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Letter from Elders: July 14, 1991 *
Hau Mitakuye Oisin,
Greetings to all our Allies, Brothers & Sisters! We are sending this letter out in a new way, by computer, to show that we are still alive and our hearts are not diminished in any way.
This is a general introduction of ourselves, and expression of warm regard to all our Indigenous Allies engaged in ongoing War with the USA and Canada, all around the Sacred Earth. The Bear Butte Council has long been silent because our Prophecies said we had to wait, until now. But as our elder Joe Flying By has said, "It is time."
The Bear Butte Council (Mato Paha Okolokiciye) is an ancient counsel of the many Allies of the holy Black Hills (H'e Sapa) bioregion, in what has been illegally occupied and desecrated by the 'United States of America' and 'Canada'. We are what these euro-judeo-christians call 'Red Indians'. We call ourselves Tsistsistas and Suhtaoi (Southern and Northern Cheyennes), A'anninin (Gros Ventres), Nakoda Ki (Assiniboines and Stoneys), Lakota Ki (Titonwin Sioux), as well as Mdewakanton, Hidatsa, Crow, Mandan, Arapaho, Shoshone, Kiowa, Ponca, Oto, Omaha, Cree, Ojibwa, Blackfoot, and Arikara.
We know there is a need for INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE with our many other Indigenous brothers and sisters throughout the world who are being slaughtered by these Evil Invaders. They have massacred at least 100 million Native Peoples in this hemisphere since Columbus brought his diseases and priests in 1492. They deliberately slaughtered 75 million of our sacred Buffalo in this northern continent. Countless massacres of our little children were perpetrated by their glorious Cavalry; and they are still glorifying their genocide in racist/religionist Hollywood movies.
We have been holding WAR COUNCIL with our Allies of the Cree and Iroquois Confederacies, who have joined us in battles from Wounded Knee in 1973 to Oka and Kanesatake in 1990, and Gustafsen Lake in 1995. This has been an ongoing War ever since they violated the sacred Treaty of 1851 signed at their Fort Laramie, Wyoming territory.
Our allied Red Nations utilized the Black Hills, Bear Butte, Grey Buffalo Horn, and other Sacred Sites for millions of years for spiritual and sacred purposes, with such unlimited and undisturbed use and access unconditionally agreed upon byt the government of the United States through the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie.
With the threat of the encroaching Whites, the nine Red Nations of the Sacred Black Hills Region were prompted to PROTECT, SECURE, AND INSURE OUR TERRITORIAL HOMELANDS THROUGH THE SIGNING OF THE 1851 TREATY OF FORT LARAMIE.
The Agreements and Guarantees set forth and mandated by the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie are INDISPUTABLE, NONCONTROVERSIAL, AND DO NOT ALLOW FOR "RE-NEGOTIATION".
Our sincere feelings and beliefs with regard to the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie - which is also known as "The Treaty of Long Meadows" and, to the Cheyenne "The Great Horse Creek Treaty", are that:
- IT IS A SACRED DOCUMENT, unanimously agreed upon by each camp and each Band of each of the nine Red Nations Signatory to the September 17 signing, with the presence of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe of the Nakota/Dakoda/Lakota, the Four Sacred Arrows of the Cheyenne, as well as the Sacred Bundles of the other five Indigenous Red Nations Signatory to the 1851 Treaty;
- IT IS A UNIFYING DOCUMENT, with nine Red Nations Allied to protect their territorial homelands, the center and very heart of those territories being the Sacred Black Hills Region;
- IT BINDS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO HONOR the 1851Treaty of Fort Laramie, as mandated through Article VI of their U.S. Constitution, which states explicitly that "Treaties made with Indian Nations are the SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND", which not even U.S. Supreme Court 'Rulings' (adverse or otherwise) can legally affect;
- All so-called 'Acts, Treaties, and/or Agreements" concocted after September 17, 1851 are continued day-to-day VIOLATIONS of the sole legitimate 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and are TOTALLY ILLEGAL;
- Each of the nine Red Nations present at and signatory to the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie were properly represented with their PRINCIPAL CHIEFS AND HEADMEN, with the parents of the great Medicine Man, TATANKA IYOTAKE (SITTING BULL), and the great War Chief TASUNKE WITKO (CRAZY HORSE), present andwitness to the signing;
- IT GUARANTEES THE NATURAL, HUMAN, AND LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE NINE RED NATIONS TO THEIR TERRITORIAL HOMELANDS AS DEFINED IN THE 1851 TREATY OF FORT LARAMIE AND RELINQUISHES NOTHING.
1851 Treaty violations by the U.S. Government CONSTITUTE GENOCIDE upon and against the nine 1851 Treaty signatory Red Nations. In 1988 U.S. President Bush signed into public law 'The Genocide Convention Implementation Act (Proxmire Act) of 1987 (U.S.P.L. 100-606)" which adopted the "International Genocide Convention", and which prohibits the Commission(s) of the crime of Genocide against the nine Red Signatory Nations.
On December 6, 1999 I presented this Statement of our Sovereignty before the US Civil Rights Commission hearings in Rapid City, South Dakota, and demanded that they review the Genocide committed by the US Government against our Red Nations.
Submitted, Respectfully,
Richard Grass
Descendent Treaty Chief
[signatures to same, July 14, 1991
Bear Butte
John W. Long
Archie Fire
Arvol Looking Horse,
Bill Tall Bull
Richard Grass
Rema White Cheek
Joseph A. Walker
Reginald Bird Horse
Pete Fills The Pipe Sr.
Huron Red Dog
Rodney Lee Randall
Heidi Lee Randall
Robert Grey Eagle
Gilly Running
Anthony Running
Cecelia Parker
Tony Black Feather
Philip Sounding Sides
Merle Whistler
Two Crows
Dave Yakima Chief
Bernard Peoples
Garfield Grassrope
YasuLuta Red Hail
Irvin Red Fox
Mark Soldier Chief
David Seals
Ken Wallowing Bull
Elva Stand in Timber
Adeline Whitewolf
Lee Lonebear
Joe Bear
Alfred Strange Owl
* Reprinted with permission from:
http://1851treaty.com/elder.html