lakotapeopleslawproject:

The Lakota Oglala Sioux tribe has told Obama they will NOT ALLOW the Keystone XL pipeline to cross their land! They also said “the result of allowing the pipelines to cross Indian Country will be an ecological and environmental disaster.” They explained how “we have always respected and maintained good relations with the animals, air, land and water…” Read:http://bit.ly/ZwyyWy

so-treu:

girljanitor:

strugglingtobeheard:

lakotapeopleslawproject:

BREAKING NEWS: This morning Judge Gene Paul Kean of the 5th Circuit Court in Aberdeen, SD dismissed ALL charges in the trial against Brandon Taliaferro and Shirley Schwab. This is a huge victory for these two child advocates, who were targeted by the state for speaking out on behalf of sexually molested Lakota foster girls and accusing the DSS of protecting the abusive father. We are grateful to our research and investigative team, which helped expose the state’s actions in a special report last year. And we’re so grateful to our allies and supporters—especially those who made it to Aberdeen for the trial! You can read about Judge Kean’s decision here: http://lakota.cc/U8HK4c

boost

Gee, I wonder if these charges had anything to do with Brandon Taliaferro and Shirley Schwab trying to get the state of South Dakota to stop stealing 700 Native American children per month and placing them with white families against the Indian Child Welfare Act.

I imagine it has a bit of something to do with shutting them up so the state can keep receiving the 100 million per year it gets from the government:

States receive money if they move kids out of foster care and into adoption — about $4,000 a child. But according to federal records, if the child has “special needs,” a state can get as much as $12,000.

A decade ago, South Dakota designated all Native American children “special needs,” which means Native American children who are permanently removed from their homes are worth more financially to the state than other children.

So, basically what ends up happening:

[Native American]  children make up less than 15 percent of the child population, yet they make up more than half of the children in foster care.

That’s what these charges are meant to try and cover up.

reblogged for added info.

lastrealindians:

White House: Rescind the Medals of Honor Awarded to 7th Calvary Soldiers Who Participated in the Wounded Knee Massacre

By: Dana Lone Hill

There is a phrase that makes every Indigenous person cringe.  

“Get over it, it’s in the past.”

Yet each and every one of us had heard it or read it, whether it was pointed at us directly, or indirectly.  Colonizers tend to think that the horrid past all Indigenous share in the name of greed and manifest destiny is only that- the past- to be forgotten and kicked away, as if it is a can in the street.  

The reason they want us to forget our ancestors, those who are directly related to us, is because their ancestors were responsible for every murder, every rape, every theft of everything our great nations of relations stood for.  

Perhaps if I had no connection at all to any of the atrocities brought on by the government, maybe it would be easy for me to say, ”Forget all that.  Push it under the rug.”  But I do have a connection, as does every single Indigenous person of Turtle Island.

They don’t want us to honor our ancestors who died defending our way of life, or even our ancestors who only died for being who they were and for being here first, while they honor soldiers who “defended freedom.”  Think of how many times we hang the flags half-mast: for example, on Pearl Harbor Day when 2,402 American soldiers were killed, or on September 11, when 2,996 people were killed by terrorist attacks.

9/11 is known as the day terrorists attacked on this soil, but many people seem to forget that these were not the first terrorist attacks.  Columbus was the first terrorist.  Pearl Harbor Day is known as The Attack on Pearl Harbor, which it was.  However, many massacres of Indian women, children, and elders across America were attacks on innocent people, and yet they are referred to by the government as battles- and always have been.  

On the National Parks Service website they refer to The Wounded Knee Battlefield, where they say the Lakota held rifles up to the 7th Calvary first.  They seem to forget that there were some survivors and the story of the massacre was passed down.   They tell true stories about how the soldiers brutally murdered babies and women on that cold December day.  My children’s great grandmother often talks of how her grandmother escaped but lived in pain her whole life with a bullet in her leg, while knowing her little three brothers died that day.  She was 14 years old when she was shot at the Wounded Knee Massacre. READ THE REST HERE: http://www.lastrealindians.com/axCommentDetails.php?postId=2164

lastrealindians:

Joint Press Release from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe- Historic Reacquisition of Pe-Sla Sacred Site Was Signed Today

lastrealindians:

