Lakota Freedom Delegation announces it will withdraw from US treaties

Lakota Freedom Delegation in Washington D.C.http://www.lakotafreedom.com/
Media advisory, contacts: Naomi Archer, Communications Liaison (828) 230-1404 lakotafree @gmail.com or press@lakotafreedom.com

Lakota Sioux Delegation Confronts State Department Officials With Withdrawal
Wednesday Press Conference Welcomes Foreign Embassy Officials, Returns to Church that Hosted American Indian Movement (AIM)
Excellent Audio and Visuals: Press Conference to Feature Lakota Flag/Eagle Staff, Traditional Language and Music, Traditional Lakota Food and Other Refreshments
Washington D.C. – Lakota Sioux Indian representatives confronted State Department officials on Tuesday with a Lakota withdrawal from all treaties with the United States government. According to U.S. and International Law, the former Dakota Territory, which is home to the Lakota, reverts back to sovereign Lakota control. The Lakota Freedom Delegation now prepares to host an international press conference on Wednesday. The delegation has been meeting with various foreign embassies to initiate diplomatic talks and support.
WHAT: Historic Press Conference Announcing Unilateral Withdrawal of Lakota Nation from All U.S. Treaties and Return to Independence.
WHERE: Plymouth Congregational Church 5301 N. Capital Street, NE, Washington DC, host to American Indian Movement (AIM) activism in 1970s.
WHEN: 11:30am, Wednesday December 19, 2007
WHO: Lakota Freedom Delegation, representatives of Lakota Sioux Indians- an Indigenous First Nation of North America. Foreign embassy officials. Delegation includes Lakota activist and actor Russell Means; Oglala Lakota Strong Heart Society leader Duane Martin Sr.; Gary Rowland, Leader Chief Big Foot Riders, Women of All Red Nations founder Phyllis Young, and others.
We are the freedom loving Lakota from the Sioux Indian reservations of Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana who have traveled to Washington DC to withdraw from the constitutionally mandated treaties to become a free and independent country. We are alerting the Family of Nations we have now reassumed our freedom and independence with the backing of Natural, International, and United States law.
For more information, please visit our new website at http://www.lakotafreedom.com/

Floyd Westerman, memories of Indian pride, dignity and humanity

Remembering Floyd Westerman
by Lenny Foster, Dine'
Photos by Larry Smith, Lumbee Nation, American Indian Airwaves
Floyd Westerman performing at the Mint in Los Angeles, Oct. 10, 2007. Floyd sang Krist Kristofferson's songs that night. Charlie Hill was the master of ceremonies and in the middle (below) is Coyote Radio's Corey Dubin. The former keyboardist for Jefferson Airplane is on keyboards.

By Lenny Foster, Dine'
I am sadden and grief stricken to hear of the passing of our brother and comrade Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman into the spirit world. He was a good friend, a good will ambassador and diplomat and a magnificent musician who inspired the Movement and the natural world with prophetic songs such as "Custer Died for Your Sins, Wounded Knee, The Land is Your Mother and Here Come the Anthros" and many, many other songs. I met Floyd in Denver, Colorado in the fall of 1969 when my friend Harold Iron Shield introduced us while he was playing in the Diamond Inn lounge in the capitol hill area of Denver and we became friends. He introduced me to his brother Chris who later was in Wounded Knee with us. Floyd was the Minister of Culture for the International Indian Treaty Council and a veteran of the American Indian Movement and he represented the Indigenous Peoples throughout the world with his strong words and music. It was always good to see him portray the American Indian in movies and television with pride, dignity and humanity. We will all truly miss him and remember him in our daily lives. My deepest condolences to his family and relatives and we grieve for him. Rest in peace my friend, my brother and my comrade. Lenny Foster (Dine')

Wednesday, 12-19-07, American Indian Airwaves, "In Memory and Honor of Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman" Today's entire show is dedicated to indigenous musician, actor, and activist Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman. Wednesday from 3 pm to 4 pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 in Los Angles, FM 98.7 in Santa Barbara, and by Internet: http://www.kpfk.org or on the KPFK web site "audio archives" for American Indian Airwaves. http://www.myspace.com/aiairwaves

Protesters enter Hutto prison with toys for children

Protesters enter Hutto Prison with toys for imprisoned migrant and refugee children

Texas Civil Rights Review
Photo of two girls imprisoned in Hutto, photographed during happy days at home. The girls spent two months in prison with their parents and older brother and were deported.

By Greg Moses
Sept. 16, 2007
TAYLOR, Texas -- About 100 people protesting the imprisonment of immigrant families at the T. Don Hutto Prison in Taylor, Texas on Sunday evening marched across a parking lot to the front door of the prison and then entered the prison lobby with toys and wrapping paper. Jaime Martinez, National Treasurer of the League of United Latin American Citizens called for the march shortly after 5:30. Carrying a bullhorn, Martinez informed the protesters that prison officials had made a promise to come out and get the toys at 5 p.m.
When Martinez called for the people to take the toys to the children, the crowd pressed forward across a yellow line painted on the driveway marking official prison property.
"Bring the toys!" called Martinez from the prison door as volunteers grabbed boxes and bags of toys along with rolls of wrapping paper and rushed to the prison door. http://texascivilrightsreview.org/phpnuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1127

NCAI urges Senate probe of US banned pesticides impacting Indigenous Peoples

By Brenda Norrell

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

DENVER -- The National Congress of American Indians adopted a resolution of the International Indian Treaty Council's North-South Indigenous Network Against Pesticides.

The resolution urges the halt of the exportation of banned pesticides by US corporations. The action follows illnesses and deaths of Indigenous Peoples, including Yaquis in Sonora, Mexico and American Indians in Alaska, where banned pesticides are used in agricultural fields and toxic chemicals are carried by water and winds.

The resolution states that the health and subsistence foods of Indigenous Peoples in Northern regions such as Alaska are affected by these contaminants which are transported through the air and water. Further, the harmful toxins bio-accumulate in the food chain and in the bodies of humans. The use of dangerous pesticides in the United States increased 33 times from 1945 to 1995 and pesticides used today are now up to 10 times more toxic. Many pesticides are transferred to developing babies though the placenta, and after their birth through their mother's milk, resulting in birth defects, learning and developmental disabilities.

Read article:

http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2007/12/ncai-urges-senate-probe-of-us-banned.html

Photo: Yaqui gathered in Potam Pueblo, Sonora, Mexico, to urge the halt of banned pesticides resulting in illnesses and deaths for Yaqui working in agricultural fields, and living near the fields. Photo Jeff Conant.