Russell Means: One hundred seventeen

years after Wounded Knee, Is Sioux

independence finally here?

Le Monde, France

Sioux Indians of Lakota Tribe

Tell State Dept. of Succession

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America … We are legally within our rights to be free and independent."

-- Russell Means, Leader of Lakota Delegation to Washington

By Corine Lesnes, Washington Correspondent

Translated By Pierre Guittard

December 23, 2007

France - Le Monde - Original Article (French)

A group of Lakota Indians has decided to secede from the United States . On December 17, a delegation arrived in Washington to inform American authorities. The leader of the group, writer, actor and activist Russell Means, submitted a letter to State Department officials announcing their decision to sever treaties signed in 1851 [Treaty of Mendota  and Traverse De Sioux ] and 1868 [Treaty of Fort Laramie ]. "We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," Russell Means explained at a press conference organized at a Church on Washington.

[Editor's Note: An earlier press release said, "Our treaties with the United States government are nothing more than worthless words on worthless paper - repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life." Lakota reservations recognized by the U.S. government include Ogalala Ogalala, Sicangu, Hunkpapa, Mniconjou, Izipaco, Siha Sapa, and Ooinupa. Some Lakota also live on other Sioux reservation in eastern South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska.]

To limit any repercussions, the American government didn't respond to the gesture. The secessionist group has announced its intent to distribute passports and driver's licenses, but it doesn't represent tribal leaders. Mr. Means, who tried to obtain the presidency of the Oglala Sioux in 2006, wasn't elected. At his press conference held in the presence of Bolivia's ambassador to Washington [Gustavo Guzman] - who declared his support for the activists - he admitted that the initiative was not unanimous.

[Ambassador Guzman was also quoted as saying, "We are here because the demands of indigenous people of America are our demands … We have sent all the documents they presented to the embassy to our ministry of foreign affairs in Bolivia and they'll analyze everything."]

"I want to emphasize, we do not represent the collaborators, the Vichy Indians and those tribal governments set up by the United States of America to ensure our poverty, to ensure the theft of our land and resources," Means said. The Lakota are one of the tribes the form the United Sioux Nation and its members are some of the most underprivileged people in the United States. The Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota has a poverty rate rivaling any found in the third world: Ninety seven percent live below the poverty level, 85 percent are jobless and average life expectancy for men stands at 44 years.

In 1980, the Lakota refused a [Supreme Court] decision that granted them no land, but a sum of $122 million. Situated on the Great Plains far from tourists, the Pine Ridge reservation has received no benefit from the casinos that have benefited other tribes. 

[Editor's Note: The Lakota have long claimed that the U.S. government stole land guaranteed by treaty - especially in western South Dakota. Means said at his press conference, "The Missouri River is ours, and so are the Black Hills." A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1980 awarded the tribes $122 million as compensation, but not the land. The Lakota have refused the settlement. (As interest accrues, the unclaimed award is approaching $1 billion.)].

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