Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

(On April 3 CPT began a one month presence with Sioux Native people in Pierre South Dakota where where members of the Great Sioux Nation are demanding treaty rights.)

Pierre, SD - Lakota/Dakota Nation Native Americans have set up a circle of tipis on an island in the Missouri River in a nonviolent camp-in to protest a U.S. Congressional bill transferring 200,000 acres of Treaty land to the state of South Dakota. The vigilers, camped within sight of the state capitol in Pierre, SD, want Congressional committees to hold oversight hearings on the bill (Title VI of the 1998 Omnibus Appropriations Act) to determine whether it is in fact legal.

The organizers of the encampment have asked CPT to provide observers to monitor the situation. They are particularly concerned that the local authorities may try to provoke a violent confrontation in the coming days or weeks in order to provide an excuse to evict the protestors. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents have been staked out near the encampment. Their presence recalls tensions between the agency and the American Indian Movement at Wounded Knee in the early 1970s.

The organizers have asked CPT's supporters to make phone calls and send faxes and letters to the following senators on key committees asking them to use their influence to ensure that the last minute rider that South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle slipped into the 1998 Omnibus Appropriations Act gets a proper congressional hearing: Tom Daschle, Tim Johnson, Ted Kennedy, Paul Wellstone and Ben Nighthorse Campbell. They also want people to ask the Senators to ensure that the local and national authorities refrain from harassing the protestors who are camped on land granted them by the U.S. government in 1868. (Contact information below.)

CPT's South Dakotan constituents are asked to send faxes and make phone calls to Governor William Janklow, asking that he respect the original treaties made with South Dakota's Native population and that he ensure the safety of the vigilers. They are also encouraged to convey the same concerns to Senator Tom Daschle.

Governor William Janklow
South Dakota State Capitol;
Pierre, SD 57501
Telephone: 605-773-3212
FAX: 605-773-4711

Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD)
Washington DC 20510
Telephone: 202-224-2321
FAX: 202-224-2047
email: senator@daschle.senate.gov

Paul Wellstone (D-MN)
717 HSOB
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-5461
FAX: (202) 224-8438
email: senator@wellstone.senate.gov

Ben Nighthorse-Campbell
380 RSOB
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-5852 FAX: (202) 224-1933
email: senator@campbell.senate.gov

Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
312 CHOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4911
FAX: (202) 225-3290

Senator Tim Johnson (R-SD)
Washington DC 20510
Telephone: 202-224-5842
FAX: 202-228-0368
email: senator@johnson.senate.gov

BACKGROUND

The land in question belongs to the Lakota/Dakota nations, according to the Treaty of 1868, a treaty reaffirmed by U.S. courts in the early 1980s.

The nations had fought the land transfer legislation, called the Mitigation Act, in the U.S. Congress for two years. In October 1998, the House voted down the bill which mandated the transfer of land and funds to the state of South Dakota. However, Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) introduced the Mitigation Act as a rider onto a huge budget appropriations bill (weighing 40 pounds) the night before it was passed later in October.

The legality of the bill, now called Title VI of the 1998 Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1999, is questionable, since as passed it never had hearings in the Senate or House. Lakota/Dakota leaders were not consulted, and the requirement that three-quarters of the men of the Sioux Nation sign the transfer was not met.

On March 22, Lakota/Dakota people and supporters held a demonstration against the bill. Several men decided to remain on the island in a spiritual camp-in, called the Seven Council Fires, to remind the world that the land is theirs according to treaties signed over a century ago, and that "Treaty Rights are Human Rights."

The Army Corps of Engineers, which administers the land in question, has "granted" the camp-in protestors 14 days to be on La Framboise Island. The protestors did not ask the Corps' permission since the 200-acre island is a part of the land mentioned in the 1868 treaty. The "permission" lasts until Friday, April 9 (since extended for a further 14 days), and the campers are uncertain of what will happen then.

An FBI agent checking in on the camp told CPTer Rick Polhamus that, "This is federal land. We're just here to look after the rights of the people who are here."

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative among Mennonite and Church of the Brethren congregations and Friends Meetings that supports violence reduction efforts around the world.

Christian Peacemaker Teams
P.O. Box 6508
Chicago, IL 60680
Telephone: 312-455-1199 - FAX: 312-666-2677
email: cpt@igc.org

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