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>Hemp planters hope 3rd time's a charm
>
>By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal Staff Writer
>
>MANDERSON -- Winter lingers here, like the last guest at a party. It
>returns in mid-April, maybe once more in May, leaving one last blizzard
>before finally giving way to spring.
>
>Still, Alex White Plume knew the time had come to plant a third crop of
>industrial hemp on Friday. "Last week, we woke up and heard the
>meadowlarks," he explained, so he knew the seeds would survive, even if
>cold weather returned. "Actually, I think that makes it stronger."
>
>Adversity, if not cold, seems to have made the White Plume family
>stronger, too. Friday marked the third time they have planted hemp on
>their land near Manderson.
>
>Twice before, they planted crops that grew. Twice before, federal agents
>came in just before harvest time to confiscate the plants. Twice before,
>the U.S. government did not file any charges against anyone in the
family.
>
>The raids upset the White Plumes, who want to produce and sell hemp oil
>and other products from the plants. "That really makes me angry," Alex
>said. "And it makes us more stubborn."
>
>Industrial hemp is a form of the Cannabis sativa plant, also known as
>marijuana. Unlike marijuana, hemp can't be smoked to get high. But it
can
>be used to make everything from rope to paper to cloth to soap to animal
>feed. It's a hardy plant that requires little water.
>
>Many believe hemp crops should be brought back to the Pine Ridge Indian
>Reservation, where they could provide badly needed jobs. In 1998, the
>Oglala Sioux Tribal Council voted to legalize hemp.
>
>However, federal laws do not distinguish between hemp and marijuana. In
>the eyes of the U.S. government, it's illegal to grow either plant
>(although hemp products can be legally imported from other countries).
And
>that's where things get interesting.
>
>Tribal members say that because the Oglala Sioux Tribe is a sovereign
>nation, its rules should apply to hemp on the reservation. But U.S.
>government agents twice have crossed reservation borders to seize the
>crops, without filing criminal charges.
>
>Last November, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council passed a resolution
calling
>on Congress to "restrain its agents from interfering with the tribe's
>sovereign right to exercise land-based economic-development programs on
>Pine Ridge."
>
>"It's so picture-perfect an example of the absurdity of the federal
>regulations," Bob Newland, a Hermosa hemp activist who attended Friday's
>planting, said. "This appears to me to be a perfect test case."
>
>Federal authorities told White Plume that if he planted a second crop,
he
>would be charged in federal court. So last year, Alex's brother Percy
>White Plume did the planting. This year, sister Ramona White Plume did
the
>planting. And there are six more brothers and sisters, plus numerous
>nieces and nephews, waiting their turn.
>
>Ramona said it was discouraging to see the plants seized just before
harvest.
>
>"I decided I wanted to (plant) next because I wanted to say something to
>that," she said. "It was real hurtful that they had the audacity to do
>that ... I took it real personal, I guess."
>
>So Friday morning, about 40 family members, friends and supporters drove
>under tribal flags to gather on the White Plumes' land.
>
>Children threw sticks into the creek and ran races over clumps of newly
>turned dirt, the family dog at their heels. Adults chatted in the warm
>spring sunshine.
>
>Then they gathered in a circle for a ceremony to bless the seed. Rocky
>Afraid of Hawk, a cousin of the family, prayed and sang a drum song to
the
>Four Directions.
>
>"The Creator has created this plant for a reason, and it has never
gotten
>a chance to complete its full circle," Afraid of Hawk said. Government
has
>no right to condemn a plant or animal, he said. "It has a reason to
live."
>
>Ramona spoke, and so did Alex and Newland, who urged the group to
>circulate petitions to help eliminate state barriers to industrial-hemp
>production.
>
>With that, the group fanned out across the field, many holding Styrofoam
>cups filled with hemp seed. In previous years, the White Plumes planted
>about 25 pounds of seed. This year, they had only 14 pounds, so the
small
>brown seeds were carefully placed into the rich earth one at a time.
>
>This was the first time the ground had been plowed. "I always resisted
>anything the government did ... and here we were doing farming
>activities," Alex said, laughing. "I was like, 'Oh no, I hope the
cousins
>don't see me. ... Somebody will be bringing me some bib overalls.'"
>
>He said the seed used was free of tetra-hydrocannabinol (THC), the
>psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that gives a "high." But he didn't
>say where the seed came from. "I really don't know, because a couple of
>years ago, I walked out my door and I tripped over a bag of it," he said
>with a grin. "And I'm sticking to my story."
>
>Most everyone, except for Alex and Percy, planted a few seeds. Juanita
>Eagle Crow, a student in Alex White Plume's Lakota history and culture
>class at Oglala Lakota College, crouched down, carefully smoothing the
>dirt. Nearby, Misti Brave helped two preschoolers plant seeds. "Get your
>hands dirty, like that," she told them.
>
>Alex sat on a log chatting with friends, including Marvin Kammerer, a
>Meade County rancher who attended.
>
>"Remember when you called the DEA fascists?" White Plume asked.
>
>"Oh yeah," Kammerer replied.
>
>White Plume's grandchildren came and went, munching doughnuts and
sampling
>a tube of hemp lotion. One grandson, wearing a cap that read "100
percent
>hemp - Lakota," rubbed the lotion vigorously between his rough little
>"B-O-Y hands," as Alex called them.
>
>"Papa, my hands are soft now, see?" the boy said.
>
>There was no sign of federal agents, though they reportedly knew the
>family was planting. But there was another visitor. As Alex gazed up at
>the sky, he spotted a bald eagle circling in the blue overhead.
>
>"That's a good sign," he said, pointing it out to the others. "Aah,
that's
>beautiful. Well, I know everything's going to be good now."
>
>Questions or comments? Contact reporter Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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