Lakota Nation Makes Its Own Way

On Wednesday December 19th, 2007, the Lakota Nation declared itself a sovereign nation, 2 days after withdrawing from every treaty it had ever signed with the United States.

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

The failures of the U.S. to honor & follow the tenets of the treaties are many & well documented. My darlin' wife followed in the tracks of her beloved Grandmother, who lived among Pawnee & Lakota in Nebraska, as well as Pacific Northwest tribes as a cook in the logging camps. Both women have seen firsthand the plight of these proud peoples, their numbers decimated by war, genocide, starvation, & inflicted poverty. Both have fed those that they could, & the hearts of my family are with them.

Some of the statistics cited at http://www.republicoflakotah.com/why.html are stunning:

Life expectancy of Lakotah males - 44 years
Death rates highest in US, infant mortality 300% more, teen suicide 150% of US average.
Over 50% battle addictions, 80% of homes affected by alcohol. Along with drug & alcohol abuse comes unnaturally high rates of incarceration.
Tuberculosis: +800%
Cervical cancer: +300%
Under the poverty line: +97%
No clean water/sweage systems: +33%
Unemployment: +80%

We encourage you to visit the site & read the rest of the data there to improve understanding of the plight of indigenous peoples with the boundaries of the U.S.

It remains to see what we the non-Native residents of the United States of America can do to assist our Lakota bretheren, as well as all the tribes on this continent.