Standing Rock: many nations, one people

"It is not necessary for

eagles to be crows"

Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa

Its almost 2 AM and I made a Facebook post about the Kanaka Maoli who came to help protect the waters (Native Hawaiian's). This was very important to me as I recall the relationships that our people have made with them over the years, we've supported them for their independence from the US, which was reaffirmed by former President Clinton signing an apology to the Kanaka Maoli's for the unlawful overthrow of the lawful Hawaiian Kingdom in the by the United States military and its agents. The apology was toothless, but it acknowledged the truth they were illegally overthrown by force and if you have colonized a people and their lands, the only right thing is to relinquish your control over it. I know it bothers people that we all do not chose to be Americans, but I believe the quote above, attributed to Sitting Bull, is very relevant within the context of the colonization to eradicate our culture and our connections to the land. And you are in the lands of the Hunkpapa.

When I went to Hawai'i, I was not aware of the Akaka Bill hearings starting up in Honolulu until my friends, whom I was visiting on Kaua'i asked me if I was there for the hearings. I said I wasn't aware of a hearing on the Bill, which was almost a carbon copy of the Indian Reorganization Act. If passed, the bill would have submitted them to the authority and jurisdiction of the United States. Creating a roadblock to their independence. They called for a friends on their island to come and share their stories with me. We met at a bed and breakfast by the beach, built and owned by Michael and Sondra Grace, who were evicted from their home, previously, which was torn down (news report at 25:00).

The people who came told me of their history and their stories of resistance, it is no different than ours and they seek to do it in a Pono (good) way, as do the Hunkpapa's at Standing Rock, who put the call out for support in protecting the waters. There was one man who came, Henry Smith, he told me his brother was on a waiting list of the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) for a very long time to move onto his lot where DHHL constructed his home, which was of sub-quality. He fought them for several years to repair his home, but lost and was going to be evicted. When the police came to evict him, he poured gasoline throughout his house and sat down in a chair in his home before he lit a match. It was powerful and tragic event at the same time. What has never left me is that while he was speaking, he collapsed. An ambulance took him to the hospital where he died from massive heart failure. As the medics were placing Henry on the stretcher, I went and placed my hands on his arm and told him I would make sure others would know his story. I shared it with the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs after a Kanaka said he would yield me his time to speak. After speaking against the Bill and sharing Henry's story, the committee turned of my microphone and walked out on me as I was still speaking.

I've shared what I remember with many people over the years, but it is important that I share it today with everyone because the next thing I want to share is what has been on my mind for a few days now, and somehow, with the Kanaka Maoli being there now - I felt everyone who needs to be there is there now, and I need to share the following with you.

Most people know that I have worked with the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee over the years. And some may remember when I did the spiritual fast at the White House in 2009. It was there sitting across from the White House holding my pipe bag that I thought about all the years we have been coming to DC to raise awareness or push for legislation, and what had we accomplished in securing our independence as a sovereign nation, upholding the terms of those treaties, or reconciling the manipulation of their laws that resulted in further loss of lands and resources. I prayed and thought on those things during that time. And before the end of the fast that it seemed to come to me that a Grand Council of the Indigenous Nations in the Western Hemisphere needs to take place. It needs to happen with traditional Chiefs, Headmen, Clan Mothers, and spiritual leaders of the people to bring us of one mind.

I saw how our Native pride resurged in the Seventies through actions by young Natives led by traditionals, and I saw how the movement became fractured by the efforts of the FBI, federal government and corporations, with many of our people dead or in jail for standing up. Their sacrifices did awakened the spirit of our ancestors within us, and we began to stand against a system that has yet to deal honorably with us.

It is always a fight when it comes to returning stolen lands or money, as in the Cobell Settlement. Now it is seems they are intent on compromising our sovereignty with every lawsuit, settlement or Acts of Congress, and even the states are pushing harder, in some cases.  Those battles has us all over the country, including the UN, throughs the International Indian Treaty Council, on all types of issues, from mascots to traditional spirituality in the prisons, to water rights. Some people tried to weaken us by telling us what is more important, but what I have always know is that they are all important. They are all inter-connected, but today, we all know what is at the forefront, that is why you are there. And it looks like you will be there for a long time if DAPL is permitted to proceed.

You have the time and the people now, I simply ask everyone to consider if it is time to establish a coordinated plan to secure our sovereignty as a nation and not a semi-dependent nation? Shouldn't we be the ones to regulate the waters and other resources from our nation without asking for permission?

How we do this is through the support of the traditional leadership and a shared vision renewed through your defense of the waters. It wouldn't happen overnight since it took generations to bring us where we are now in a concerted effort, take time to conceive of what our world would look like if we were truly sovereign, along with understanding what it really implies on an international level. I worked with a group called the League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations with the idea of being many nations, but one people in how we rose to support one another across the hemisphere.
That is the thought I want to share with everyone. It is yours, do with it as you will. And should some people want to come together and discuss it to take it back to their communities, do so with one mind. The sacred fires have been lit and prayers have been made for what you are all doing. Yakoke! 



"Lets put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children" Sitting Bull

Choctaw Nation Election 2015: time to speak up!

Due to an wave of outrage by the citizens of the Choctaw Nation after the federal conviction of Jason Merida for corruption, Chief Gary Batton, appointed his Election Reform Task Force, to provide him with a bullet-list to present to the tribal council.

