Sioux Nation Treaty Council - est 1894

A REPORT TO THE UN EXPERT MECHANISM ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES REGARDING MILITARY ACTIVITIES ON THE LANDS OR TERRITORIES OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Jan. 30, 2023

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“Article 30.1 of UNDRIP states that “Military activities shall not take place in the lands or territories of Indigenous Peoples, unless justified by a relevant public interest or otherwise freely agreed with or requested by the Indigenous Peoples concerned.” Article 30.2 further explains that “States shall undertake effective consultations with the Indigenous Peoples concerned, through appropriate procedures and in particular through their representative institutions, prior to using their lands or territories for military activities.” The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which militarization has impacted the national implementation and consideration of the above and other Articles.”

The Sioux Nation is an Indigenous nation located in the middle of North America. Our Indigenous name is Oceti Sakowin. The Sioux Nation Treaty Council was established in 1894 in order for all people to remember that the Sioux Nation had a Treaty for peace, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, with the United States (US). The Treaty was blatantly violated in the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 when more than 300 unarmed Sioux people were killed by the United States in the middle of the Treaty Territory. The 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council has benn operating to the present and has been coming to the UN in Geneva and New York since 1982.

In an effort at ‘divide and conquer’, the United States, in violation of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, placed the Sioux people in various prisoner- of-war camps which today are called American Indian Reservations. In August, 1943, during World War II, while many of the young men from the Oglala Sioux Tribe were in military service with the US, one-fourth of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was declared a bombing range by the US government without the free, prior, and informed consent of the people who lived there. More than on-hundred-ten families were given ten days to remove themselves before bombing began. The ten days eventually became thirty days after pleadings from the families. These families were all self-sustaining agriculturists raising cattle, horses, and crops. They were told that after the War, they could return to their homes. That never happened. Instead, the US government passed a Bill in the 1960s stating that the original land owners could buy back their own land. In addition, this was ALL Treaty protected land for the Sioux people.

Furthermore, the bombers flew out of Ellsworth Air Force base near Rapid City, South Dakota, all of which are located in Treaty protected territory. The bombs, however, did not stay within the ‘Bombing Range’ but often times landed as far away as twelve miles into the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation landing in Sioux peoples’ homes.

None of this information has ever been given the consideration that is due. How many Sioux people were killed from errant bombs while their sons and daughters were overseas? How much livestock (cattle and horses) were killed by bombs, or stolen by cattle rustlers? How many homes besides the ones in the ‘Bombing Range’ were destroyed? How many people became displaced and homeless? How did this affect their sons and daughters who had been in the military for the United States only to return home to what? Our elders always say that the alcoholism started with World War II.

The impact carries down to today as many families who became homeless at that time have never recovered down the generations. Another consideration that is never discussed is the methylates that are deposited on the DNA of the people who experienced this drastic trauma and those methylates are also carried down through the generations.

As stated previously, the US government, rather than trying to assist the families who were displaced, instead said they had to buy back their own land nearly 20 years later.

Finally, this all happened on International Treaty protected land.

The United Nations needs to assist the Sioux Nation to have the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty enforced so we may live in peace on our land which was set aside for our “absolute and undisturbed use and occupation” as stated in the Treaty.

Respectfully submitted by Zumila Wobaga, Itancan

AKA Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson