Lakotah Citizens stop US Helicopters from landing

[Woodrow]

Counting Coup – Lakota Citizens Stop US Helicopters from Landing at Wounded Knee Mitakuye Oyasin

By : Russell Means
In answer to today’s United States Government and its Colonial Corporation, the
Oglala Sioux Tribal Govenment’s press conference:
“We the Lakotah People, do not want our massacred dead bodies of Men, Women and
Children at the mass grave at Wounded Knee used for publicity by the United
States Government nor their colonial corporation, the Oglala Sioux Tribal
Government.”
On May 1, 2010, two young men, the Camp brothers counted coup on the first 7th
Cavalry helicopter and Debbie White Plume, an elder and grandmother who charged
the second helicopter preventing it from landing. By running under the blades
and touching them without harming the enemy and getting away is how the Lakotah
counted coup on this eventful day.
May 2, 2010 at 9:35am
Dakota.
To the Original Peoples of the Fourth World and all International Press
Services:
At high noon today US Army helicopters of the US Seventh Cavalry air division
attempted to land their Blackhawk aircraft upon Lakota Sacred Burial grounds in
South Dakota. The presence of military aircraft from this unit is a sad and
insulting reminder of the slaughter of more than 300 American Aboriginals on
December 29, 1890 when soldiers of the US 7th Cavalry gunned down more than 300
Aboriginal Minneconjou Lakota refugee children, women, infants and the elderly
at what is now called Wounded Knee in South Dakota Indian Country. The military
then left the bodies of their victims to decay unburied in the driving snow.
According to reports from Indigenous Rights Movement Radio host Wanblee this
afternoon, Lakota resident Theresa TwoBulls was given less than 24 hrs notice
that three US Army 7th Cavalry helicopters would make a landing on the sacred
burial grounds at Wounded Knee. As of this writing, the US military was
confronted by angry but peaceful and steadfast community resistance as the
Aboriginal people of the area have so far, according to reports from Lakota
people on the ground, managed to prevent the aircraft from touching Indigenous
ground.
For all American Aboriginals of the Americas, this is a sacred area. This is the
place where the promise of a people died while fleeing from a genocidal US
military unit hell-bent on liquidating the continent of its Indigenous
population. There has never been any official apology offered for this massacre
and the military awards bestowed upon the genocidal aggressors involved in this
conflict still stand, as does a physical monument in honour of the US Army
killed during Custer’s “last stand” against a defiant and united Indigenous
resistance to their own demise.
The history of the US Army 7th Cavalry is important to understanding the level
of violence used against Indigenous peoples. It is important to remember that
after the US Seventh Cavalry officially ended the “Indian Wars” at home, they
were then dispatched to do battle against Indigenous Filipinos struggling to
maintain their hard-won national independence from the colonialist Spanish. In
other words, the US War Department sent this very same unit to do overseas what
was done here to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. In this historical
light, it is only logical for Indigenous peoples to assume that the Obama
administration is attempting to make a political point out of this spectacle.
Only, what sort of message are you sending by insulting and humiliating a people
already suffering from five centuries of continuous pro-Europocentric,
anti-Indigenous genocide?
This domestic military action is a deliberate insult and an obvious message of
ongoing colonialism, state-sponsored racism and apathetic Indigenous genocide to
all Indigenous peoples across the Fourth World; to the whole of the
Lakota/Dakota Nation; and to the Indigenous residents of Pine Ridge and Wounded
Knee. The symbolism of dispatching the Seventh Cavalry to Wounded Knee in an
attempt to land weapons of mass destruction on Aboriginal sacred ground tells us
how little this government, and this particular administration, respects the
people of Indian Country and our significant historical perspective as survivors
of the racist Euro-settler xenophobic purges waged against the Indian in the
Americas.
To make matters worse, this action comes on the heels of newly-passed
legislation in Arizona state that requires law officers to racially-profile
anyone they believe “looks”, “sounds” or “dresses” like an illegal immigrant, a
thinly veiled “race law” that directly effects both our Indigenous sisters and
brothers native to Occupied Mexico as well as the Native American population of
Arizona in the United States. Given that most Indigenous peoples of the Americas
share the same general physiotype and more often than not, similar Spanish last
names, the passage of this guideline will without a doubt lead to widespread
abuses against that state’s brown-skinned population. The legal door now opened,
Texas and other states led by neo-confederate constituencies are moving to pass
their own anti-immigrant/anti-Indigenous directives that will broadly effect
anyone and everyone who could be perceived by the colonial European majority as
a “foreign invader”.
The Obama administration has shown America and the world that they are no
different than any other previous US government in their view that the American
Indian on both sides of the US border is nothing more than a prop or a tool to
be displayed only when it is useful to promote the “contemporary” 21st century
neo-colonialist capitalist agenda. The Obama administration, an office headed by
a man of African descent, has shamed itself and all those who have supported his
candidacy in arrogantly dismissing the memory of our people interred at Wounded
Knee by rubbing the military might of the historically anti-Indigenous 7th
Cavalry in our faces by forcibly entering Indian Country in an attempt to land
their machines of war on top of the bodies of our ancestral dead.
Clearly, the culture war against the American Indian is not over. Welcome to the
new American century.
Pass this on We must get the word out…..Let everyone know..Contact the your
local media….Tell them the the Local Media in (Rapid City, SD) haven’t even
mentioned this in the news…So typical for rapid city SD media…and if they did
post it, it would not be the truth..I tried to contact the Rapid City
Urinal….LOL. They wont return my calls or post any of the comments I have made
in defense of our people.
James ( Magaska) Swan AIM Black Hills South Dakota