One resulting action is that the Biskinik will now have an insert with candidates and election information in the May issue. Another is that a letter was sent to registered voters asking they check box whether they want their addresses released to qualified candidates, those whose replies were postmarked before April 30th will be accepted. It is unknown at this point the number of letters that were returned undeliverable as a result of no forwarding address or if the person was deceased. Some have quoted their sources as saying it numbered in the thousands.

On Monday morning (May 11th) the Election Board at the Choctaw Nation headquarters in Durant will begin accepting applications for candidacy for the offices of Chief and Council. The council seats and incumbents are:

Choctaw District Map

District 1 - Idabel, Thomas Williston

District 2 - Broken Bow, Tony Messenger (retiring)

District 3 - Talihina, Kenny Bryant

District 5 - Stigler, Ron Perry

District 8 - Hugo, Perry Thompson

District 11 - McAlester, Bob Pate

Filing will close at the end of business day on Wednesday, May 13th. After that date, the names of the qualified candidates will be posted along with information on how they can be reached. The date of election is July 11th.

Eaglemanz Commentary

This election year, we have heard that several candidates are running in District 2 - Broken Bow, where long time Choctaw Nation employee, Tony Messenger, is retiring from public service. Names of possible candidates have popped up for this open seat: Ivan Battiest, Tony Ward, Green Davis, Mike Amos and Taloa Gibson. Originally, I had intended to run for Chief this year, but after the Merida trial, attending the the only public Election Reform Task Force meeting and then seeing the resulting tribal council actions, I began to consider running for District 2 council. It wasn't until an incident of  betrayal by a Senior Executive Officer, Stacy Shepard, regarding developing a prison reintegration program for Chahta people leaving prison, that I decided my best course of action was to wait until the 2019 election where I will run for Chief.

My decision based upon the experiences I pointed out above is to demonstrate the capacity of our people to become the leaders we are. Those who are elected are not our leaders, they are the people who willingly offer themselves up for public service. This means they are to be accountable to the people, their actions are open and above board. No secret meetings behind closed doors, no withholding of information affecting the Chahta people and above all no refusal to answer the questions of the Chahta people.

It seems that years ago after the Chahta people won a victory in averting termination by J.W. Belvin and the federal government, we were beginning to recover when we had our only free and fair election that placed David Gardner as Chief. When he died in office, it seemed that a process was put into place that began to disempower the Chahta people. If you spoke out against the chief, you or your relatives were threatened with the loss of their Choctaw Nation job or you might be blacklisted and services were withheld from you. Then the sitting chief was arrested and convicted for embezzlement, but won re-election in spite of that. Then a few years later he was indicted for sexual assault of a female employee and sentenced to prison.

Most everyone had thought the era of fear and intimidation was over. People remembered Chahta people passing out pamphlets printed by "Choctaws for Democracy" and being arrested and charged. This had a chilling effect on the voice of the people that one had better not speak out or up. The issues were a biased election process and a slanted tribal paper that actively promoted the Chief and Tribal Council. People began calling the Biskinik, "The Bisquik: for white and fluffy feel good news", tribal employees were conditioned to tell nursery fairy tales about the administration, or to not speak at all.

The Merida trial exposed more than the administration probably cared for and when it became known of the abuses of office, various groups circulated the information in the social media. It has become known that the administration has began paying attention to various groups that have formed, such as Choctaws Rising, Chahta Veterans for Chahta Civil Rights, Eaglemanz: Chahta Nation, and the Choctaw National Party. These groups are made up of former council members, attorneys, military veterans, medical personnel, a minister, American Indian Movement activists and other Chahta citizens like yourself who want to bring about accountability and transparency in the constitution, elections and the administration of the Choctaw Nation.

These groups have traveled to a number of communities to help get the word out, even to the gathering in Bakersfield, California. There were several Chahta okla expressed their surprise because they had not known about the trial or the activities of the various grassroots for a positive transformation. Some of the delegation who traveled there were also surprised by the hostilities encountered from the organizers, Bill and Theresa Harrison. Two members, Yannash Scott and Stephen LeFlore, were told they could not march in the arena to honor military and war veterans with their banner "Chahta Veterans for Chahta Civil Rights". Even I was told that if I was going to talk about politics I don't need to come back. I returned on the following day and learned that the organizers had attempted to have campus security remove them from the premises. The day before, Batton was present when the veterans were told they could enter the arena with their banner, during the night and the next morning I learned that Batton had been made aware of the incidents taking place. I spoke with Batton later at this event and he had urged the organizers to not make an issue of it. Apparently, the Harrisons disregarded Batton, so when these men were approached by campus security, Batton sent his personal security officer to intervene as can be seen in the video.

Perhaps the most disturbing element of this event was the "Ugly Choctaw Contest". When I heard this over the loudspeakers, I was stunned. I watched one man urged on by his family to go out into the arena and it appeared he grudgingly stood up and with each step I saw his spirit sink away into the ground. He may have not felt he was the best looking man there, but he did not need this. I cannot explain how heartbroken I felt for this man. I saw others going out without a care, smiling. I turned away from this spectacle and thought about what has reduced us to something as disparaging as this. I've spent most of my life defending Native rights and lands through awareness and direct action. I've written about the conditioning and brainwashing that our people have gone through to make us feel inferior, and that we have to stand tall to make our children proud, to be Native, proud to be Chahta, even if they have other blood coursing through their veins because we all bleed red. We've taken on issues of mascots, policies that affect traditional cultural and spiritual practices and other forms of institutional racism, even from our own people. It was our Chahta people who recently walked off Adam Sandlers set after they had been lied to when they had been assured of a tasteful representation of Native people.

When it comes to institutional racism, we are often told that there are more important issues, I strongly disagree. All of these issues are interconnected, they can be tied into our high rate of alcoholism/drug use, teen suicides and low self-esteem, as well as a societal misunderstanding of whom we are as Native people.  It is hard to break through the steel walls of stereotypes, and people are surprised to find Natives who are educated and work as professionals. The struggle to break through has been ongoing for years.

And for Chahta people, we can look within our own territory and see these things happening, even during Tushkahoma. Instead of Native performers, we see only non-Native performers, we go into the arts & crafts building and see flea market items, and then our traditional stickball games, we see how it has been conformed to fit within another societys form of sports. We had no referees, time-outs, or announcers. It seems as if we are slowly losing our grip on whom we were as Chahta people.

This is where each and everyone of us comes in, we have to begin standing up in our leadership role and demand that the candidates who are going to run for office support what we want. We have to make our voice heard throughout our nation wherever our Chahta people live.

We must be the ones setting up a candidates forum so that we can present the changes that we want to see and find out who will vow to make it happen. One of the key points I feel will weed out the candidates is to ask who will present a council bill in their first meeting to reduce the salary of the Chief and Council:

The Chief makes $281,000.00 per year, with medical and numerous other perks. I would propose lowering that salary to $65,000.00 per year. If the Choctaw Nation health care is good enough for us, then it has to be good enough for them, otherwise, they can pay for superior health care out of their salary or work harder to improve our health care services. The Council members can have their $151,000.00 salary cut to $35,000.00 per year, with the same stipulations as the Chief regarding medical.

Any Choctaw who is making minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) could gross as much as $15,080.00 per year. As a person who has met real traditional chiefs, they are usually the poorest of their people because they give what they have to help the people survive. Our Chief and council should not be living better than the people they have been elected to serve. I can accept that corporate ceo's get paid a lot more, and if our people want that kind of money, then go to work for a corporation. We are not a corporation, we are a Nation of Indigenous peoples and we have a cultural standard of practice that served us well before we began acting like Nahullos. If a person who is elected can show us how they have raised our people above the poverty line and that we have prospered as a people, TOGETHER! Then I say we should reward them with a slight salary increase. The people who run for these positions should do so solely for the love of their people, not for how much money they can pocket.

The following are some points that can be formulated into questions for the upcoming election so that we can find those willing to stand up for the people. More will be forthcoming in the coming weeks.

Election and campaign reform: one should not be able to “buy” an election based upon how much money one has or how popular they have made themselves as a result. It should be about the issues that they stand upon and what they will contribute to the Nation as a whole. The hard honest truth is that a candidate needs access to the registered voters, and we have a vehicle for that: 

a) The Biskinik, in the three months prior to an election, candidates must announce their intent to file and present their platforms, the paper must give equal time to all candidates after they have formally filed their candidacy,

b) Our community centers should be made available to the community for a candidate’s forum for council and chiefs. I'm inclined to make attendance by candidates mandatory or they forfeit the race.

c) The CNO website should have a section of the website set aside for the candidates with their platforms, their photo, bio and contact info. With these items, it isn't really necessary to fund-raise, because this will provide at a minimum, exposure and a means of connecting with registered voters.

d) It also needs to be said that no campaigning should be conducted by the candidates while employed by the CNO, nor should volunteers employed by the CNO conduct similar campaign activities. Violators employment will be terminated and future employment will be prohibited. 

(Not all of us have a million dollars to run a campaign with. From the information revealed by Pyle and Batton during the Merida trial, their ability to raise such a massive amount is by virtue of their office creates an uneven playing field. Should this be adopted, then we should ask Batton to transfer the estimated one million dollars to an interest bearing account to cover the expense of mailing the paper and documented related costs. The balance in this account with interest accrued should be published each month. The basis for this is as I’ve stated, this money was raised by the position held in the Choctaw Nation, it would be an honorable gesture.)

After the elections, Battons' Election Reform Task Force will reconvene. We must ask that the candidates present a bill to make all committees, and any meetings called by an official or employee of the Choctaw Nation, public. At the same time, each of our districts needs to organize into groups that can attend these meetings and report back to their community to work on reform provisions.

Constitutional Amendments or a Constitutional Convention: There is a need to strengthen our constitution, after 32 years, we now have an better idea of its shortcomings. We need to know from our candidates if they will support a constitutional convention before the next election in two years. Choctaws Rising has a list of proposed amendments, while I do not support tampering with the blood quantum for holding office, I would support all the other proposed changes.

The Choctaw National Party also has a list of the platforms, take a look at these and see if this is something you will support and ask the candidates to affirm or refuse to support these type of changes.

