Indigenous Nations Sovereignty: Uniting Turtle Island

To Walkers on the Longest Walk 2 http://longestwalk.org and others across Indian County:
Below is a message from Tony P., Mohawk, Attorney, (201) 410-8253(cell) TonyPLaw@optonline.net describing the Press Release, and the Declaration of Sovereignty, which is a Call for Unification of All Sovereign Indigenous Nations of Turtle Island (Mother Earth):

"A good wind is now blowing through our places. It comes directly from the Great Reality, Creator, Great Spirit, Wakan Tanka (or however else you call the All). You can see its effects everywhere you look. There are many awakening at this time as Prophesied in the beginning. Part of this awakening is the call to unification of all Sovereign Indigenous Nations of Turtle Island (our Mother the Earth). Approximately 200 Sovereign Indigenous Nations currently living under the colonizing power of Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand have agreed to sign the Declaration posted below on April 20, 2008 (first Full Moon of the Spring), with numbers growing daily. The Press Release, also posted below, says it all, so PLEASE READ THESE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS and pass along this information to your Elders, who have been patiently awaiting this important news

January 30, 2008:
As of the date of this Press Release, more than 100 Indigenous Sovereign Nations who live and prosper in the traditional ways within the current borders of Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Caribbean have agreed to gather together on April 20, 2008, to sign a Declaration of Sovereignty, by which these Indigenous Sovereign Nations will join together to re-assert their inherent sovereignty as ONE, inviting all Indigenous Sovereign Nations from all around the world to join. This movement, foreseen in the Prophesies thousands of years ago, is named “The Sovereignty Project” (search “thesovereigntyproject.org”). The Elders (Hereditary Chiefs, Clan Mothers, Faith Keepers and others) will decide upon a name for this newly con-federated Nation at the time of the gathering for the signing. This is truly a universal Declaration. The Indigenous Sovereign Nations will gather at a signing ceremony to take place at a location (or locations) soon to be decided by the Nations involved, at which time the New Confederacy will be born.
As most of you know, on September 13, 2007, the United Nations’ General Assembly approved the much touted United Nations’ Declaration on The Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the “UN Declaration”). Although this UN Declaration recognizes the right of our Nations to seek self-determination, it is not the true Declaration. Although the UN Declaration supports this movement toward the New Confederacy, it does not, in and of itself, do anything strategic to advance the cause of Indigenous Sovereign Nations around the world. Only the Declaration can create the New Confederacy. Only the New Confederacy can lead us forward.
Again, those who know will understand that the traditional governing systems and the traditional cultures of these Indigenous Sovereign Nations were and continue to be decimated by laws enacted by their “host” countries, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Caribbean and numerous others, which laws, among other things, impose false (proxy)(foreign) governments on our peoples. This true Declaration of true Sovereignty has the blessing of the Creator and International Law.
The creation of the New Confederacy will “immediately” free the Indigenous Sovereign Nations to re-assert their sovereignty, an inherent sovereignty granted by the Creator to each human at birth, which was never surrendered and never could have been surrendered. It has taken the Indigenous Sovereign Nations over 200 years to regroup and arrive at this crucial point in history to re-commence performing their sacred duties to care for Mother Earth, all Her creatures, great and small (and, hence, all humans too). It is no accident and no coincidence that the Creator has chosen this time to arrange the reemergence of these ancient Nations. The air, the water, the land and all living things are in danger now as never before. The New Confederacy is born from all things positive, not from anger for past oppression and atrocities undeniably committed. These things are forgiven. When the colonizers arrived, as predicted in the Prophesies, our ancestors welcomed them and cared for them, as the Creator instructed, when they could not care for themselves. They were like children sitting at our feet in need of sustenance, which many of our ancestors gladly provided. The children grew up steadily over the course of several hundred years, only to rebel against their caregivers, reacting with greed and forgetfulness of all that was done for them and all that we tried to teach them, harming our Mother the Earth in the process. For this they must also be forgiven. The time has come, however, when these now young adults must realize and admit the error of their youthful and frivolous ways and turn once again to the wisdom and care of those who raised them. Unwittingly, they developed along the way the technological and linguistic means for all Indigenous Sovereign Nations to now join together with one good mind and one pure heart for the good of all humans.
In conclusion, the New Confederacy extends an open invitation to all Indigenous Sovereign Nations to join us on this historic and epic peaceful path into the future and also to convey this all-important message to all colonizing states: “The New Confederacy extends, once again, its open hand in friendship and in good faith as our gesture of our desire to continue to coexist for the benefit and respect of all living creatures and our one true Mother, the Earth herself.”
Contact Information:
wigibiwajak@hotmail.com (Chief, Algonquin)
chiefc@cstv.ca (Chief, Squamish)
gmetallic@hotmail.com (Chief, Mi’gmaq)
tonyplaw@optonline.net (Attorney, Mohawk)
gram.ma.dolly@hotmail.com
nazlabo1@bigpond.net


