Glenn Morris & Russell Means
Republic of Lakotah

When Taino Indians saved Christopher Columbus from certain death on the fateful morning of Oct. 12, 1492, a glorious opportunity presented itself. The cultures Europe and the Americas could have merged, and the beauty of both races could have flourished.

Unfortunately, what occurred was neither beautiful nor heroic. Just as Columbus could not, and did not, “discover” a hemisphere that was already inhabited by nearly 100 million people, his arrival cannot, and will not, be recognized as a heroic and celebratory event by indigenous peoples.

Unlike the Western tradition, which presumes some absolute concept of objective truth, and consequently, one “factual” depiction of history, the indigenous view recognizes that there exist many truths in the world and many legitimate recollections of any given historical event, depending on one’s perspective and experiences.

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Wayne Madsen

The American Emperor, after his outer and inner threads have been pulled, will be nothing more than a naked representative of stark imperialism, colonialism, fascism, and militarism and will be justly buried in a pauper’s grave.

The United States, which sought to capitalize politically, militarily, and financially from the break-up of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Sudan, and Czechoslovakia and now seeks to reap the benefits from the similar potential fracturing of the Russian Federation, China, Libya, and Iraq, may receive a taste of its own medicine.

Across the United States, there are increasing calls for secession from a federal government that is not providing for the common welfare of the people. Republicans, joined by a number of corporatist Democrats, are echoing the austerity push in Europe to sell-off public assets to vulture capitalists at rock bottom prices. Calls by corporatist politicians to privatize the U.S. Postal Service, AMTRAK, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and even public schools will have the effect of divorcing most Americans from any regular contact with their federal government. Such a development will nurture current movements that call for secession from the United States and seed nascent emergent movements.

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Jim Casy

"We must once again honor one another, as human beings, as friends, by the will of All Things."

Nearly 400 years ago, some of the first white pilgrims arrived on the Eastern coast of what they considered to be the "New World" - a place of hope and opportunity, void of tyrannical governments, class hierarchy and religious elitism that they and their families longed to escape from.

Yet this land was not new - it was old as the whole Earth itself is old, and had long been the home of millions upon millions of human beings who had learned not only to survive and prosper with what their Creator had provided for them, but to celebrate their place in the great mystery and song of life. These were the Americans.

Driven solely by the desire to escape the darkness of European oppression, the white Pilgrims were ill-equipped to survive in the new land they'd journeyed so far to find. Their crops failed, supplies ran short, and disease plagued their settlements and families. Despair reigned over them.

The Americans who had been cautiously watching these strange white settlers did not see a threat to their land - they saw bizarre, confused neighbors stricken by hardship. Setting their concerns aside, they decided to act, and reached out to assist the Pilgrims.

Though suspicious of one another at first, some of their first meetings were filled with humor - the Americans, veterans of this wilderness, strong in their way, treated the Pilgrims as inexperienced younger brothers, held back by their lack of confidence and knowledge. They began to trade with one another, not only goods and materials, but in thoughts and laughter, in games and drink and life. Friendships were formed, as never had been seen before on Earth.

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Colorado AIM / Republic of Lakotah

“Now we put our minds together to see what kind of world we can create for the seventh generation yet to come." ~ John Mohawk (1944-2006), Seneca Nation

As indigenous peoples, we welcome the awakening of those who are relatively new to our homeland. We are thankful, and rejoice, for the emergence of a movement that is mindful of its place in the environment, that seeks economic and social justice, that strives for an end to oppression in all its forms, that demands an adequate standard of food, employment, shelter and health care for all, and that calls for envisioning a new, respectful and honorable society. We have been waiting for 519 years for such a movement, ever since that fateful day in October, 1492 when a different worldview arrived – one of greed, hierarchy, destruction and genocide.

In observing the “Occupy Together” expansion, we are reminded that the territories of our indigenous nations have been “under occupation” for decades, if not centuries. We remind the occupants of this encampment in Denver that they are on the territories of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute peoples. In the U.S., indigenous nations were the first targets of corporate/government oppression. The landmark case of Johnson v. McIntosh (1823), which institutionalized the “doctrine of discovery” in U.S. law, and which justified the theft of 2 billion acres of indigenous territory, established a framework of corrupt political/legal/corporate collusion that continues throughout indigenous America, to the present.

If this movement is serious about confronting the foundational assumptions of the current U.S. system, then it must begin by addressing the original crimes of the U.S. colonizing system against indigenous nations. Without addressing justice for indigenous peoples, there can never be a genuine movement for justice and equality in the United States. Toward that end, we challenge Occupy Denver to take the lead, and to be the first “Occupy” city to integrate into its philosophy, a set of values that respects the rights of indigenous peoples, and that recognizes the importance of employing indigenous visions and models in restoring environmental, social, cultural, economic and political health to our homeland.

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Republic of Lakotah

Russell Means says he has chosen to not undergo chemotherapy or radiation to fight his battle against cancer. Instead, Means will rely on traditional indigenous forms of medicine and healing. "People think that death is horrible," he said. "Death is a change of world."

Hello everyone:

I want to thank you for your heartfelt love and for your extreme concern about my health. I never expected within my lifetime, I would experience such a world wide outpour of pure love. Believe me it goes a long way toward defeating this cancer.

Robby Romero and co- producer camera man, Dave Schweitzer are doing a documentary retrospective of my life and this fight to defeat this cancer. Thanks to this documentary and their interviewing of my doctors, did I realize out how super serious my condition WAS. The doctor who is in charge of my tomo therapy is the only doctor in the united states of america that can directly program and apply this machine that can pin point and kill the cancer cells without damaging my good cells and other sensitive tissue in my body like the conventional radiation used by all other Oncologists in the united states.

I found out that I was literally days away from the tumor in my throat closing my windpipe and forcing me to have a tracheotomy which would have begun my spiral down to death. The worst part would have been my deteriorating quality of life until I expired.

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Russell Means

Map showing the Republic of Lakotah, as dictated by the 1858 Treaty of Fort Laramie.

Statement by Russell Means, Republic of Lakotah
on the Occasion of the United States State Department “Listening Session” in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 16 March 2010

Once again, the occupation government of the United States of America has trotted out its dogs and ponies to provide a smokescreen and diversion from its continuing crimes against the indigenous peoples and nations of the Western Hemisphere. The reason for today’s media spectacle is supposedly for the US State Department to “listen” to input from indigenous peoples and nations for inclusion in the U.S.’s report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, universal periodic review process.

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