And because it is an election time for the next two months, maybe we can obtain a public reply from Batton on the Chahta Veterans for Chahta Civil Rights Petition to respond to the Chahta peoples concerns about how this breakdown occurred, where are the checks and balances to guarantee this hasn't happened in other circumstances prior to this federal investigation, and afterwards. There are many questions that have been on the table, but Batton has said he would only meet with the people one on one. I'm sorry, that is not good enough, nor is it productive. It would be more expedient to address a general gathering where we can all hear the questions and the answers at the same time, as well as record it for those who could not attend. This is the accountability that is lacking from our administration. Whenever we ask for answers, no official should refuse to provide it.

We only have two months to get our own forums set up and the Chief will have to (or should) attend forums set up by the people in each district. Especially when we have a candidate for Chief who will be filing this week, D.J. Battiest. I recently heard D.J. speak in Durant and found her to be charismatic, sincere and above all down to earth. We will be looking forward to hearing more from her in the next two months.

The following is my suggestion for a timeline for the districts to host the forum for the candidates/incumbents (Chief and Council) on a Saturday:

May 23rd
District 1, Idabel @ 12pm
District 2, Broken Bow, @ 6pm

May 30th, 
NONE (Memorial Day weekend is when most families have their own time)

June 6th,
District 3 - Talihina, @12pm
District 11 - McAlester @6pm

June 13th
District 5 - Stigler @ 6PM

June 20th
District 8 - Hugo @ 6PM

These are merely suggestions and it could work for those where the locations are nearby that two in one day could be done. The community in each district could host the forums with a potluck and set the stage for future political campaigns, making fundraising an obsolete process. We don't need to see wasteful spending of tour buses, lavish spectacles or big name musicians. We aren't Nahullo's, we just want to hear the truth and see your hearts with no distractions.

Remember several corporations have made political contributions to Batton and Pyle with hopes of obtaining a contract with the Choctaw Nation enriching them with a million dollars to campaign. Lets remove the potential for abuse and take control of our elections. We are the leaders, and they are the public servants. We didn't get this way overnight and it it isn't going to be fixed quickly, we have a long road, so lets begin walking it together with dignity, integrity and a common voice.

YAKOKE!
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Liberation Day: Wounded Knee 1973

Bobby Onco (1950 - 2014) Wounded Knee 1973

Forty-one years ago tonight, the Elders said NO MORE! Thus began the siege at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Many of us know the history, we know the people who were there and we know that this was the moment necessity brought the people to. The occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC in Nov. 1972 was the fuse being lit to an explosive and deadly confrontation between Native people and the federal forces of the United States Government. It was a time when America realized that John Wayne had failed to kill us all in his Hollywood movies!

I was 12 years old when the Trail of Broken Treaties converged on DC, and when they went under cover of night and secured Wounded Knee, just a few weeks after the Custer Courthouse riot.  The narrative is best told by Carter Camp, who joined the ancestors a few months ago and is being honored this evening in Manderson, Pine Ridge Reservation:

Ah-ho, My Relations,

I ask you to remember that our reasons for going to Wounded Knee still exist and that means the need for struggle and resistance also still exist. Our land and sacred sites are threatened as never before. Even our sacred Mother herself is faced with unnatural warming caused by extreme greed.

In some areas of conflict between our people and those we signed treaties with, it is best to negotiate or "work within the system." But, because our struggle is one of survival, there are also times when a warrior must stand fast even at the risk of one's life. I believed that in 1973 when I was 30 and I believe it today at 70. But to me Wounded Knee '73 was really not about the fight, it was about the strong statement that our traditional way of living in this world is not about to disappear and our people are not a "vanishing race" as wasicu (white) education would have you believe. As time has passed and I see so many of our young people taking part in a traditional way of living and believing, I know our fight was worth it and those we lost for our movement died worthy deaths. [...]

Today is heavy with prayer and reminiscence for me. Not only are those who walk for the Yellowstone Buffalo reaching their destination, today is the anniversary of the night when, at the direction of the Oglala Chiefs, I went with a special squad of warriors to liberate Wounded Knee in advance of the main AIM caravan.

For security reasons the people had been told everyone was going to a meeting/wacipi in Porcupine, the road goes through Wounded Knee. When the People arrived at the Trading Post we had already set up a perimeter, taken 11 hostages, run the BIA cops out of town, cut most phone lines, and begun 73 days of the best, most free time of my life. The honor of being chosen to go first still lives strong in my heart.

That night we had no idea what fate awaited us. It was a cold night with not much moonlight,  I clearly remember the nervous anticipation I felt as we drove the back way from Oglala into Wounded Knee. The Chiefs had tasked me with a mission and we were sworn to succeed, of that I was sure, but I couldn't help wondering if we were prepared. The FBI, BIA and marshalls had fortified Pine Ridge with machine-gun bunkers and armored personnel carriers with M-60s. They had unleashed the GOON squad [Dick Wilson's Guardians of the Oglala Nation] on the people and a reign of terror had begun. We knew we had to fight, but we could not fight onwasicu terms. We were lightly armed and dependent on the weapons and ammo inside the Wounded Knee trading post, I worried that we would not get to them before the shooting started.

