PARIS: Solidarity with Native Americans Events Oct. 2019

Federal Judge Blocks 'Riot Boosting' Laws in South Dakota

Federal judge halts unconstitutional new laws targeting pipeline protests against Keystone XL

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked enforcement of the "riot boosting" laws in South Dakota laws, unconstitutional laws designed to stop protests against the Keystone XL pipeline.
Rosebud Sioux Tribal President Rodney M. Bordeaux praised the decision handed down on Wednesday, pointing out that freedom of speech is far more important than the interests of oil companies.
"Like many tribal members, I was grateful for the news that Judge Lawrence Piersol of the U.S. Federal District Court has granted an injunction against the State of South Dakota that prohibits the state from enforcing its unconstitutional 'riot-boosting' law," Bordeaux said in a statement.
"We believe that this sends a message to Governor Kristi Noem that it is not acceptable to skip the legislative process and ‘fast-track’ legislation in a non-transparent manner so that the voice of the people are not heard. We are hopeful that the state is reminded that it is not acceptable to put the needs and wishes of foreign oil ahead of the people’s constitutional rights to free speech."
In issuing a preliminary injunction halting several provisions of the legislation, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol said the ALCU is likely to win most of its challenges to the bill “with the possible exception for direction of another person participating in a riot to use force or violence," Associated Press reports.
Piersol added that that protesters must be allowed to plan and seek public support and money “before and in anticipation” of the next construction season. Conversely, supporters of the pipeline should also have the opportunity to respond rather than waiting for confrontation during actual construction, the judge said.
“We’re glad the court recognized that these vague and overbroad laws threaten the First Amendment rights of South Dakotans on every side of the issue,” said Stephen Pevar, an ACLU attorney.
The legislation hastily passed in March by the Republican-dominated Legislature allows officials to pursue criminal or civil penalties against demonstrators who engage in “riot boosting,” defined in part as encouraging violence during a riot. It’s meant to head off Keystone XL protests like those mounted against the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota that resulted in 761 arrests over a six-month span beginning in late 2016, AP reports.

The ACLU said the new law targets pipeline protesters.
The new law gives the state the authority to sue individuals and organizations for “riot boosting,” but it does not clearly describe what speech or conduct it considers to be “riot boosting, the ACLU said in April.
"The law is written so broadly that even a tweet encouraging activists to 'Join a protest to stop the pipeline and give it all you’ve got!' could be interpreted as 'riot-boosting' should a fight break out at the protest. The law joins two existing state criminal laws that also target such speech, meaning that advocacy could now result in up to 25 years of prison time, fines, or civil penalties — or a combination of all three," the ACLU said.

Transfer of Public Lands for Border Wall is An Outrage, Unlawful

Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Contact: Courtney Bourgoin, Courtney.Bourgoin@sierraclub.org

STATEMENT: Transfer of Public Lands for Border Wall is An Outrage, Unlawful

Washington, DC-- Today, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced the Trump administration will transfer over 560 acres of public lands to the Army to build roughly 70 miles of border barriers. The acreage includes public and desert lands in Arizona, California and New Mexico, including areas immediately south of Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona and Otay Mountain Wilderness in California. 

The land transfer is a result of Trump’s national emergency declaration and waiving of virtually all environmental and cultural protection laws at the border for wall construction. Trump will use $3.6 billion of the military’s budget for these portions of the wall-- cutting over 125 projects that benefit military families and readiness. The Sierra Club, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC)’s challenge of Trump’s national emergency declaration will be heard by the 9th Circuit Court on November 18th. A ruling in favor of the groups could shut down Trump’s national emergency declaration and halt the fund transfers. 

In response, Dan Millis, Borderlands Program Manager at the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, released the following statement: 

“Trump continues to completely disregard our system of checks and balances, critical environmental laws and protections for communities to build his destructive, deeply unpopular wall. Illegally transferring billions of dollars from the military and now handing over our public lands for more border militarization is an abuse of power-- one that will have ripple effects and ruinous harm long after his presidency. It is time for the courts to immediately reject Trump’s fake national emergency that is destroying our homes, public lands, archaeological sites and communities.”