iReport —CNN news 5/3/2010
Today at just past Noon Central Time; Three US Army Helicopters attepted to land
on Lakota Sacred Burial grounds at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
The Helicopters were from the Seventh Cavalry which were Historically remnants
of General G.A. Custer whose troops were defeated at Little Big Horn in one of
the Many battles the United States as they waged a war of attrition and Genocide
on Native Americans after the Civil War.
On Dec 28, 1890 remnants of the Seventh Cavalry Mowed down more than 300 Babies,
Children, Women, Old People and Men; at what is now called Wounded Knee, South
Dakota and left their Victims bodies unburied and Frozen.
Theresa TwoBulls was given less than 24 hrs Notice that Three US Army 7th Cav
helicopters would Land on the Burial Grounds at Wounded Knee today.
They were met with Peaceful but Firm resistance, as Lakota (Sioux) Women and
Children stood Immobile on that Sacred Ground, preventing the Gross, Unspeakable
Insult of 7th Cav. choppers to Land on the same ground where more than 300
Murder Victims lay Buried.
A Lakota Mother said..”I cannot believe they are doing this, have they ( 7th
Cav) NO Respect for Our Dead ” ?
Evidently the 3 Helicopters & Brass in Charge did not know their history..and
what a Unspeakable Insult it was to the Residents of Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee
and the Lakota People; to have the ACTUAL Seventh Cavalry Choppers attempt to
land on this Sacred Ground.
This was Broadcast Live on Blogtalkradio, Indigenous People Rights today.
More to follow as reports come in.

SOURCE: http://www.republicoflakotah.com/201...-wounded-knee/

[titus]

From what I have read the helicopters were invited their for a presentation by other members of the tribe. This was not an attempt at provocation by the US military.

It seems to more of an internal issue between tribe members. From the article I read it seems that the soldiers invited were in a part of the army that is descendant from the 7th Calvary that massacred the natives at Wounded Knee. Some of the locals were, understandably, upset at what they saw as the 7th Calvary coming back to the site of the massacre.

[Woodrow]

From what I have read the helicopters were invited their for a presentation by other members of the tribe. This was not an attempt at provocation by the US military.

It seems to more of an internal issue between tribe members. From the article I read it seems that the soldiers invited were in a part of the army that is descendant from the 7th Calvary that massacred the natives at Wounded Knee. Some of the locals were, understandably, upset at what they saw as the 7th Calvary coming back to the site of the massacre.

The insult was their attempting to land at Wounded Knee. The 7th Cavalry will always be a sore spot to the Lakotah and the presence of them at Wounded Knee is an affront to the massacre that occurred their. This would be like a delegation from Japan trying to land helicopters at
Arlington National Cemetery.

Yes, we do have internal problems and many of us do not recognize Teresa Twobulls as being the legitimate president of the Oglala. We are trying to impeach her and get Wasichu influence off of Pine Ridge.

[titus]

It depends on the intentions of the visit. If the soldiers were coming to learn first hand about the atrocities their military predecessors had committed then I would think they should have been welcomed, not turned away. I am sure they were not there to celebrate the massacre nor condone it.

The following is a picture of the Japanese Prime Minister visiting Arlington National Cemetery and an honor guard carrying the Japanese flag.



You used to live in Texas. You know that the Alamo is a treasured shrine here, yet delegations from the Mexican government are welcome to visit and have.

While I understand the anger felt towards those who committed the massacre I don't see how it is an insult for people to visit it over a century later. In fact you would think they would be welcomed it as a chance to educate.

So while I understand their anger, in this case I think it was misguided.

many of us do not recognize Teresa Twobulls as being the legitimate president of the Oglala

Do you mind me asking how the president is selected?

[Woodrow]

It depends on the intentions of the visit. If the soldiers were coming to learn first hand about the atrocities their military predecessors had committed then I would think they should have been welcomed, not turned away. I am sure they were not there to celebrate the massacre nor condone it.

The following is a picture of the Japanese Prime Minister visiting Arlington National Cemetery and an honor guard carrying the Japanese flag.



tYou used to live in Texas. You know that the Alamo is a treasured shrine here, yet delegations from the Mexican government are welcome to visit and have.

While I understand the anger felt towards those who committed the massacre I don't see how it is an insult for people to visit it over a century later. In fact you would think they would be welcomed it as a chance to educate.

So while I understand their anger, in this case I think it was misguided.



Do you mind me asking how the president is selected?

The problem was the attempt to land the Helicopters on the grave site, not near it.

The Tribal President is supposed to be selected by the council of elders. Teresa ran an election campaign and was elected by popular vote. Which is not the traditional method of selection. Lakotah law is very similar to shariah, elections are not considered the legitimate way to select leaders.

The predecessor to Theresa was impeached in 2008. For some reason under pressure from AIM it was decided to have an election for the new President. The only candidates were Russell Means and Theresa Twobulls. By tradition the tribal president is to be a woman. Russell while being the better choice, really had no right to run. Perhaps we can coax Russell into joining the Council of elders. The Council of elders is supposed to be the actual governing authority.

While I support AIM and for the most part agree with what they do, most members of AIM are not Lakotah and do not understand Lakotah culture. AIM's desire for popular election does not agree with Lakotah tradition.

[titus]

The problem was the attempt to land the Helicopters on the grave site, not near it.

If that is true then I completely understand.

Thank you for your description of the selection process.