DECLARATION OF SOVEREIGNTY OF THE CONFEDERATED NATIONS OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE AMERICAS AND DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE RECOGNITION OF NATION-STATE STATUS
AND NOW, THE Indigenous Peoples desiring to re-assert their Creator- given rights to live, prosper and care for their ancestral lands, said rights arising from time immemorial; the Indigenous Peoples desiring to re-assert such Creator-given rights through their ancestral Nations; IT APPEARING
that such Creator-given rights were never surrendered and could never be surrendered, voluntarily or otherwise; IT FURTHER APPEARING that such Creator-given Sovereignty may co-exist with the sovereignty asserted by other non-indigenous Nations, such mutual sovereignty able to exist in the same space and at the same time;
THEREFORE, The Indigenous Peoples hereby demand immediate recognition of such Creator-given Sovereignty and collectively and unanimously agree to take all steps deemed by all to be necessary and appropriate to obtain such recognition from all affected non-indigenous Nations, including the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, and any other Nation whose sovereignty currently infringes upon the Sovereignty of the Confederated Nations of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, said Sovereignty, Rights, Demand and Steps arising under the following PRINCIPLES, hereby deemed to be immutable as having derived directly from the Creator:
FIRST, each and every Indigenous Person of the Confederated Nations of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, regardless of which Indigenous Nation that Indigenous Person was born into, is born endowed with Sovereign status because such Sovereignty is Creator-given and may not be modified, amended, taken away or destroyed by any human or any institution created by any human or any combination of humans, whether by force or by Treaty;
SECOND, each and every Indigenous Person of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, by and through their respective Nations, neither ceded, nor was ever able to cede, as set forth FIRST above, their Creator-given Sovereignty, either through Treaty or any other such document or device, whether Ordered by any Court of any Nation or otherwise;
THIRD, the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, by and through their respective Nations, are entitled to all accoutrements of Sovereignty, including the right to be recognized as nation-states by all other nation-states, whether existing or to be created, the right to enact laws for the benefit of their Peoples and to regulate commerce, from the determination of who shall constitute the Peoples, maintaining the status of the Peoples, from birth to passing, to the right to impose taxes, if any; that is, the Confederated Nations of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas shall have all the rights and accoutrements of any internationally recognized nation-state under international law; and
FOURTH, each and every Indigenous Person of the Confederated Nations of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas is an individually Sovereign Human Being, having arisen from and being part of Mother Earth, born with inherent Sovereignty that may co-exist in the same space and at the same time with the sovereignty of other nation-states whose sovereignty currently infringes upon the Sovereignty of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, such that each and every Indigenous Person has the inherent right to reside, be gainfully employed, travel, hunt, gather, or engage in any other activity enjoyed by Human Beings as such, anywhere in the Americas, without any interference or impediments from the infringing nation-states.

Indian Uprising Radio: Leonard Peltier

KFAI’s Indian Uprising for March 16, 2008 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. DST #257

Leonard Peltier vs. FBI, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Case No. 07-1745MN, University of St. Thomas School of Law Frey Moot Courtroom, Minneapolis, March 11, 2008. Peltier was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. But his supporters, including some human rights groups, believe that he is innocent and that he was targeted because of his political activism. About 3,500 pages were turned over for Peltier's original trial in 1977. But his attorneys have discovered over the years that the actual number of documents the FBI has on Peltier is 142,579, said attorney Michael Kuzma. Peltier has tried for nearly seven years to use the federal Freedom of Information Act to get the tens of thousands of pages still being withheld.

"I just think this thing stinks to high heaven," Kuzma said after the hearing. He told the court, "We still don't know the truth about what happened back then." Judge Lavenski R. Smith asked Kuzma what the remedy would be for Peltier.Kuzma said the court should conduct "a full in-camera review of the documents." When Smith expressed some disbelief at that idea, Kuzma added that, if that were too burdensome, the court could focus on the documents from 1977, of which Peltier has received none. Tom Byron, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., argued that "there's no support" for an in-camera inspection of the records. - St. Paul Pioneer Press excerpt, http://www.twincities.com/ci_8539140?nclick_check=1

Listen to court recording: http://8cc-www.ca8.uscourts.gov/OAaudio/2008/3/071745.MP3

Guests are: Michael Kuzma, Arguing attorney for Leonard Peltier; Sr. Legislative Assistant to City Council President, Buffalo, New YorkKeith Rabin,; Supporter and activist, Leonard Peltier Commemoration Project; Producer and co-playwright, My Life Is My Sundance; artist; Native American Landscape, Inc.

Protecting Native Sacred Places in southwestern Colorado

Last year Nick Standing Bear and Becky Donlan formed the Colorado non-profit organization, Native American Research and Preservation, Inc. This was the result of having done volunteer work for the past three years and seeing the need for more intensive efforts to save our Native American sites as well as to educate the public regarding the Resource Protection Laws. During the course of site monitoring, we have found many stone structures in South Park and the San Luis Valley. At the encouragement of Ken Frye (Cherokee/Choctaw archaeologist and board member) we developed a powerpoint presentation called Sacred Stones. In it, we stress what these sites mean from the Indian standpoint. We hope by this kind of education people will have a newfound respect for the sites. We gladly give this presentation free of charge to any interested group. No site locations are ever revealed. These sacred, spiritual sites are being vandalized and destroyed every day. More law enforcement through monitoring needs to be done. And the laws need stricter fines and penalties. When these areas are gone, they are gone forever. An essential and important part of our history will be here no longer. We have had the opportunity to turn in several vandalism cases. We have also contacted the D.A.'s office in Durango regarding a vandalism case near Cortez. However, the judgments handed down have been very lax. The judges need education about the importance of these areas and need to seriously reconsider the fines and sentences. The people we have worked with on these cases have been wonderfully helpful, but more help is needed. We need more trained site monitors. We need the funds to pay them. We need more archaeologists. We need the funds to pay them also. The areas the archaeologists and the law enforcement officials cover are huge. There is no way they can be all over these places all the time. They desperately need help. The vandals know this and take full advantage. We need funds to pay for educational materials regarding the laws. We have designed our own brochures to hand out at presentations. We work closely with the State Archaeology Office, the State Land Board, the Smithsonian and recently with NEARA (New England Antiquities Research Association). We hope that by combining forces we will have strength in numbers to protect sites and to bring pressure on legislation to help.
Thank you,
Nick Standing Bear and Becky Donlan