Buffy Sainte Marie:
Uranium, an interview and a photograph
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/11369-buffy-sainte-marie-uranium-an-interview-and-a-photograph-.html
by Brenda Norrell
03 September 2009
It is amazing what can happen when one finds and publishes a
photograph from years ago. The photograph is of Buffy Sainte Marie
singing at Dine' College. It was taken the day I interviewed Buffy in
1999. She told me about being censored out of the music business by
Lyndon Johnson because of her song "Universal Soldier" during the
Vietnam War. She spoke of the personal hardship it brought, but also
of what happened to others, including Anna Mae Aquash.
Buffy spoke of the occupation of Wounded Knee and the shoot-out with
FBI agents at the Jumping Bull residence at Pine Ridge June 26, 1975.
"That is where Leonard Peltier's troubles began," Buffy said. Buffy
said that few people recount the true history of what happened on
that day in history.
"Who recalls that on that day one-eighth of the reservation was
transferred in secret -- on that day. It was the part containing
uranium. That is what never seems to be remembered," Buffy said.
The interview remained censored for seven years by Indian Country
Today, where I served as a staff reporter for the majority of those
years. When Buffy's interview was finally published by ICT, one
portion still remained censored.
It was the portion about Anna Mae Aquash's death in relation to the
fact that Pine Ridge was targeted for uranium mining at that time.
Tonight, I received an e-mail message pointing out that on June 26,
1975 Oglala Sioux Chairman and GOON squad leader Dickie Wilson was in
Washington signing away one-eighth of Lakota land for uranium mining.
It was the same day that two young FBI agents were sent into the
Jumping Bull camp. It is the reason that Leonard Peltier has spent
his life in prison.
So, tonight I searched for more about the uranium mining that Pine
Ridge was targeted for. The e-mail came from Jack Cohen-Joppa at
Nuclear Resister. "Thanks for posting your interview with Buffy
Sainte Marie. I was taken by this comment of hers, particularly: 'Who
recalls that on that day one-eighth of the reservation was
transferred in secret -- on that day. It was the part containing
uranium. That is what never seems to be remembered.' It is my
recollection of this fact (learned from reading Akwesasne Notes and
Rex Weyler's writing about Peltier, I think) that led us to include
Leonard Peltier on the Nuclear Resister's 'Inside & Out' list for
nearly the entire time we've been publishing (since issue #3, March
1981.) We wrote '... On that same day, June 26, 1975, Pine Ridge
Tribal Chairman Dickie Wilson was in Washington DC, illegally signing
away one-eighth of the reservation's lands to the Department of
Interior. There is uranium on this land...'" http://nuclearresister.org/
On the web, the John Graham website states: " .. the US had an eye on
developing uranium mining on a portion of the sacred Black Hills, an
area known as Sheep Mountain. This area has proven to be one of the
richest in uranium deposits in the US. The FBI implemented their
counterintellegence operation in Pine Ridge, in order to weaken and
destroy the urban Indian movement, and to subjugate the traditional
Lakotas for once and for all."
http://www.grahamdefense.org/200411investigatethefeds.htm
Posted on Russell Means' Lakotah Republic website: "In 1975, with his
control of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota secured by
force, Tribal President Wilson set about ceding uranium-rich areas of
the sacred Black Hills to the federal government. AIM assisted in
protecting Pine Ridge's traditional families from the constant
onslaught of violence, which culminated in the AIM occupation and
government siege of Wounded Knee in the Spring of 1973. From 1973 to
1976, the people of Pine Ridge lived under the 'Reign of Terror'more
than 76 Natives, mainly traditional Lakotah and AIM members, were
murdered, primarily by Wilson's goons, a term coined by the elderly
women who protested against them. Later, in a perverse play on words,
the goons called themselves, 'Guardians of the Oglala Nation'
(GOONs)." Then, I remembered being at Sheep Mountain. We climbed and
watched for helicopters in the night, as Lakotas protected the
remains of the Ghost Dancers at the Stronghold in 2002. In the dark
night, the sky filled with lightning and thunder. All Creation was
there at that moment.
Buffy's lyrics:
"My girlfriend Annie Mae talked about uranium
Her head was filled with bullets and her body dumped
The FBI cut off her hands and told us she'd died of Exposure…
"Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
Deep in the Earth
Cover me with pretty lies
bury my heart at Wounded Knee."
Finally, I do not know who killed Anna Mae Aquash. But I do know that
two separate groups of witnesses, all local Lakotas on Pine Ridge,
said they were there when it happened at Oglala. Many never came
forward out of fear. But they do identify the same person as the
killer. That person is not any of the men, including Arlo Looking
Cloud now in prison for this crime, who have been charged.
Lakota lands and Indian country are once again targeted for uranium
mining. Buffy has just released a new CD, "Running for the Drum."
--
The uncensored interview with Buffy Sainte Marie:
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com/id99.html
WWII tests exposed Lakotas in Badlands during genocidal studies using
uranium In situ leach uranium mining is the new form of genocide in
Indian country: http://www.rense.com/general84/occd.htm
.
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