And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: "KOLA International Campaign Office" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Foreign media coverage Oceti Sakowin!
Date: Fri, 09 Apr 99 19:44:36 PDT
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT"
KOLA note: please read as you would with any other
mainstream newsarticle, but one must admit that the Belgian
reporter -- who hardly knows anything about the general
situation on Turtle Island-- did a good job.
In today's Belgian quality newspaper "De Morgen"...
(It was printed right next to the Kosovo updates.)
This is a translation; original is in Dutch.
=========================================
DM - April 9, 1999
page 11 - section "Foreign News"
NEW WOUNDED KNEE IMMINENT IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Sioux occupy ancestral island in the Missouri River
[photo AP of Lakota elders]
In South Dakota, the American Indian population remains the
victim of racism
Brussels --- (DM correspondent DWy)
Since the end of March, some fifty young American Indian activists
from South Dakota have been occupying the island of La Framboise,
in the Missouri River. They are protesting against a land transfer of
approximately 494,200 hectare [200,000 acres] Indian territory to
the state of South Dakota. According to the Treaty of Fort Laramie,
which was signed in 1868, this is part of a territory that will forever
belong to the Great Sioux Nation. But even before the ink ran dry,
the treaty was violated several times.
In 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Treaty of Fort
Laramie is still valid and binding. Despite this, Senator Tom Daschle
managed to push a rider in October 1998, which violated the treaty
for the umpteenth time. The new law, the Wildlife Mitigation Act,
brings about the controversial land transfer and was approved by two
of the seven Sioux tribal councils. However, the treaty of 1868
requires that the five other tribal councils should equally be consulted
and give their authorization. Those five tribal councils have already
expressed their disagreement with the contested land transfer.
"The state [of South Dakota] does not respect the treaty, nor does
it respect American Indians," says Elsie Herten of of KOLA International,
a human rights organization concentrating on American Indian issues.
"The South Dakota governor, Bill Janklow, and senator Tom Daschle
are pushing for a speedy land transfer. That is why the act has been
signed and approved without taking the historical treaty rights into
full account. This again proves that the oppression of, and racism
against the original inhabitants of America are at the order of the day
in South Dakota. So, protests against the land transfer were inevitable."
The Sioux nations are demanding an Environmental Impact Statement;
because there are over 500 plant species to be identified. Such
kind of research, however, can take months, even years.
On March 22nd, the Sioux organized a demonstration in Pierre, the
capital of South Dakota. The manifestation passed quietly, but
after the speeches a dozen of American Indian activists decided
to occupy La Framboise Island, which is part of the land to be
transferred. The occupation is in fact a spiritual camp, which
also means that there are no weapons involved.
The FBI and the police are on the scene, but have not undertaken
any steps yet. However, the activists were told they will have to
leave the island tomorrow. Otherwise they will be removed by
force. This recalls scary memories of the occupation of Wounded
Knee in 1973 when hundreds of U.S. Marshalls, FBI agents and
military sieged, and opened fired on the small American Indian village
for 71 days.
(DWy)
---end article---
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