Lakota Nation now the Republic of Lakota
Posted on December 30th, 2007 by zen •
Canupa Gluha Mani singing and drumming
He is one of the coordinators of the Lakota sovereignty movement, spoke and sang at the West Asheville library this Saturday.
Read more about the Republic of Lakota.
Filed Under lakota nation sovereign, zen • •
This is wonderful. I have worked with Lakota and other native peoples in the past on peace issues and education of the native way. I am part Cherokee and can still feel the resonance of what the people on the reservation must feel and go through everyday. They are the unseen in their own land much like the Palestinians in Israel. You can not as a nation move a people out of their own land and contain them on a stamp sized plot of land for one nations selfish needs and desires. It is all about power. Yet as Ironic as it is, the people with the most power are people who teach the native traditions with hopes and prayers of one day having their rights and property back.They are giving future generations hope and education which breeds respect through education and cultural heritage.
In the speech and music he shared, his passion is strong and he pulled few punches about we washichu (lakota for white-man, but literally ‘he who grabs the fat or greedy’) and what the government has done to his people. His ideas about identity related specifically to the way in which the US Government tries to control and own by giving social security numbers and drivers licenses (which he cut up before Washingtonians), and were explained with many Lakota phrases and some songs.
I have to admit that not knowing Lakota or familiar with Lakota drum songs, the power of his speech went over my head or rather thru me without striking my guts, my emotion. I wanted to hear what he had to say because i empathize with the plight and resolution of his people, but rather than explaining the way his people are unseen in their own land and mistreated and hounded by authorities, he chose to get his point across thru rambling stories and song the strength of which, for me, was dilute and muddy. It was not lost however on the many who were there wearing Native American T-shirts of support and closing their eyes and moving their heads rhythmically to his song, but neither did anyone do anything but chuckle when he asked that others renounce their American citizenship and cut up their own driver’s licenses (how would they get home, they must’ve thought).
He did however make me feel that he and i, as brothers, were all part of the universe and loved. I could’ve stood for even a harsher rebel, a more angry warrior than the one before me, but i understood that it was his way - thru action and not words - with song and not debate - that he got things done. And i respect that immensely.
I am not familiar with Lakota. I worked with the Western Shoshone several years ago on land rights issues…basically the DOE (dept of energy) took over their land for the purpose of underground nuclear testing. One of these days I’ll post some interesting related video.
Thanks for your posts, Zen.
The Republic of Lakota website appears to have a number of broken links in it. For instance, their Declaration of Continuing Independence can’t be downloaded, a rather important item. The contact email listed is also non-functional.
As I am interested in the new Republic of Lakota, these problems distress me.
i can empathize with this distress, however as we know with the freak and other web sites, sometimes there are tech issues out of the “owners-hosts” control. web sites are demanding to run and operate daily and have many back end issues which can challenge even the most computer literate(i am not computer oriented so what do i know)? give their site some chances and let them know so they can fix the issues. perhaps you can help?
The Republic of Lakota doesn’t exist. So far it only exists in the minds of those who want it to exist. If you move anywhere within Montana, Wyoming, SD, ND, or Nebraska, you are still under U.s. law and rule. Not the Lakota Republics. As well, Russell Means is not an elder aka, person that has political or legal power over his people. This is no different than you or me standing up saying that we are taking this land back in the name of the British. There is nothing more than rehtoric to see here. Move on.