Best of Censored News 'Chasing off Lewis and Clark Pretenders'

Censored News celebrates beginning our 14th year by sharing some of our best moments. Our coverage includes a statement by Carter Camp, Ponca, before he passed to the Spirit World, and coverage of this great day on the banks of the Missouri River in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Thanks for reading and sharing Censored News. -- Brenda

Photo by Brenda Norrell

The Lewis and Clark re-enactors offered an offensive tomahawk pipe to the group of

resistors who refused to smoke it.  Strong words were made by tribal

leaders Alex White Plume, Floyd Hand, Carter Camp, Alfred Bone Shirt,

Russell Means and Vic Camp who advised the Lewis and Clark re-enactors

that they were perpetuating the lies of American history.

Photo by Brenda Norrell

Lewis and Clark opened the door to the holocaust of the West

By Brenda Norrell

UN Observer and International Report

CHAMBERLAIN, S.D. (Sept. 18, 2004) -- The American lie of Lewis and

Clark unraveled as Lakota, Ponca, Kiowa and Dine' told re-enactors to

turn back downriver or face the consequences.

"What they wrote down was a blueprint for the genocide of my people.

You are re-enacting something ugly, evil and hateful," Carter Camp,

Ponca, told the Discovery Expedition camped on the Missouri River.

On Saturday, an Indian delegation of elders, supported by young

warriors, gave the expedition a stern warning. If they did not turn

around, they would call on all Indians who are not assimilated,

colonized and conquered to join them and stop the expedition.

"You are re-enacting the coming of death to our people," Camp told the

expedition, while seated in a circle with Indian elders and Lewis and

Clark re-enactors, on the banks of the Missouri River.

"You are re-enacting genocide."

Deb White Plume of Pine Ridge gave the expedition a symbolic blanket

of small pox. Another Lakota woman from Pine Ridge said she carries

the DNA of the Lakota women who survived the slaughters that Lewis and

Clark opened the door to. She said she is prepared to die for this

cause.

"I believe in armed struggle," Wicahpi Wakia Wi of Pine Ridge said.

"The act of genocide stops here. We are tired of living poor. We are

not afraid to die. I am willing to die."

She told them they would not proceed up the river.

"You are not going on. I will organize every sister from here to

Oregon to stop you."

Lakota elder Floyd Hand, among four bands of Lakota here, told the

expedition, "We are the descendants of Red Cloud and Crazy Horse."

"I did not come here in peace."

Hand said they would not smoke the pipe today and if the expedition

continues up the Missouri River, the families of the expedition

members would suffer the spiritual consequences of small pox.

Referring to the tribal governments who welcomed the expedition, Hand

said those tribal governments reflect the same type thinking as the

re-enactors and are not the voice of the grassroots people.

"The tribal governments are not a voice for us. They are imitating us,

like you are imitating Lewis and Clark."

"We want you to turn around and go home," Alex White Plume, Lakota

from Pine Ridge, told the expedition

White Plume said Lakota are here on this land for a reason.

"We were put here by the spirits." He said the Lakota never lost their

language or ceremonies and now they are making these requests: Lakota

want their territory back, their treaties to be honored and to be able

to continue their healing ways.

White Plume said many Indian people have become assimilated and colonized.

"We pray for our own colonized people. We say they are in a prison in

the white man's world."

White Plume said there was no point in the expedition coming here.

"All you did was open up these old wounds."

Carter Camp warned the expedition to halt or they would be stopped. He

said the expedition has been told lies and are spreading lies.

Lewis and Clark are apart of the American lie.

"They had no honor. They came with the American lie. They murdered 60

million people."

Camp said Lewis and Clark said they came in peace. Referring to their

costumes, Camp said, "You guys probably believe that lie. That is why

you are dressed so funny today."

He said Lewis and Clark knew what happened to Indians in the eastern

part of the country and they knew that the missionaries followed the

soldiers. And it was the missionaries who left his people as remnants,

homeless in the streets.

Camp said the young warriors would not be as patient as the elders

seated in the circle. He also questioned whether the re-enactors had

asked permission of the grassroots Indian people to come onto their

territory.

"You chose to come amongst us without permission."

Camp said Sacagawea was a woman struggling to return home.  "We feel

sorry for that woman. We don't like the way she was treated."

Camp said Indians here did not like the first Lewis and Clark and they

sure don't like the second ones.

"Take those silly clothes off and come back dressed like a normal

human being. Don't come here to tell me what your grandfather did to

my grandfather."

Referring to the re-enactors "silly clothes," Camp said of the Natives

who came, "This is the way our people dress everyday. We are not

trying to play a game."

"Go home and try to re-enact some truth for the rest of your life."

Alex White Plume said all that is good is being destroyed on the Earth

because of actions like these.

"Our people are dying because our water is no good," he said, adding

that the wolves and bears are disappearing from the territory. Lakotas

have to pay fees to go the Black Hills to pray.

"Today I can not even go up to the Black Hills to worship. We believe

everyone should have access to spirituality."

He said buffalo were once the basis of the ecosystem. Now, he said,

"The whole West is drying up.

"The Earth should be a priority and not your own personal needs."

Referring to the red, white and blue flag flying over one of the

expedition's three boats docked on the Missouri River, White Plume

said, "We want that flag taken down. We honor that flag because we won

it at the Little Big Horn."

He said the flag could be later given back, if their treaty was

honored and sacred lands preserved.

"We would like to ask you to turn around and not to proceed into our

territory. We didn't bring our bows and arrows, but we will continue

to harass you."

Alfred Bone Shirt of Rosebud told the expedition, "This is disgusting.

This is a slap in the face."

Bone Shirt said the Lakota are a people who never quit fighting for

what they believe in. "If you decide to go up river, it is bad, bad

for you and bad for your families."

Bone Shirt listed the town of Chamberlain in a long list of racist

South Dakota towns. He described the testimony of the Indian Child

Welfare Act on KILI Radio the previous day, testimony of Lakota

children being taken away in large numbers and given to non-Indian

families.

"Our prisons are full, our children are being taken away."

Pointing out the absurdity of the re-enactment, Bone Shirt asked if

there would be a re-enactment of Bush and Cheney invading Iraq.

"If you go up this river, we have good warriors who can shoot arrows.

Bone Shirt was ready for action.

"Let's sink some of those boats out here."

Bone Shirt pointed out that the Indian people knew what the

re-enactors were thinking. "When we leave, they will laugh behind our

backs."

And Bone Shirt said Indians here know this type of racism.

"The state of South Dakota is the most racist state and South Dakota

condones this kind of behavior. We want you to know, it has to end

here."

Russell Means said if the expedition continues up the river, the

Blackfeet are waiting for them.

Means said Lewis and Clark, like the myth of Columbus, are apart of

the great American lie.

And there are many parts to the great American lie. "Even the casino

Indians are not rich, that is another falsehood. They don't ever see

cash," Means said, adding that the money goes to investors and also to

the state, which is illegal.

Means said Indians can't even start a business on tribal land without

waiting an average of eight years, and then it is only if the

paperwork isn't lost.

"What you are perpetuating is part of the big lie," Means told the re-enactors.

Means said Indians have 40 percent of the nation's natural resources

on their lands, yet they are kept in concentration camps called

reservations and not allowed to participate.

"This is our river," Means said of the Missouri River running past. He

pointed out the water is being used by farmers, cities and power

plants without the permission of Indian people.

"They don't honor anything. This is an insult to our integrity."

While there is no Bureau of Irish Affairs or Bureau of other groups of

peoples' affairs, the Bureau of Indian Affairs remains an instrument

of genocide.

On Pine Ridge, the average lifespan is 44 years. "We are middle-aged at 22."

As Indians arrived at American Creek Marina bay on the river, there

were three police and Sheriff units waiting at the entrance.

Later, seated in the circle, Hand told the group there was no need for

the police to be sneaking in the bushes and taking photos; they could

do it in the open. "That is what the federal government does."

Hand said white people are always looking for identity and always

taking. He told the re-enactors to find out who they are and live who

they are.

Deb White Plume said for Lakota, halting the expedition is a spiritual

act. She reminded the expedition of the diseases brought by the

invaders.

She presented Clark with a blanket and said, "Small pox. Have it

back." Clark accepted the blanket, a symbol of small pox, cautiously.

Deb White Plume chastised Clark and the other re-enactors for the tone

they addressed the Indians present with. "You are patronizing us, you

are condescending to us." She said their tone of voice said that they

were going on up the river no matter what.

"You hurt us. We don't want you here."

White Plume said she has only two children because she was sterilized

against her wishes. "I have two sons because your government

sterilized me."

"Your government fought my family with guns and I survived and I am

here to tell you about it."

She said Lewis and Clark and those that followed "were the original

terrorists on this continent."

Pointing out they were surrounded by law enforcement here, she said,

police always surround Lakota.

She said to the expedition, "You are here with no respect."

White Plume said they could not allow the expedition to continue up

the river to their sacred Sun Dance grounds.

"How can you willingly want to trample on anyone's sacred grounds?"

-----

Should We Celebrate Lewis and Clark or Stop Them?

By Carter Camp, Ponca, American Indian Movement
Published with permission at Censored News

Soon a call will be going out across Indian Country for people to

gather in South Dakota to stop the ignorant and racist celebration of

the Lewis and Clark slaveholding expedition into our lands. This

action will be led and organized by our young people who have turned

to some of us for advice and counsel. They are offended by the

continuing insults America seems determined to heap upon our People.

They see our leaders lining up in D.C. to bless the grave robbers

museum of our demise while at home on the rez the depredations

continue. They see our Tribes being changed into corporations that put

money over our culture and they watch as our lands and sovereignty is

eroded to nothing. And now they watch as the Lewis and Clark

'celebration' is endorsed, even by those Indian leaders who know how

ugly its truth is to our people. Our youth, our Tokala, our future,

are tired of standing by while these things are going on and they are

demanding something be done or they will be forced to act. When the

call goes out it will be too late for elders like me to mediate so I

must stand with them and I ask all those within the sound of my voice

to stand with us. Here's why….

Americans have an unfortunate penchant for big anniversary bashes

celebrating their various successes in their five centuries old

assault on Native people. The most glaring example is of course the

national holiday for Columbus, another is the many place names and

celebrations for famous "Indian Killers" like Amherst, Custer and

Chivington. These 'celebrations' are so common and ubiquitous across

our lands that Americans are surprised and hostile when a Native voice

is raised in opposition. If we dare ask that the usual distortions of

history be corrected or that sober thought be given to the

appropriateness of all or certain parts of the event, we are seen as

enemies to be overcome once more.

The first tactic employed is always to convince, bribe or coerce

some of our own people to join them and get them to denounce the

objectors as renegades. From 1492 through the genocidal centuries on

until today, the invader knows that if they can put a red face out

front they can hide their true intentions and escape responsibility.

The big "celebration" going on in D.C. right now for the "National

Museum of the American Indian" is a prime modern example of how the

conqueror uses Indians to hide their responsibility for the times of

horror they visited upon our nations.