As we stared silently into the darkness driving into the hamlet, I tried to foresee what opposition we would encounter and how to neutralize it. We were approaching a sacred place and each of us knew it. We could feel it deep inside. As a warrior leading warriors I humbly prayed to Wakonda for the lives of all and the wisdom to do things right. Never before or since have I offered my tobacco with such a plea or put on my feathers with such purpose. It was the birth of the Independent Oglala Nation.

Things went well for us that night, we accomplished our task without loss of life. Then, in the cold darkness as we waited for Dennis and Russ to bring in the caravan (or for the fight to start), I stood on the bank of the shallow ravine where our people had been murdered by the 7th Cavalry [in 1890]. There I prayed for the defenseless ones, torn apart by Hotchkiss cannons and trampled under hooves of steel by drunken wasicu. I could feel the touch of their spirits as I eased quietly into the gully and stood silently, waiting for my future, touching my past.

Finally, I bent over and picked a sprig of sage — whose ancestors in 1890 had been nourished by the blood of Red babies, ripped from their mothers' dying grasp and bayoneted by the evil ones. As I washed myself with that sacred herb, I became cold in my determination and cleansed of fear. I looked for Big Foot and YellowBird in the darkness and I said aloud:

"We are back, my relations, we are home."

The government hated that Native people found the perseverance to stand up for their rights and lashed back with corrupt criminal investigations and divisive tactics through the US Attorney Generals office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Examples were made of several Native people who dared to speak up, but the movement had already started and advances have been made, which is eloquently stated by Janet McCloud:

Old Acquaintance: The poetry and power of Janet McCloud

Before the organization of the American Indian Movement in the 1970s, Indian reservations and urban Indian communities were pockets of poverty.

In some areas there was no employment for any Indians; average unemployment was 80%.

The infant mortality rate was one of the highest in the world, and diseases attributable to starvation and severe malnutrition were epidemic.

The average life span for all Indians was 42 years.

Large extended families lived in one room shacks and in abandoned, wrecked cars. Most Native Americans depended upon their two feet for transportation.

Health care for Indians would more properly be called health brutality. Indians were often used as human guinea pigs for abominable experiments.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs had total control over all Indians, their land, rights and resources, and it was open season for all exploiters. For a minimum fee the BIA had a green light to do any type of damage to Indians or take everything that Indians owned.

No rights were respected or defended — not human, treaty, civil, constitutional or an Indian's right arm.

AIM sacrifices The struggle of the American Indian Movement to create positive social changes for their people is well known, but not the sacrifices they made.

Some of these unsung warriors made the supreme sacrifice; they lie in unmarked, untended graves across the land. Many others sit forgotten in dingy prison cells. Yet all Indians benefit from these sacrifices.

There were and are other organized resistance groups of Indian people, like the Red Power movement of young college educated Indians who created a movement philosophy, and the fishing rights activists of the Northwest who organized an effective resistance to protect the aboriginal rights of Indian people. But the American Indian Movement was unique, for it was nationally organized and internationally known.

AIM's brave and daring efforts to uplift the lives of their people, to challenge a powerfully hostile enemy, and to promote a better social order for all Indian people, inspired not only their own people but the oppressed and downtrodden of the world. AIM became heroes for the North Vietnamese, the IRA of Ireland, the peasants of southern France, the aboriginal peoples of Australia and Africa. The entire world knew and admired AIM.

The greatest beneficiaries of the American Indian Movement are the tribal council leaders, who are quick to seize the opportunities created by the movement, and to claim unwarranted credit for the positive social changes won for Indian people. Tribal officials often hate and renounce AIM, and the BIA and FBI can always call on the worst of these tribal leaders to slander the AIM leadership.

Today, the beneficiaries of the movement live in new homes, drive cars, live longer, have better health, are better educated, have good-paying jobs, and much more. But AIM leaders are recipients of vicious, slanderous poison from the ungrateful and jealous-hearted.

Few will acknowledge that real change only began to take place across this land after the tremendous sacrifices of the young warriors of the American Indian people.

Where are the tribal leaders who take the credit for all the positive changes in Indian country? Back in Washington, D.C. fighting for more program monies, smoke shops and gambling or liquor licenses.

The American Indian Movement supports the efforts of all the tribal leaders and programs that genuinely promote the health, education and welfare of Indian people. Neither AIM nor any other organized resistance movement of Indian people begrudges one benefit their people receive; they rejoice at all improvements, for this was what they fought for. But the warriors never grabbed the benefits for themselves, and the few who did were never true movement people.

That is how you tell the difference between leaders and opportunists.

Bureaucrats and sorcerers. The tribal leaders and others who denounce AIM justify their base actions by pointing out the human weaknesses of individual AIM leaders or warriors, with never a glance at their own. Individuals, unfortunately, do have weaknesses. But the survival of Indian Nations and sovereignty does not rest upon the shoulders of anyone man or woman, no matter how strong.

Indian people are in real need of effective social service programs. Four hundred years of abuse at the hands of European immigrants have left deep scars on Indians. It will take many years and many more dollars to improve the lifestyle of Indian people. Yet racists expect change overnight and clamor for an end to tax dollars spent to rectify the atrocities committed against Indian people.

Indian people with dedication and expertise are generally considered a threat by despotic tribal leaders. If they do not silently walk the sacred "program guidelines," they soon find themselves standing in long unemployment lines. The potentially good social service programs are constipated with bureaucratic red tape from D.C., which protects tribal leaders in all their outrageous acts against their people; the FBI and BIA are quick to come to the defense of the tribal bureaucrats.

