BillCosby

WASHINGTON — The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States.

"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 U.S., 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 U.S. citizenship, Mr Means said.

The treaties signed with the U.S. 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. ( I think bush believes that he is the supreme law of this land)

"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 U.S. "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 U.S. 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 U.S.; infant mortality is five times higher than the U.S. average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

The_Heretic

YEAH!! Fcukin' love it!!

It won't hit the news in this country, but it'll be interesting to see how REAL news outlets report further on this. I'm surprised it took the Lakota tribal council this long to abandoned the treaties that were never intended to be honored by the U.S. government.

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"Enough!!" -so rang Barack Obama's voice off the walls of Mile High Stadium

BillCosby

I am sure once they have some mud to throw @ him they will find time to put something on a back page............

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

Richterscale

How do I apply for my Lakota passport?

But in all seriousness, they will get squashed unless they have coastal land to use for importation. Otherwise the U.S. will crush them economically

Can you say 100% tariffs? Border fences to squash tourism? Embargoes? Surrounding them with Military bases or toxic dumps? Restricting airspace?

They could end up worse off than they are now.

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Google Sibel Edmonds

"How many people died from the Kama Sutra as opposed to the Bible? Who wins?" - Frank Zappa

jowey

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...712200347/1001
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...QyT2LwZc9HyAgA
http://www.lakotafreedom.com/

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The_Heretic

GAWD! The woman's hot!

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"Enough!!" -so rang Barack Obama's voice off the walls of Mile High Stadium

BillCosby

lol.......... I had several pics of him to p/ from.......... I thought she was diffent plus....lol

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

BillCosby

Gee that sounds a lot like the west bank.......

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

Richterscale

Funny you should say that. I was going to make that comparison in my post, but wanted to stay on message.

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Google Sibel Edmonds

"How many people died from the Kama Sutra as opposed to the Bible? Who wins?" - Frank Zappa

BillCosby

Just wander off a bit & make the comparison.........

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror