Quotes of the Decade: Lewis and Clark and Genocide

Quotes from 'Lewis and Clark Genocide Re-enactors Told to Turn Around'

On the banks of the Missouri, Lakota, Ponca and Kiowa told of the genocide that Lewis and Clark heralded

Lewis and Clark genocide re-enactors told to halt
Lewis and Clark opened the door to the holocaust of the West

UN Observer and International Report
Brenda Norrell
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.

Peyton "Bud" Clark, great, great, great-grandson of William Clark,
thanked them for being open and candid. "We will be honest with you."
He said the expedition was called a commemoration because it was not a
celebration. Clark said people in the eastern United States know nothing about Indian people and it is nearly impossible to go to a library and find
out any truth about American Indians. Clark said he saw the expedition
as a way of listening to Indian people along the river. "What we did was create a catalyst for open and honest dialogue for the healing to begin," Clark said. "All you need to have is an open mind and an open heart and engage in an open and honest dialogue." Clark was among 22 re-enactors traveling on the river with a keelboat and two large wooden pirogue canoes, with backup support of RVs. Clark said their "funny clothes" cost a lot of money.

Although Clark said the re-enactors were volunteers and were not paid, Lakota and Ponca said white people never do anything without being
paid. They pointed out the expedition had received $85 million in
funds, while the Lakota, the poorest of people, had to pay their own
way here to stop them.

Responding to comments by re-enactors who defended the expedition as a
means of education, Camp asked, "Would it be all right if these guys
were dressed in sheets like the Ku Klux Klan? "Do you know that Clark would not free his slaves?"

Native women told the expedition that they carry the DNA of the survivors of the slaughters that Lewis and Clark opened the door to and the diseases they brought.

Ahmbaska, among the Native youths, spoke of the tribes who had become
extinct, their languages and cultures lost forever, and the women and
babies murdered by the U.S. military. "They stomped their heads to save bullets." Speaking directly to the re-enactors, he said, "This is not a show, this is our hearts." His people, the Missouri, were exiled to
Oklahoma. "My people have never seen this Missouri River which was
named after us." Now, he said, on Rosebud, people are dying from the whopping cough. Lewis and Clark were the beginning of the end in the West.
"They came and they took and they conquered. That is what you are
re-enacting," he said.

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.

Navajo Filmmaker Arlene Bowman: Avatar Review from an Indigenous/Dine' Perspective

 Film Review of AVATAR from an Indigenous/Dine' Perspective

When will white men stop making guilt movies about Indians?

By Arlene Bowman, Dine' filmmaker

Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Viewed the AVATAR December 29, 09 at the local theatre for $10.00 Canadian dollars. I liked the animated effects a lot, but not the story line of the film, written and directed by James Cameron. The film review When Will White Men Stop Making Movies like Avatar points out, "whites need to stop remaking the white guilt story, which is a sneaky way of turning every story about people of color into a story about being white. Speaking as a white person, I don't need to hear more about my own racial experience. I'd like to watch some movies about people of color (ahem, aliens), from the perspective of that group, without injecting a random white (erm, human) character to explain everything to me. (1)"

These are surprising comments because I rarely hear white people express so open a point-of-view. Few people get it; also, at the same time say it. I am use to conservative commentaries or the dah factor, people who do not get it. The plot story line generally is similar to the DANCES WITH WOLVES film, how a white guy because he likes the indigenous people, in this example, the Na'vi people, decides to save them and does. Whoop de doo! Do we need another white character to save us?

The only redeeming quality of DANCES WITH WOLVES is that it featured all Native American and First Nation actors in lead roles, but the story was stereotyped. How many times will Indigenous people play the frozen image of Plains culture and regalia from the late 1800s as in many Hollywood westerns; for example, Winchester '73 made in 1950. Hey! Indigenous people from North America are CONTEMPORARY as the rest of world! DANCES WITH WOLVES represented a vehicle for the producer, Kevin Costner, which put him on the map as a feature film maker.

As the essay pointed out, Jake Sully has choices. Jake can be either or: a white guy or be apart of the Na'vi people where as the Na'vi people do not have a choice. Indigenous people for example, were born with the way they look, the language they speak or the culture they grew up in; also, Indigenous peoples were the first peoples who lived in North America before any peoples travelled over. No one discovered us. Indigenous people in the U.S. have lots of histories; for example, ever since the colonists planted themselves at Jamestown with their superior/ulterior motives to cash in on the natural commodities of tobacco where First Americans-Tsenacomoco and others lived, Native Americans have had to stand up and fight a repressed control freak colonial mentality forever it seems passed from generation to generation, thickened within white North America because the U.S. thinks they own us. This is an illustration of A SINGLE ISSUE. AT PRESENT TIME, there are MANY issues the mainstream press does not cover or that editors censor out such as the events about what really goes on between Homeland Security and the Tohono O'odham who live on the US Arizona/Mexican border, which the general public is unaware. Why is it not covered? It is just another way to manipulate information unscrupulously about Native Americans by not informing the public.

It is so easy for Sully to just vacate if he decided not to help out anymore. Of course, First Nations and Native Americans need help from non Native people who empathize with their issues or causes, but to have to rehash this same ole story again in a mainstream film is unconvincing. Tell it like it is. This is a call out: Indigenous peoples create and use the animation techniques presented within AVATAR; also, write/make the drama/comedy, docu dramas and others to portray experiences to change and turn around stories such as Avatar; however, Indigenous independent cinema and video makers have created cinema/videos since the 70's. When will change happen among ourselves and the rest of the public?? How to change? Own and run a cable network, but how long will that take? Hierarchies exist among Indigenous filmmakers. Therefore, to share information rather than to compete and isolate with each other. There's just no giving up at this point for Indigenous people and filmmakers to change the media. So far at present the internet is an answer.

1. Annalee Newitz, "When Will White Men Stop Making Movies like Avatar," http://www.facebook.com/l/19a59;io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatarebook.com/l/19a59;io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar, December 2009.
--------------------
Arlene Bowman

Arlene Bowman is Dine' (Navajo) and was born on the Navajo Nation and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. She now lives in Vancouver. She completed her master's degree in film at the University of California at Los Angeles.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Arlene Bowman is a Dine' filmmaker whose current mini digital video project is called THE GRAFFITI, a 30 minute experimental drama. Literally she wore many hats to make THE GRAFFITI. Other major films/videos include: 86’ THE NAVAJO TALKING PICTURE, 94’ (see photo) SONG JOURNEY and 94’ WOMEN AND MEN ARE GOOD DANCERS. She wants to write/make more drama projects and documentaries the rest of her life, which she has several ideas about. She aspires to create in the future a conference for Indigenous women filmmakers; also, a non-profit organization for Indigenous and low-come filmmakers.
SYNOPSIS of The Graffiti
Although Jean Biah Lee, an Anishinabe First Nations woman is unsuccessful to change the racism of two white, redneck males who have scribbled graffiti around Vancouver aimed at Indian people, she rebounds from the injustice by writing about it.

Larry Kibby: Moving forward with respect in 2010

By Larry Kibby

I can only hope that this New Year of 2010 will bring "Change" to Indian Country, that the President of these United States will stay the course in directing such "Change" to Indian Country, that all of the Sovereign Nations will indeed prosper and accomplish sincere progress in all areas that will greatly impact the "Well Being and Welfare" of every Tribal Member and American Indian where ever they may be located.

Today, as we close the door on the year of 2009, I would hope that Indian Country will move into 2010 with a great deal of determination, that Tribal Leaders and Tribal Council Member's will work diligently towards building a genuine path that will lead their Sovereign Nations into a future full of unique achievements that will enhance the dreams of their tribe and for their tribal members.

Indian Country has a living history, a culture full of life, a life that revolves around sacred values and principles, a life that contains a beautiful language, ceremonies, medicines, which are connected to Mother Earth, lands that contain not only the history of our ancestors, but for most Sovereign Nations, these lands have a sacred relationship that indeed should never be desecrated.

Indian Country is full of life and for many of us American Indians we know and realize that progress must advance forward across these United States, but as we take these first few steps into the year of 2010, I would hope that Tribal Leaders and Tribal Councils will advocate and promote a stronger and more sincere effort to generate constructive dialogues and conversations with the United States Government that will provide a more formal and legal policy towards preserving and protecting these ancestral and often very sacred sites.

I would also hope that some endeavor will be arrived at to protect "All of Our Relations", such as the Eagle, Buffalo, Elk, Deer, Wolf, Coyote, Salmon and the rest of our Four-Legged, Winged-Ones, those that Crawl Upon the Land and those that live in our Sacred Waters, our relations who have aid and assisted our people for centuries in building our way of life, who helped give us our ceremonies, showed us where our natural foods and medicines were, who helped us with our lodges, clothing, tools and even weapons.

Tribal Leaders and Tribal Councils, these Governments of the Sovereign Nations, I hope will find some Resolution and Solution that will begin to secure and demand that all aspects of their Culture, Religion, Ceremonies, Medicines and or Belief's be protected from those persons or people who employ reason to destroy, distort and desecrate for ego or monetary gain.

I would also think that as we begin this year of 2010, that Tribal Members and or Tribal Governments will establish a solution to stop Tribal Corruption, to bring to justice those who use deceit, lie, embezzle, commit acts of fraud and who steal from the people and their tribal government, because these cowardly acts serve no purpose and damage and hurt the tribe and all tribal members.

Our women and females for thousands, hundreds and still to date, have been the "Givers of Life", they brought forth life into our Indian World, from Mother Earth, Grandmother Moon, to every Grandmother and Mother and it is this fact alone that makes me wonder why men and or males feel that a woman or female must be abused or misused, when it was the woman who gave man his first breath of life and his first nourishment.

Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Child and teen Molestation must and should be a priority concern for all Sovereign Nations, just as finding a serious solution to hinder the alcohol and drug abuse, that seriously impacts most Indian Communities.

Alcohol, Drugs and Gang activity have no understanding of the violations, distortment and desecration they have on the Culture, Belief's, Ceremonies, Medicine People and Spiritual Leaders until it is too late, for such uncaring and reckless emotions can not stop the consequences when the Sacred values are violated and most every Gang member has no respect, let alone any self-respect, so I would hope that Tribal Governments, Councils and Tribal Members will work together to resolve these critical and often sometime tragic problems.

Indian Country is a beautiful world and has so much too offer for each and everyone of us, but we must not let outside forces, groups, organizations or people, change our history, culture or belief's, for to do so would be to desecrate the blood of our ancestors who fought and died to safe-guard their world and all its power for us their descendants and for future generations.

Today, give thanks in some small way for our ancestors, for our men and women who now wear the armed forces uniforms, for our elders, our women, our medicine people, our spiritual folks, our two-spirit human beings and even our children and teens, for these are the folks who are indeed the people who make up our unique and genuine Sovereign Nations.

We have arrived at 2010, let us begin this New Year with a great deal of emotion, passion, love, care and respect, for we are a people who have a great deal of Pride and Dignity!

Thank you to each and everyone of you for being who you are!

Sincerely,
Larry Kibby - l.kibby@frontier.com


Larry Kibby, Wiyot California Indian, has resided on the Elko Indian Colony in Northeastern Nevada for more than 32 years. Larry Kibby is a Sun Dancer, amateur writer of prose and poetry. He also operates in his spare time a news list and composes news videos as a hobby.

.