Statement on Biden’s Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples Day 2022 by the 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council established by He Dog
Shared at the request of Charmaine White Face, OLWS contributing writer to He Sapa Woihanble: Black Hills Dream
Oct. 12, 2022
To: U.S. President Joe Biden The White House Washington DC 20500
From: The 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council established by He Dog Post Office Box 2003 Rapid City, SD 57709
Re: A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples Day 2022
Dear Mr. Biden,
When reading your Proclamation regarding Indigenous Peoples, for a second there was a spark of hope that this time we might be free. Then we read on and cold water was poured on that spark of hope when you continued with words that refer only to the "Tribes" your government created in the Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934. It was also called the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) and means the "tribal governments" that Act created without our consent. This is a major Human Rights violation.
However, as an elder in the family of nations trying to teach your young nation, the United States (US), the essence of Human Rights, we are sending you this letter. Remember, your colonizing government is only a little over 200 years old. We have a civilization that is more than ten-thousand years old and know a few things about Human Rights.
One of the first rules is to keep your word. In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 which the United States signed with us, and which was ratified by your government, Article II promised that the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty Territory would be for our “...absolute and undisturbed use and occupation." However, in order to reach the gold and other resources in our Territory, your government totally destroyed our economy (the bison) and put us in Prisoner-of-War camps which now are called American Indian Reservations.
Your government gave their word and honor to our Nation in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. In your Proclamation you said, "...we recommit to upholding our (US) solemn trust and treaty responsibilities...". If this is true, and truly meant for our nation who signed the Treaty, not the "tribes" created by your government, then we recommend that your government follow the United Nations Decolonization procedure for returning our land and reinvigorating our form of government. This would be true Self-Determination which we had for millennia before the invasion and occupation by your government.
It is nice that you have Ms. Haaland on your Cabinet and other Indigenous people in government positions, but that does not in any way answer the Human Rights violations your government continues to impose on our Nation. Your IRA Tribal governments are only puppet governments bending to your will and used to impose your will on our Nation. Your billions of dollars can never pay for one Human Rights violation your government inflicts on us today. Shall we start with the illegal trespass of your citizens into our Treaty Territory or the numerous children that are still being stolen by your Social Services Departments?
We are taking you at your word that you mean what you say, '...we recommit to upholding our solemn trust and treaty responsibilities...". We are sending a copy of this letter to the United Nations Secretary General, the members of the General Assembly, the Decolonization Committee, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Human Rights Council so that they can also know your words and your intentions.
Our being free in our 1868 Treaty Territory in no way resembles "secession" as we cannot secede from something of which we were never apart. We are our own Nation with an International Treaty with your nation, the United States. The 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council was established long before the 1935 U. S. Indian Reorganization Act which established tribal governments. We are not a tribe. We are a Nation.
We pray that you will keep your word, honor and intention and truly uphold and enforce the entire 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. If you do so, we will finally be liberated and free after more than one-hundred and fifty years under your illegal invasion and occupation.
Respectfully submitted by
Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
and Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson
1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council
www. siouxnationtreatycouncil. org
October 07, 2022 A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples'Day, 2022
On Indigenous Peoples'Day, we honor the sovereignty, resilience, and immense contributions that Native Americans have made to the world; and we recommit to upholding our solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, strengthening our Nation-toNation ties. For centuries, Indigenous Peoples were forcibly removed from ancestral lands, displaced, assimilated, and banned from worshiping or performing many sacred ceremonies. Yet today, they remain some of our greatest environmental stewards. They maintain strong religious beliefs that still feed the soul of our Nation. And they have chosen to serve in the United States Armed Forces at a higher rate than any other group. Native peoples challenge us to confront our past and do better, and their contributions to scholarship, law, the arts, public service, and more continue to guide us forward. I learned long ago that Tribal Nations do better when they make their own decisions. That is why my Administration has made respect for Tribal sovereignty and meaningful consultation with Tribal Nations the cornerstone of our engagement and why I was proud to restore the White House Council on Native American Affairs. To elevate Indigenous voices across our Government,I appointed Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, along with more than 50 other Native Americans now in significant roles across the executive branch. My Administration is also directly delivering for Native communities - creating jobs, providing critical services, and restoring and preserving sacred Tribal lands. We have made the biggest investment in Indian Country in history, securing billions for pandemic recovery, infrastructural improvements, and climate change resilience, and we are working together with Tribal Nations to end the scourge of violence against Indigenous women and girls. These efforts are a matter of dignity, justice, and good faith. But we have more to do to heip lift Tribal communities from the shadow of our broken promises, to protect their right to vote, and to help them access other opportunities that their ancestors were long denied. On Indigenous Peoples'Day, we ceiebrate indigenous history and our new beginning together, honoring Native Americans for shaping the contours of this country since time immemorial.
NOW THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 1O,2A22, as Indigenous Peoples' Day. I call upCIn the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities" I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and the Indigenous peoples who contribute to shaping this Nation. IN WITNESS WHEREOE I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of OctobeE in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and farty-seventh.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.