By Carter Camp
My Relations,
I just received this sad news about our friend and comrade in the movement, Chief Wilma Mankiller. It seems she is reaching the end of her journey now and our prayers are needed for her safe and easy passage to the spirit world. Wilma has always been so strong it's hard to believe she's leaving us but I know she's at home trying to cheer everyone up and being strong for her family.
I met her back in the early 70's in the Bay area when Dennis Banks and I helped her start an alternative school. We set up a drum in her back yard and sang warrior songs far into the night even though the neighbors thought they were going to be attacked and scalped. Soon she returned home to her people and did many great things for them. In their appreciation and in recognition of her work they elected her the first woman Chief of the Cherokee Nation in the modern era.
Although she was known internationally and won many awards Wilma remained the same homegirl we always knew, much more at home among her folks than speaking at the United Nations or to the American Congress although she was magnificent there too. She liked powwow dances and Indian doings all her life, she loved her family and her Cherokee people above all else and they are all better off because she was their Chief. We are all better off because we knew her and can see the mark she left on this world for Indian women and for us all. Many words will be spoken for Wilma in the coming days, all of them deserved, I can only add my few in tribute to my friend, my sister, Chief Wilma Mankiller.
So tonight my relations we must take out our sacred items and use our sacred herbs on behalf of this great soul and the family she leaves behind. In the morning we will see our Grandfather rise in the East and we'll ask him to watch out for our warrior friend as she continues her journey in this life and the next.
Carter Camp,
Ponca Nation
March 1, 2010
Crow Creek Sioux buys back land
By Josh Verges, Argus Leader
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has settled its tax debt with the IRS and lined up a loan that will enable it to buy back the 11 square miles of land the IRS sold at auction in December, the tribal chairman said. A stipulation filed in court last week indicates the tribe will dismiss its lawsuit, which sought to prevent the IRS from selling the Hyde County land. That will cancel a May 4 trial. The IRS took the unusual step of seizing and selling the land because the tribe refused to pay $3.12 million in employment taxes, penalties and interest it racked up since 2001. At $2.58 million, the winning bid did not fully satisfy the debt. But tribal chairman Brandon Sazue, who met with government officials in Washington last week, said the IRS is forgiving what's left. "We don't owe the IRS anything at this point in time, as long as we drop the lawsuit," Sazue said. A spokesman for the Department of Justice's tax division acknowledged a deal was struck but could not provide any detail. "We were glad we were able to reach an amicable resolution of the case," Charles Miller said. The next step for the tribe is buying back the land; the auction sale came with a provision that the tribe had 180 days to do so. Sazue said the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux in Minnesota have agreed to loan the Crow Creek Sioux $3 million to buy the land. Shakopee Mdewakanton spokeswoman Tessa Lehto could not confirm the loan. The Crow Creek also are working with the government to make sure they don't get in tax trouble again. The tribe's written complaint in the court file says they weren't paying taxes because the Bureau of Indian Affairs wrongly advised them they were exempt. Sazue said he wants to set up a mechanism that subtracts taxes from tribal councilors' paychecks. The chairman said he is excited to put the tax problems to rest and get back the land. Sazue spent three weeks on the land in December fasting and praying in protest of the IRS action. "If I hadn't set my trailer up there I don't think we'd be where we are today," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2010-03-01-Tribe-IRS_N.htm
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has settled its tax debt with the IRS and lined up a loan that will enable it to buy back the 11 square miles of land the IRS sold at auction in December, the tribal chairman said. A stipulation filed in court last week indicates the tribe will dismiss its lawsuit, which sought to prevent the IRS from selling the Hyde County land. That will cancel a May 4 trial. The IRS took the unusual step of seizing and selling the land because the tribe refused to pay $3.12 million in employment taxes, penalties and interest it racked up since 2001. At $2.58 million, the winning bid did not fully satisfy the debt. But tribal chairman Brandon Sazue, who met with government officials in Washington last week, said the IRS is forgiving what's left. "We don't owe the IRS anything at this point in time, as long as we drop the lawsuit," Sazue said. A spokesman for the Department of Justice's tax division acknowledged a deal was struck but could not provide any detail. "We were glad we were able to reach an amicable resolution of the case," Charles Miller said. The next step for the tribe is buying back the land; the auction sale came with a provision that the tribe had 180 days to do so. Sazue said the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux in Minnesota have agreed to loan the Crow Creek Sioux $3 million to buy the land. Shakopee Mdewakanton spokeswoman Tessa Lehto could not confirm the loan. The Crow Creek also are working with the government to make sure they don't get in tax trouble again. The tribe's written complaint in the court file says they weren't paying taxes because the Bureau of Indian Affairs wrongly advised them they were exempt. Sazue said he wants to set up a mechanism that subtracts taxes from tribal councilors' paychecks. The chairman said he is excited to put the tax problems to rest and get back the land. Sazue spent three weeks on the land in December fasting and praying in protest of the IRS action. "If I hadn't set my trailer up there I don't think we'd be where we are today," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2010-03-01-Tribe-IRS_N.htm
February 28, 2010
Remembering Wounded Knee '73
Remembering Wounded Knee '73
by Carter Camp
Ponca Nation AIM
Ah-ho My Relations,
Each year with the changing of the season I post this remembrance of Wounded Knee 73. I wrote it a few years ago when some of our brave people had walked to Yellowstone to stop the slaughter of our Buffalo relations. When I did I was surprised at the response from people who were too young to remember WK'73 and I was pleased that some old WK vets wrote to me afterwards. So each year on this date I post the short story again and invite you-all to send it around or use as you will. As you do 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 thirty and I believe it today in my sixties. 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 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. Carter Camp 2010
"Remembering Wounded Knee 1973"by Carter Camp
Ah-ho My Relations,
Today is heavy with prayer and reminisces 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 eleven hostages, run the B.I.A. cops out of town, cut most phone lines, and began 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 and 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 A.P.C.s with M-60's. They had unleashed the goon squad on the people and a reign of terror had begun, we knew we had to fight but we could not fight on wasicu 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 nor 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 Custers' 7th Cavalry. There I prayed for the defenseless ones, torn apart by Hotchkiss cannon 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." Hoka-Hey
Carter Camp- Ponca Nation AIM
FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!! NOW!!!
by Carter Camp
Ponca Nation AIM
Ah-ho My Relations,
Each year with the changing of the season I post this remembrance of Wounded Knee 73. I wrote it a few years ago when some of our brave people had walked to Yellowstone to stop the slaughter of our Buffalo relations. When I did I was surprised at the response from people who were too young to remember WK'73 and I was pleased that some old WK vets wrote to me afterwards. So each year on this date I post the short story again and invite you-all to send it around or use as you will. As you do 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 thirty and I believe it today in my sixties. 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 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. Carter Camp 2010
"Remembering Wounded Knee 1973"by Carter Camp
Ah-ho My Relations,
Today is heavy with prayer and reminisces 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 eleven hostages, run the B.I.A. cops out of town, cut most phone lines, and began 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 and 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 A.P.C.s with M-60's. They had unleashed the goon squad on the people and a reign of terror had begun, we knew we had to fight but we could not fight on wasicu 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 nor 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 Custers' 7th Cavalry. There I prayed for the defenseless ones, torn apart by Hotchkiss cannon 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." Hoka-Hey
Carter Camp- Ponca Nation AIM
FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!! NOW!!!
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