Lastrealindian Chase Iron Eyes is going to be on American Public Media’s ‘The Story’ TODAY. Click on the link to find out where and when you can to tune in to listen to him discuss Pe’Sla: http://thestory.org/Stations

You can listen at 1 PM EST if you go to WUNC.org and click on one of the live stream links on the right side of the page.

lastrealindians:

Lakota for Obama -shirts by Alicia Mousseau & Sharice Davids. Red Nations we need to vote!

lastrealindians:

Pe’ Sla Owners Accept $9M Offer from Tribes

By Vincent Schilling

In a historic victory for American Indian tribes, the owners of the sacred site Pe’ Sla have agreed to an offer of $9 million to purchase an approximate 1,900 acres of land also known as Reynolds Prairie from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (RST). In order to secure the agreement, RST agreed to pay a 10 percent earnest deposit of $900,000. RST, serving as a representative for the group of Lakota/Nakota/Dakota tribes involved in the purchase process has until November 30 to pay the remaining $8.1 million.

According to A. Gay Kingman, the executive director of the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the tribes have confidence they will be able to generate the $8.1 million necessary to purchase Pe’ Sla. “I foresee this as an achievement that we can reach,” she says.  “I think they are very confident.”

“This is a beautiful thing that has happened,” says Kingman. “It feels really good, especially from what our spiritual leaders tell us, they are praying and guiding us as well, they are saying that if we move forward in a spiritual way this is doable. If politics or anything gets in the way, we do not know what will happen.”

“This is a spiritual sacred site that the tribes want. We are moving forward with prayer and ceremony and will continue this. I want this land for my Dakota people so that we may have ceremony there,” she said.

Vernon “Ike” Schmidt, the executive director with the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Land Enterprise and former RST vice president was designated to sign the agreement for the tribe. Schmidt says that though they wanted to keep the amount confidential, “the cat was out of the bag.”

Schmidt explained that previous reports of the $1.3 million earnest deposit offered by RST have been adjusted to reflect the $900,000, which is 10 percent of $9 million. “We were able to have the money available when we needed to have it available. After the counter offer was approved, the first offer was $500,000 less, the counter offer settled on where it is at now,” he said.

Schmidt added that the tribes were fortunate to get the Reynolds’ to agree to an environmental assessment in case there may be any environmental situations like chemical spills or or soil and groundwater issues that might need to be addressed, though whether any incidents would affect the purchase price was not revealed.  He also said the tribes were going to try putting the land into trust status in the future.

Chase Iron Eyes, of Last Real Indians, said he has been informed that within 10 days several tribes would be meeting to discuss how the $9 million cost would be allocated.

“The meeting with all the tribes is to see who can donate what,” said Iron Eyes.  To see how the pie of $9 million is going to be chopped up between all of the Lakota tribes for sure to include Cheyenne River, Rosebud, Oglala, Standing Rock, Yankton Dakota and others.”

In light of comments made online, some at Rezinate.Wordpress.com, questioning the credibility of the money raised by LastRealIndians.com and how the money would be spent, Iron Eyes said the funds will fully go toward the purchase of Pe’ Sla.

Kingman also spoke in Iron Eyes’ defense and about the money his organization has raised. “Chase Iron Eyes has been with us all the way. He has been in all of our meetings and conference calls and he has been part of the group on this effort. He has not been an outsider; he has been right with us.”

When Schmidt learned that the entirety of monies raised by LastRealIndians.com will go toward Pe’ Sla, he stated, “That is encouraging.”

“Everyone has been in agreement to obtain this sacred land and to preserve it so it won’t be developed,” said Kingman.  “It has been a unified effort, not just the tribe’s but also grandmas and grandpas and young people they have all contributed to the website on LastRealIndians.com.”

Schmidt said he was glad to see the tribes have come together. “Once we get this deal closed it would be nice to have a gathering up there of all the tribes.”

“This is historic, it will be even more historic when we sign the final closing papers,” said Kingman, who was present at the signing of the agreement.

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/09/12/pe-sla-owners-accept-9m-offer-from-tribes-133746 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/09/12/pe-sla-owners-accept-9m-offer-from-tribes-133746#ixzz26GtOL6CH

lastrealindians:

Please Reblog

indiancountry:

American Indian Tribes Make Offer on Black Hills Sacred Site