The old but effective tactic is once again in use, this time the

wasicu seeks Indian cover for their "celebration" of what they call an

"expedition" instead of what it truly was… an attempt to cover-up once

again the ugly truth of genocide called "manifest destiny". In 1992

Indigenous people from throughout the hemisphere rejected the

colonialist portrayal of Columbus and his ill-fated journey. Our

scholars dug out the ugly words and actions of Columbus from among

ancient documents and gave the real truth to the people. We demanded

truth and taught those Columbus supporters among us the truth of his

legacy. To this day, each "Columbus Day" we raise our voices in

truthful remembrance of what was lost. But 1492 only began the parade

of invaders which were to wash up on our shores, each of them

proffering friendship before beginning to murder us.

Now the Americans are beginning a national "celebration" of the

"Columbus of the West" and spreading the same stories we heard for so

long about 1492! They portray Lewis and Clark as intrepid explorers in

an attempt to cover-up the true intent of exploitation. Jefferson

lusted after the wealth of our Nations in exactly the same way the

King of Spain did those Nations of our eastern shore and they each

sent their "explorers" as a prelude to invasion and conquest. The only

difference is that Columbus enslaved some of our people while L&C

brought their slave with them… in one of their more perverse

"celebrations," they have now carved her likeness on a coin.

Lewis and Clark came into our lands uninvited and used our

traditional hospitality to spread their lies. They looked our leaders

in the eye and attempted to convince them their mission was one of

peace and trade while they knew full well the American intent to

subjugate our people and steal our lands. In weakness, they observed

our customs and shared our food while knowing that in their wake would

come the evil emissaries of their coercive state-church. They came

among us to probe for weaknesses and provide their army with vital

intelligence about our lands and defenses. Their report to their

leaders served as a blueprint for conquest.

Once I heard the Chief of the Nation that welcomed the pilgrims

apologize for letting them attach to our shores. Perhaps my Ponca

Nation owes all the People upstream an apology for not stopping Lewis and;
Clark at the mouth of the Niobara, all of us have paid a huge price

for failing to understand that a handshake with Lewis & Clark meant

our time of horror was dawning. We are the survivors of that genocidal

onslaught, we must remember if we are to deny them their final

victory.

In those long ago days maybe we could be excused for not realizing

that evil and death dogged the heels of Lewis and Clark, but today we

know full well what the lasting effects of their visit would become…

has become. We know today that every circle of life in our world was

devastated after Lewis and Clark walked in our lands, some are gone

forever like the 'passenger pigeons' that once filled the sky but most

of us remain as remnants, clinging to an earth forever altered by the

rain of death which sailed up our life-giving river.

Ask the Buffalo, the Grizzly, Eagle or Elk Nations if they are

prepared to celebrate what came up the river two centuries ago. Does

the Salmon Nation miss Celilo Falls on the Columbia River or hate the

Hungry Horse Dam on the Snake? Does the moon miss the call of the Wolf

as she rises over our depleted lands? It was not only our human

circles that were slated for destruction by the forces of greed that

sent Lewis and Clark into our midst. Their ship was one of death, it

looked with vampire eyes across our lands and slavered with greedy

anticipation at the wealth of life it observed.

Should we join their celebration so we can "tell our side" as they

are suggesting to our leaders? Or should we stand as one red nation

and send the celebrants back down the river where they came from… as

we should have done so long ago? Prepare yourselves my relations…

Hoka-hey!

Carter Camp, Ponca Nation, American Indian Movement

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Read about Scott Mandrell's transformation after this day:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/05/transformation-of-scott-mandrell.html

Thanks to Paul Rafferty at the UN Observer and International Report for publishing this article when it happened. Hoping that someday this publication at the Hague will find funding to publish again. It was completely uncensored, among the first to publish US torture photos in Iraq, and did not censor news from Indian country.

For permission to repost or publish: brendanorrell@gmail.com
Contents of Censored News may not be used by for-profit or commercial enterprises. All content is copyrighted and may not be used in dissertations, books, films or other works without permission of the author, photographer, videographer or other creator of work. 
-- Brenda Norrell, publisher