And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 17:58:35 EDT Subject: information NATIVE PEOPLE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE, WHERE DO YOU STAND? The United States of America is a country that claims to be a country where truth and justice are supposed to be the "American way." But this has never been true for the Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Indigenous peoples have learned that even basic human rights are not to be expected in this United States of America. As longtime American Indian Movement leader William A. Means once noted, "there is no justice for Indian peoples, only just us." In the 1970's the American Indian Movement stood up when Lakota's Wesley Bad Heart Bull and Raymond Yellow Thunder were murdered without substantive investigation and charging by law enforcement. At least 62 AIM members were murdered without investigation in South Dakota between 1972 and 1977. Killing an American Indian remains less of a crime in the United States thank killing a moose out of season. No one outside of the Indigenous peoples paid attention to the killings of Randy Headbird, Mike Berry, Leroy Jackson, Gabby Daniels or Ronald Beartrack to name a very few hate crime murders. And now n Rapid City, SD at least eight Native people have been murdered. In Mobridge Robert Many Horses was killed in a clear hate crime. In White Clay, NE the murders of John Means, Wallace Black Elk Jr., and Ronald Hard Heart have caused the Oglala Nation to stand up and demand justice. The people are sick of burying their relatives, sick of having their treaty rights ignored, sick of their religion being exploited, sick of imposed poverty and sick of being sick. As we speak these things continue. No one has been arrested in Rapid City, and there are no suspects. The same in White Clay, so inevitably the killings will continue. Attacks against the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples continue as well. South Dakota is illegally claiming lands on the banks of the Missouri River, in violation of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie with the Lakota Nation. The US Government is still trying to force Dine people off of their homelands in Big Mountain, AZ. The Western Shoshone continues to have lands stolen from them. Indian peoples first economic venture continues to be under assault as the state and federal governments use the attacks as a means to further erode Indigenous National sovereignty. All of this occurs from a government whom you pay to do these things to Indigenous peoples. Therefore if you do not support the murder of Indian people, the theft of Indian peoples lands, the mercury, nuclear and toxic contamination of Indian peoples and lands, the violation of Indian peoples civil, human, treary, sovereign and relious rights-THEN YOU MUST START DOING SOMETHING TO STOP IT. Write letters opposing anti-Indian activities, contact your local news outlets and get them to cover Indian issues, join an Indian support organization. DO SOMETHING. Otherwise you will continue to lend tacit support and approval to the genocide against Indigenous peoples. And the choice is your to make. American Indian Movement of Florida, Inc 136 4th Street N Suite 308 Saint Petersburg, FL 33701 (727) 826-6960 FAX (727) 550-2207 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site: http://members.aol.com/Aimfl National Web Site: http://www.aimovement.org
