グレイト・ラコタ・ネーションがアメリカの支配から独立を宣言

北米先住民族ラコタ、米国から「独立宣言」 国際ニュース : AFPBB News

AＦＰが特電で流している。

【12月20日 AFP】「シッティング・ブル（Sitting Bull）」や｢クレージー・ホース（Crazy Horse）｣などの伝説的戦士を生んだ北米先住民族ラコタ族（Lakota Indians）の団体が、米国からの｢独立｣を宣言した。

ラコタ族の代表らは19日、ワシントンD.C.（Washington D.C.）郊外の荒廃した地区にある教会で記者会見を開き、｢米国政府と締結した諸条約から離脱する｣と発表。北米先住民族の運動で知られるベテラン活動家ラッセル・ミーンズ（Russell Means）氏が｢われわれはもはや米国市民ではない。該当5州に住む者は皆、われわれに加わるのは自由だ｣と述べた。会見場には少数の報道陣のほか、ボリビア大使館の代表も集まった。

新しく発足する｢ラコタ国｣には、ネブラスカ（Nebraska）、サウスダコタ（South Dakota）、ノースダコタ（North Dakota）、モンタナ（Montana）、ワイオミング（Wyoming）の5州の一部が含まれるという。ミーンズ氏によると、ラコタ国は独自の旅券や自動車免許証を発行し、住民が米国の市民権を放棄すれば住民税は徴収しないとしている。

現在、ラコタ族男性の平均寿命は世界でも最も短い44歳未満。10代の自殺率は米国平均の1.5倍、乳幼児死亡率は米国平均の5倍となっており、失業率も高い。ヤング氏は、自分の生きている間に問題は解決しないだろうとしながらも「わが部族は、単に這いつくばって生き延びたり、マスコットになるのではなく、『生』を求めている。米国を当惑させようとしているのではなく、われわれの子どもや孫のための戦いを続けるためにここにいるのだ」と決意を述べた。

ウーンデッドニー大虐殺の日（Dec. 29, 1890）を前にして、新しい闘いのはじまりか。ラコタの人たちの独立運動自体は３０年前から続いていたが、自ら独立を公式に宣言したのは今回が初めてのこと。下に掲載するのは偉大なラコタ国の地図。独立宣言にはふくまれないコロラドの一部もふくめて、実際は６つの州にまたがっている。

Source : 北米先住民族ラコタ、米国から「独立宣言」 国際ニュース : AFPBB News

　Sitting Bull's warriors break away

　Lakota Nation Declares Independence From United States | December 20, 2007 | AHN

　Lakota Indians Announce Formal Separation from the United States

　Lakota group pushes for new nation

　CENSORED: Lakota delegation declares Lakota control of Dakota territory

　20 Lakota announcement: Where does it go?

　Lakota withdraw from treaties, declare independence from U.S.

　Lakota Freedom Delegation

LAKOTA SIOUX DECLARE THEMSELVES A SOVEREIGN NATION INDEPENDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

http://www.lakotafreedom.com/media.html

Freedom! Lakota Sioux Indians Declare Sovereign Nation Status

Threaten Land Liens, Contested Real Estate Over Five State Area in U.S. West

Lakota Satisfies Treaty Council Mandate of 33 Years, Drafted by 97 Indigenous Nations

Dakota Territory Reverts back to Lakota Control According to U.S., International Law

Washington D.C. – Lakota Sioux Indian representatives declared sovereign nation status today in Washington D.C. following Monday’s withdrawal from all previously signed treaties with the United States Government. The withdrawal, hand delivered to Daniel Turner, Deputy Director of Public Liaison at the State Department, immediately and irrevocably ends all agreements between the Lakota Sioux Nation of Indians and the United States Government outlined in the 1851 and 1868 Treaties at Fort Laramie Wyoming.

“This is an historic day for our Lakota people,” declared Russell Means, Itacan of Lakota. “United States colonial rule is at its end!”

“Today is a historic day and our forefathers speak through us. Our Forefathers made the treaties in good faith with the sacred Canupa and with the knowledge of the Great Spirit,” shared Garry Rowland from Wounded Knee. “They never honored the treaties, that’s the reason we are here today.”

The four member Lakota delegation traveled to Washington D.C. culminating years of internal discussion among treaty representatives of the various Lakota communities. Delegation members included well known activist and actor Russell Means, Women of All Red Nations (WARN) founder Phyllis Young, Oglala Lakota Strong Heart Society leader Duane Martin Sr., and Garry Rowland, Leader Chief Big Foot Riders. Means, Rowland, Martin Sr. were all members of the 1973 Wounded Knee takeover.

“In order to stop the continuous taking of our resources – people, land, water and children- we have no choice but to claim our own destiny,” said Phyllis Young, a former Indigenous representative to the United Nations and representative from Standing Rock.

Property ownership in the five state area of Lakota now takes center stage. Parts of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana have been illegally homesteaded for years despite knowledge of Lakota as predecessor sovereign . Lakota representatives say if the United States does not enter into immediate diplomatic negotiations, liens will be filed on real estate transactions in the five state region, clouding title over literally thousands of square miles of land and property.

Young added, “The actions of Lakota are not intended to embarrass the United States but to simply save the lives of our people”.

Following Monday’s withdrawal at the State Department, the four Lakota Itacan representatives have been meeting with foreign embassy officials in order to hasten their official return to the Family of Nations.

Lakota’s efforts are gaining traction as Bolivia, home to Indigenous President Evo Morales, shared they are “very, very interested in the Lakota case” while Venezuela received the Lakota delegation with “respect and solidarity.”

“Our meetings have been fruitful and we hope to work with these countries for better relations,” explained Garry Rowland. “As a nation, we have equal status within the national community.”

Education, energy and justice now take top priority in emerging Lakota. “Cultural immersion education is crucial as a next step to protect our language, culture and sovereignty,” said Means. “Energy independence using solar, wind, geothermal, and sugar beets enables Lakota to protect our freedom and provide electricity and heating to our people.”

The Lakota reservations are among the most impoverished areas in North America, a shameful legacy of broken treaties and apartheid policies. Lakota has the highest death rate in the United States and Lakota men have the lowest life expectancy of any nation on earth, excluding AIDS, at approximately 44 years. Lakota infant mortality rate is five times the United States average and teen suicide rates 150% more than national average . 97% of Lakota people live below the poverty line and unemployment hovers near 85%.

“After 150 years of colonial enforcement, when you back people into a corner there is only one alternative,” emphasized Duane Martin Sr. “The only alternative is to bring freedom into its existence by taking it back to the love of freedom, to our lifeway.”

We are the freedom loving Lakota from the Sioux Indian reservations of Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana who have suffered from cultural and physical genocide in the colonial apartheid system we have been forced to live under. We are in Washington DC to withdraw from the constitutionally mandated treaties to become a free and independent country. We are alerting the Family of Nations we have now reassumed our freedom and independence with the backing of Natural, International, and United States law. For more information, please visit our new website at www.lakotafreedom.com.
###