And who protects the Indian people now that the FBI has almost destroyed the American Indian Movement? Nobody. Do tribal leaders who claim the credit for AIM's labors and sacrifices rush to protect and defend Indian people against the onslaughts they face today? If you call them for assistance or help, do they answer your calls? Do you get past their secretaries? Only rarely.

Our future as a distinct people in control of our destiny rests upon the strength of our collective unity and common purpose.

Indian people can disagree till doomsday about which defensive strategy is best, or whether we should even resist. If we continue to disagree on politics, policy and philosophy, and enter into destructive personality clashes, we will lose all. Our enemies never rest. They are ever unified around the purpose of achieving our total destruction.

A backlash is striking with deadly force, and without much opposition, at the most defenseless segments of Indian people. Our children in public schools are ganged up upon and beaten. Thousands are political prisoners in non-Indian foster homes. Indian women are being sterilized at an unprecedented rate. Racist courts overpopulate the prisons with Indian youth, where they are psychologically and physically brutalized and beaten, with no one to protect or defend them.

The American people themselves do not call the shots in this land. Policy and politicians are set and run by an international cartel of financiers, who constantly intrigue and plot for greater profit and control over the world's resources and human labor. Even the educational systems are set up to meet their needs for a never-ending supply of cheap, easy to control industrial slaves, cannon fodder and consumers. This master cult of financial sorcerers uses people as playthings and pits us one against another. We all end up the losers.

Remember our warriors. The war against Indian people and Nations is far from over. Indian people from Akwesasmi sit starving and freezing in ditches trying to protect their traditional chiefs and leaders from U.S.-puppet Indian leaders and the New York SWAT teams. The sacred Black Hills of the Sioux Nations are set to be exploited by uranium interests in 1980. Indian people from the Southwest are dying from low-level radiation poisoning. Indian children were still placed in foster homes in the International Year of the Child, and Indian clan-families are disappearing.

We need our warriors, and where are they? Dead in unmarked graves; in prisons; in hiding, pursued relentlessly by the FBI; or paroled to one county in one state, unable to travel or forbidden to talk for or about their people lest they be imprisoned again.

How many Indian people whose lives have improved remember our dead or imprisoned warriors?

Dead warriors
Tina Trudell and family
Anna Mae Aquash
Dallas Thundershield
Buddy Lamont
Pedro Bissonette
Hilda Red Bear
Richard Oakes
Raymond Yellow Thunder
Wesley Bad Heart Bull
Philip Celeay
Frank Clearwater
Clarence Cross
Maurice LeDeaux
Angelo Martinez
Joe Stuntz
Jimmy Little
Frank Condon
Byron DeSersa
George Gap
Hobart Horse
Sandra Wounded Foot, Jr.
Calvin George
Nelson Small Legs, Jr.
John Waubanascum
Arlin Pamanet
Baby Girl Yellow Bird
Jancita Eagle Deer
Robert Rosares
Tom Bad Cob, Sr.
Jeanette Bissonette
Richard Lee Lamont
Charley Killsree
Terry Williams
Filmore Stands
David Dobbs
Leon Gaze
Lloyd Broncheau

Political prisoners, Dec. 1979
Leonard Peltier
Rocque Duenas
Ted Means
Russell Means
Dennis Banks
Vance Yellowhand
Mary Settler

It is time Indian people, the beneficiaries of the American Indian Movement, took some time to count their blessings, to give credit where credit is due, to send a card and a few dollars for legal defense to the imprisoned warriors. An investment in them is an investment in the future.

Don't forget them. We may never see their like again.

I pray and feel confidant that this spirit will arise as the need calls for it. I only hope that we all remember the success'es as well as the excess'es of those times. It is a lesson for us to learn from and continue to grow so that one day, we may not observe a Liberation Day, but an Independence Day of our own.

This Sunday, March 2nd, join me on my show Eaglemanz: Chahta Nation as  we visit with some of the veterans of Wounded Knee.

Carter Camp: R.I.P. 2013

"We Decided that our Indian people are more

important to us than long jail terms."

Carter Camp, Ponca Nation, Wounded Knee 1973

Carter Camp painted as a warrior at Wounded Knee

Remembering people of their words and actions has been my way of mourning, as a way to keep their spirit alive in our memories. His words above exemplified what it means to commit to being a true Warrior for the people. He lived this way of life as so many people can attest to. Those words take me back to when I began to understand what the American Indian Movement was about in the early 70's. It began as a civil rights organization in Minneapolis in 68, but through the influences of Henry Crow Dog, it soon evolved into a spiritual based movement as Crow Dog stated that in order for AIM to be successful, it had to have a spiritual foundation.

That foundation inspired a spiritual/cultural revival among Native people across these lands and into the urban areas and the prisons. Carter Camp was one of those who formed multiple AIM chapters in Oklahoma, and Indian people began to stand up, while so many who had assimilated into being an American quickly deplored those actions, such as the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs by the Trail of Broken Treaties in 1972, Wounded Knee 1973, and so many other actions that have taken place around the country.

