A summary of the 1851 and 1868 treaties
The Great Sioux Nation, whose real name is the Oceti Sakowin, is comprised of seven sub-nations who spoke the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota language. The Tituwan sub-nation spoke the Lakota dialect and lived in the western most portion. The Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) occupied a vast land area that covered 24 American states and parts of 4 Canadian Provinces. Other smaller nations also lived within the area as the Indigenous concept of territory followed natural law and was much different than the European concept of territory. The people of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) originated from the mouth of Wind Cave in the Black Hills. The Black Hills were so sacred that they were used for ceremonial, prayers, medicinal, and burial purposes only.
Read more: A Summary of the 1851 and 1868 Treaties
Spokesperson
Charmaine White Face Zumila Wobaga
Historic Documents Treaty Council Documents Report to the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of hazardous substances and wastes Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
| Hits: 32099Nov. 12, 2015
Baskut Tuncak, UN Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of hazardous substances and wastes
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations,
CH - 1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Dear Sir:
It was an honor to meet you at the side event during the 30th Human Rights Council meeting in September. Your report to the HRC was very good. All people have the right to know if they are living near a dangerous situation.
The purpose of this complaint and report is to ask for your help to expose and help ameliorate a very dangerous situation regarding radioactive pollution in North America caused by more than 15,000 abandoned Uranium mines.
In mining lore in England and the United States, the underground miners took little canaries (birds) in small cages into the mines with them. As poisonous gases increased in the mines, the canaries breathing in the gases would either become unconscious and pass out, or die. The miners would know to leave the mine for their own safety.
The Sioux Nation is only a little miners' canary trying to awaken the people of the world to the hazards of radioactive pollution as detailed in the attached report. As the miner's canary, we are also trying to wake up the millions of Americans who are being exposed as well. The larger exposure to the world is through the agricultural and other products that are being exported. Are they being tested for radioactive pollution? This is what I mentioned during my intervention at the HRC meeting in Sept., 2015.
Thank you for your consideration of this complaint. As the miners' canary, my nation is experiencing many health problems caused by the radioactive pollution. As my people die from the highest cancer rates in the USA, this is genocide.
We are an ancient and distinct nation with our own language, culture, and values. Other Indigenous nations also experiencing similar effects include the Navajo, Pueblo, Havasupai, Shoshone, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Spokane and Colville to name a few.
Your assistance in studying and exposing these hazardous waste situations in the United States is vital for the survival of my nation and other first nations of North America. It is also vital for the health of millions of other people in the United States and the world.
If there is any further information you need, please let me know and I will gladly comply. My email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
We look forward to your continued excellent work for the human right to life and good health for the people of the world.
Sincerely,
Zumila Wobaga (aka Charmaine White Face), Spokesperson
cc: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
UN Environment Programs Chemicals & Waste
Special Rapporteur on Water
Special Rapporteur on Health
Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples
Secretariat, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Chairperson, Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order International Committee on the Indians of the Americas North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus
Organization of American States
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
Physicians for Social Responsibility
The full report is available here
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Sioux Nation Treaty Council,
PO Box 2003, Rapid City, SD 57709.
Or, purchase the book, Indigenous Nations Rights in the Balance, from Living Justice Press and all royalties go to the Treaty Council. Thank you
Contact
Sioux Nation Treaty Council
PO Box 2003
Rapid City
SD 57709 USA
Email: cwhiteface@gmail.com
"...CONCLUSION Various historians has determined that the "Sioux Nation Treaty Council" formally formed in 1894, shortly after the Wounded Knee massacre. The Sioux Nation Treaty Council represents all of the Sioux Tribes (Approx 49 Tribes), and all other Sioux Treaty Councils would be subordinate to it, regardless of the Treaty Council's name...." See Bielecki Report pages 7 & 8, Oct. 5, 2008 (Bielecki Report)