Here's a powerpoint presentation of a blue/red/purple map:
http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/dd4231b1a4_0.29MB
Posted on 12/20/2007 5:36:13 AM PST by Sopater
WASHINGTON — The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States.
"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,'' long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said.
A delegation of Lakota leaders has delivered a message to the State Department, and said they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the U.S., some of them more than 150 years old.
The group also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and would continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months.
Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.
The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free - provided residents renounce their U.S. citizenship, Mr Means said.
The treaties signed with the U.S. were merely "worthless words on worthless paper," the Lakota freedom activists said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I am not arguing that they should try to help themselves, or that the history of how they came to be in this position was inevitable. Much of what is posted here are things with which I agree. But it is far more complicated than some wayward son not wanting to get a job. It is a systemic problem with many facets, all of which add up to a burden that any particular individual would be unable to conquer.
But I am also unwilling to rely on old feelings that these people are simply lazy or that they only want a hand out, and thus deserving of their plight.
This would be a great opportunity to see how concervatives would go about solveing a problem of this nature. If they did, it would be a model for so many other circumstances. I've probably expressed my concern as well as I am able at this point.
The Nez Perce rule!
So the Reservations won’t be turning out to vote for any more Democrats in U.S. elections?!
” Fact is, the treaty was signed because they lost a war bertween two wholly incompatible cultures...”
You mean like Christianity and Islam??
I've hunted Pine Ridge which requires you to get a license from the reservation. The poverty in that area is tremendous.
They do have one small casino, but it is not very nice.
Of course, all the schools were modern, state-of-the-art buildings and looked totally out of place.
Why would they stop at Driver’s licenses and passports? I can see all kinds of interesting opportunities.
1.Fly over fees to Airlines for flying over their soverign territory.
2. Havens for deserters and escaped criminals
3. Casinos galore, prostitution, drugs, non-taxable items such as cigarettes and booze and anything else that the white man outlaws.
If Russell is smart, he’ll be the next Warren Buffet.
Please tell me about what your great grandfather did to help himself to take control over his life. What was his experience? What time frame was he in?
“This would be a great opportunity to see how concervatives would go about solveing a problem of this nature.”
I guess that would depend on the definition of “solving”, eh? I don’t get you want to hear how conservatives would “solve” the problem of the reservations. Seems to me we have built up roads, infrastructure, safety nets, education possibilities, minority protection rights, etc. etc. etc. Now what are the RESIDENTS of the reservations going to do THEMSELVES to solve their problems? I don’t see anything happening other than a few living in gated communities with casino dollars while the rest of the unfortunate on reservations without casinos dependent on meager handouts from those wealthy tribes. I guess if tribes don’t want to take care of their own even in this day & age, America, as a country, has proven we are better than they.
It's not an illness. It's a choice. It's the exact same choice that poor urban dwellers face: are they going to show initiative and avail themselves of the opportunities offered freely in the United States and escape poverty, or are they going to wallow in the uncomfortable but risk and cost free existence on government programs.
The Lakota don't have the option of roaming the prarie hunting bison, and even if they did they would probably find the romantic idea a lot more fun than actually living in a skin tent and surviving on what they could hunt and gather. How many Lakota could live today on whatever they could pack up on a dog-dragged travois?
Sorry, but it is 2007, not 1867, and the world works differently now. If the Lakota think they are poverty stricken now, wait until they try living in Means' tax and revenue free "nation", without the US govt. supplying at least minimal subsistance.
Did they get shafted by the treaties? Yeah, but so did my ancestors who lost their lands to conquering rulers; that's why they came here to avoid starving in Scottish and Irish land clearances. For that matter, the tribes that the Lakota displaced got shafted by the Lakota, and they probably shafted their predecessors as well. Perhaps the biggest shafting of all was setting up treaties and reservations in the first place, instead of just saying, "Sorry, you lost. Adapt and join in assimilation, or find somewhere else to live."
“Yeah, he can ask me.”
I’ll ask you. Last time I was in PR, El Nuevo Dia’s articles were all agog at how wonderful Rosie Road’s redevelopment was going to be and how it was going to soon be one of the nicest parts of Puerto Rico. That was less than a year ago. Have things changed?
Merry Christmas to all and have a great new year!
Don’t forget to pay it forward this year...
If they want to behave like a foreign country, let 'em. I'm sure we can play all kinds of games with State Department rules about foreign travel, trade restrictions, tariffs, etc., to (gently) make them suffer if they insist on acting like pricks.
Time to stop sending the welfare checks...
Nothing has changed. They keep coming up with their artist renderings of how wonderful it will be and keep saying that the final transfer of lands is around the corner, but nothing happens. In the meantime, the town of Ceiba, where Rosie sits, and the Island of Vieques keep languishing in economic depression. The mayor of Ceiba is threatening to sue the Rosie Roads Redevelopment Commission. The truth is, the government is broke and the private sector is weary of doing business with this government.
So far this is Ramey AFB part II. I hope it changes.
In the meantime the section of Roosevelt Roads that will remain in federal hands, mostly for the Army and Marine Corps Reserves, Army and Air National Guard and Homeland Security, are starting to see some action in terms of prepartion of facilities.
No problem! just build fences along the new border and change a good deal of money for entry into the US. Also revoke any Indian benefits to people living on that tribal land.
Set up a tariff system and make sure they cant live off of ‘tax free gas’ and casinos..
I might tend to agree with you generally, but this recent manifestation of “ridicule and bad indian jokes” results directly from the big chief’s preposterous claim.
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