In 1983 or 1984, I met Craig Camp while I was serving a 12 year sentence for burglary. Craig and I visited often during the time I was temporarily assigned to a medium security facility for use of its core law library. It wasn't too long after that I received a letter written on the back of a poster (that is probably floating around in Canada now) from Carter. One thing he wrote that stuck in my mind is that we have to determine the direction of our struggle, we cannot allow non-Natives determine this for us. Just a few years later when I was litigating Native prisoners right to wear their hair long, Carter, along with Richard Ray Whitman organized a press conference in our support.

Finally, after serving over 7 1/2 years, I was kicked out of maximum security, and then the prison system altogether. The words of strong Indian people like Carter Camp, Steve Robideau and Standing Deer inspired me to to commit to my own way of being "In Total Resistance". The sacrifices of so many people in the movement, including their lives, assured me the ones I made were nothing. I had chosen to remain in prison while our lawsuit was ongoing. I waived my parole for about three years until our case was appealed to the state supreme court. Even though we lost the case in district court, by the time we went to trial, we had forced the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to back up from "No Exceptions" to their repressive grooming code; to acknowledging that wearing our hair long was a spiritual practice and constitutionally protected. When the case went on appeal, I agreed to appear before the parole board. In record time, I was out and on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.

The very next month, I ran into Carter at a pow wow for Dukakis in Shawnee. We were visiting with Karen Koassechony when an Oklahoma-style thunderstorm exploded. Carters ride had left so we ended up at Karen's house for coffee and discussions about the movement and Leonard Peltier. When the storm passed, Carter and I walked to the bus station so he could get a bus to White Eagle. While we were waiting, the cops rolled up on us and asked us for our ID's and what we were doing out so late. Carter said, "Our ID's? Isn't this still America? What do you need our ID's for? We are just waiting for the bus so I can get home I was stranded at the pow wow when the storm hit!" We produced our ID's and had the flashlights in our face before he gave them back and left. Carter said, "I bet you that he won't be asking any white people tonight for their ID's for standing around like we were. He's looking for Indians to bust!

Since that time, we've done benefits, rallies and campaigns together. In November 1999, Peltier sent word to me to ask Carter if he would come to DC for the Leonard Peltier Freedom Month. That was a powerful month as many people came from the Dakota's, I learned so much more about history, true Indian history that many people will never know unless you were there and lived it.

Carter and Linda Camp at Crow Dogs Paradise

I think how fortunate I have been to visit with him and his family at his home or at Crow Dogs, there was always something more to listen to. Maybe I can not recall so much of his exact words, but those were words that have influenced me. And that is why I am reflecting at this time, because there is no more discussions around the campfire. And even more importantly, there is no more for his wife of a lifetime and his family. Their grief and loss is more than immense. My thoughts...prayers go out to them.

As difficult as it may be for some at this time, we should all give thanks for Indian people like Carter who fought to make a difference. We should pray their sacrifices will not be forgotten, nor should we stand aside to wait for the next warrior to stand up to risk it all by saying "No more!".

Honoring Dance for Carter at White Eagle with brothers and sister

We should all be that voice that says "NO MORE!
NO MORE will I swear blind allegiance to a government that has no honor to uphold its promises to our Indian people!
NO MORE will I allow corrupt tribal governments to grow fat off of the people by selling out!
NO MORE will I accept that our people are defeated nor allow my childrens identity be confiscated!
NO MORE will I accept the illegal national boundaries imposed by European immigrants across the lands of Indigenous Peoples!
NO More will I allow the next sports team, TV fake/reality show or electronic gadgets become more important to me than our Indian People!
Our voices should echo through intent and deed what our departed relative said at Wounded Knee 1973 when surrounded by federal forces who fired tens of thousands of rounds at our Indian people! The same place where in Dec. 29, 1890, the US soldiers fired cannons and rifles killing about 200 women and children and 90 men. When those words were said in such a sacred place, those were a commitment to a way of life!

Achukma and Yakoke for those lessons and your support Brother. Journey well!

Ben Carnes,
Chahta Nation, Indian Territory

Postcript:
Yesterday evening after conclusion of ceremonies at the center, Carter led us in his last caravan to his final resting place at the Ponca Tribal Cemetery. I estimated a two mile procession as vehicles pulled over on both sides of the highway a show of respect. As we turned left towards the cemetery, I saw one Elderly Indian man who had parked on the side of the road and stood beside his truck, a solitary figure wrapped in a blanket with his fist held high in the air giving honor to a warrior. It was a very tearful moment for me seeing this.
At graveside more prayers were offered and written statements were read, including one from Leonard Peltier. Then it was done, families and friends began making the trip home. As I drove home, I reflected upon the past few days. It had ranged from sadness/grief to exuberance and celebration when it was announced that Carter Camp would be receiving a citation from the State of Oklahoma recognizing him for his lifetime of service to Native people.
When I got home, I saw another statement as follows:

Carter is my AIM brother and friend for 40 years. He was not afraid to speak, write or confront the HIDDEN TRUTH or THE BIG LIE [AMERICAN GENOCIDE ON THE NATIVE PEOPLE] that the U.S. tries to HIDE IN THEIR MANIFEST DESTINY POLICY. In the 1973 occupation of Wounded KNEE, he was the first one in and the last one out and then was imprisoned for his heroic actions. THIS DID NOT BREAK HIS SPIRIT and he continued the resistance for 40 more years. I am very honored to have walked with him on the Red Road.I am sure that he received a Honored Welcome in the spirit world by the ancestors. Thank you for your example. Chief Billy Redwing Tayac, Piscataway Indian Nation

 YAKOKE!

