop wasting taxpayer $$$ on them & retake the land for our own use in a couple years when they come back begging (or just occupy it with military force). Maybe we should revoke all 150+ year old contracts with all tribes, since evidently they can just decide to not abide by the agreement anymore.

 

[highlander]

Good luck too them i spose.

 

[Top Secret]

They can go away if they want, but the idea that they can just take a chunk of land out of the middle of the US (or any other country) by revoking a 200 year old contract, after all the benefits we've given them?

Maybe this is a step in the right direction, because with the contract void, we can stop wasting taxpayer $$$ on them & retake the land for our own use in a couple years when they come back begging (or just occupy it with military force). Maybe we should revoke all 150+ year old contracts with all tribes, since evidently they can just decide to not abide by the agreement anymore.

Again, well said.

 

[15357]

Hahahahahahah oh god hahahaahahahahahaha



Send the tanks.

 

[99.vikram]

This barely deserves mention. It is the last defiant gesture of a people long bereft of dignity. The government does not care in the slightest. One might as well spit in the face of the sun on a hot day.

The butchery of their people was a century and a half ago, the blood is not on my hands, or anyone living's. At this late hour, their declaration seems only vain and spiteful. They must put aside their pride and accept that they lost. They are subjects by right of conquest, and they must pay their taxes.

Independence will not change any of this. I am one quarter Cherokee, and have been on an Indian reservation. I remember it as a grim, miserable place, where all hope is lost and the only respite can be found in a beer bottle or a bullet through the brain.

The hubris of this movement will be matched only by its catastrophic failure. If they refuse to pay their taxes, then America can and should withhold all the privileges held by citizens of the United States.

Based on what little I know about the issue, this seems to summarise the situation well.