Empowering the Chahta People

Some of you have heard about the Choctaw Voting Block through my posts or other sources. Its' emergence in the world of the Chahta people is one that came from the people themselves. The ones who got an up-close and personal look at how things are being ran by executives and upper management of the Choctaw Nation administration; the ones who experienced unfairness and double-standards; and from those who were here at the beginning.

This is not an indictment against every employee of the CNO, but those who have the power to make things better or worse for a Chahta citizen. Such abuse of power should never be allowed to grow to the extent it has, and to some of our people it is frightening. I am outraged that our own people feel they cannot openly express themselves with fear of losing their job/services or that a relative may be terminated upon baseless allegations from which there is no recourse.


Recently, we held a public meeting of the CVB in Broken Bow and we had a good discussion in our small group about the history of the current CNO, constitutional issues, and elections, resulting in abuses of power. I imagine as we travel to other Chahta communities,we will hear a lot more, and we want to hear more so that as our numbers grow we can develop strategies to bring transparency, fairness and equality.


It will be a long process to get where we need to be since elections for tribal districts 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12 will be next year. And in 2015, elections for the Chiefs Office and 
Tribal Districts 1,2,3,5,8, and 11 will take place. One method, along with public meetings in the districts is to establish chapters of the CVB in each district to organize community discussions of these issues and the needs of the people and our children and their children. If some of the executives and managers had their way, the CNO would just be a plain old corporation, but as we have been informed, the CDIB holders are in the way.


The people who run for these offices are our public servants, they should be working for us. Without us, there is no Choctaw Nation. It is important that we begin to consolidate our voices so that the future candidates will know what is expected of them.

So as this organization develops, stay connected with us and consider inviting us to your area. We would be happy to discuss issues, possible strategies in putting outspoken and committed representatives in the positions of council and Chiefs office. One popular discussion is how we can bring about a constitutional amendments or revisions with checks and balances that will hold those elected accountable to the people.


If your Chahta and want to stay current of what we are doing, subscribe to my blog and the CVB. I feel it is an important and sacred responsibility that every Chahta citizen and voter know what we will stand for and hope to achieve, the more our voices come together, the more effective we will be. This is the CVB position:

Mission:
To ensure the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is revered and cared for with the empowerment of Choctaw people in mind.  Ensuring success, we will nurture and provide the tools our Choctaw people require so that our Choctaw Nation caretakers will be Choctaw tribal members.

Vision:
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in the future will be a proud people whose government put their welfare above all else.  Choctaw children will be encouraged and empowered to become future leaders of our nation, our elders will be revered and respected.  Our businesses will support the education, the employment and the entrepreneurial spirit of our Choctaw people.

Values:
Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.

1. Respect all things that are placed on this earth whether it is a person or plant
2. Honor other people’s thoughts, wishes, and words. Never interrupt another or mock or rudely mimic them. Allow each person the right to personal expression.
3. Never speak of others in a bad way. The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.
4. All people make mistakes. All mistakes can be forgiven.
5. Bad thoughts cause illness of mind, body, and spirit. Practice optimism.
6. Avoid hurting the heart of others. The poison of your pain will return to you.
7. Be true to yourself first. You cannot nurture and help others if you cannot nurture and help yourself first.
8. Respect other beliefs. Do not force your beliefs on others.
9. Keep yourself balanced. Your mental self, spiritual self, emotional self, and physical self all need to be strong, pure, and healthy. Work out the body to strengthen the mind. Grow rich in spirit to cure emotional ails.
10. Serve your people with a clean spirit – take nothing that doesn’t belong to you and take care of what belongs to us all

If you live near Broken Bow, feel free to send me a message. Those of us who were at the recent meeting will make some plans to have discussions about these issues, and we'll announce a time & place.

A Call to the Citizens of the Chahta (Choctaw) Nation!

Choctaw Voting Block

Voters Registration & Potluck Dinner

100 W. Circle Dr. - Broken Bow, OK

July 21 (Sat.)

 Meeting 5 PM (dinner 6:30 or 7 PM) 

CHAHTA'S BEING POLITICALLY PROACTIVE!

The Chahta People will be having council & Chief elections in the upcoming years, 2013 & 2015. As a people who survived the Trail of Tears and Death, we owe to our ancestors and future generations to shape our nation as we wish it, and that is an administration that is responsive and ACCOUNTABLE to the people!

We are all familiar with the problems, but let us come together and create our solutions together. It didn't become this way overnight, and it will take time to bring our voices together from across our Chahta Nation and across the land so that we can state what we expect from future candidates; whether it is Constitutional Amendments, employee rights or modifying the way our elections operates.

Please tell your Chahta friends & relatives, even if they live in different districts, to come and join us for more information and a dinner, please bring a dish. For more information, Contact Ben between 6 PM & 7:30 PM about the meeting/dinner or Stephanie at 417-439-9791 about the meeting. 

If you are online and want to learn about more issues being freely expressed. go to this blog:  http://choctawvotingblock.wordpress.com/

Yakoke!