1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council

PO Box 2003, Rapid City SD 57709 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Phone: 605-342-1626

 

SPECIAL NEWSLETTER – April 2024

 

Good Morning All My Relatives,

This Special Newsletter is being sent to keep you informed of what we’ve been doing, and from a request from some younger people about the UN language. They wanted to remember what I mean when I say such things as “HRC 48/7”. They wanted me to write down this way of understanding the United Nations (UN) system.

After doing this work for more than twenty-five (25) years, and writing about the Treaty longer than that, there are some things I have learned...besides the abbreviations used in the UN system. The major thing I learned was that the UN General Assembly (GA) approves of some really important, beautiful and great things in their Resolutions but can’t back them up.

 

You have all seen this with what is going on in the Gaza region in the Middle East. The Palestinian people ARE the Indigenous people of that region. Just like us, more than 150 years ago, the Palestinians were displaced right after World War II from their homeland. Under the guise of the UN and at the urging of the United States (US), the Nation-State (colony) of Israel was created as a colony for the Jewish refugees displaced from Europe. Now Israel wants the whole area, and the UN has been unable to stop the violence as Israel is backed by the English speaking colonies: Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

What is being exposed for the whole world to see is that these colonies, now called Nation-States, do not uphold the International laws that they agreed to at the UN. Again, they do not keep their word. Consequently, the UN is losing its influence in the world...as is the USA. At the same time, the English speaking countries are also being exposed and losing their influence. It is an opportune time for us and other Native American nations to again ask for help from other nations for the full enforcement of our Treaties which have been considered legal International documents by the UN.

When I first started writing this recent newsletter, it was completely different than what it is now. I had great difficulty and even became ill because I was trying to show you how I would keep using the UN’s good words to help us, but knowing that it will take much longer than forty (40) years (which is how long we have gone there) to get them to help us. I will still keep doing the work as that is what the elders asked me to do. Those elders are all on the other side now and can help us even more. They also know the difficulties we face...such as the Climate Crisis.

In the meantime, what can we all do. We need to get our families first, then our communities, to again remember who we are and how we are to live. It doesn’t take money. Instead, we have to remember our Oceti Sakowin values and foundations, beginning with respect and humility and prayer. If you want a reminder of our old ways, there is the booklet, “The Ancient Laws of the Oceti Sakowin.” It is online, but if you want a written copy, just let me know. My contact information is at the top of this newsletter.

Meanwhile, I will continue to give the UN the opportunity to do the right thing, to help their own souls to grow. That is the best that an individual, or a nation, can do, is to help another person or nation to grow spiritually. That is the main difference I have learned. We are more spiritual and know that we are offering others, like the UN, the opportunity for their spirits to heal and grow by doing the right thing. In our case, the UN can help us by enforcing our Treaty, so we can be independent and free, so we can be who the Creator made us to be.

Article 2. of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty states that our Treaty Territory IS for our absolute and undisturbed use and occupation. We also say who can come into our Territory. The USA is trespassing in our Treaty Territory. We do not need to be the greedy (wasicu) capitalists like the USA, but we need to remember who we are as Oceti Sakowin. It was a treaty for peace and it needs to be upheld peacefully which is what we have tried to do all these years. We must not go against the words of our elders and ancestors.

In answer to the younger ones’ questions, I will start at the beginning of our efforts and why.

1. We have constantly pushed for the Original Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our previous Spokesperson and our other delegates were in the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) when the Original Declaration was first being written and knew that Article 36 would help us the most.

In the Original Declaration (UNDRIP), Article 36 states:

“Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements concluded with States or their successors, according to their original spirit and intent, and to have States honor and respect such treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements. Conflicts and disputes which cannot otherwise be settled should be submitted to competent international bodies agreed to by all parties concerned.”

Often I had to remind other Indigenous delegates that the last sentence was important to be left as it is because this is part of our culture in NOT imposing our will on anyone else, even though the USA’s will has been imposed on us. We could NOT do what they did to us.

My argument about this is on pages 93-94 of the book as this Article was rewritten. The underlined parts were totally deleted in the final 2007 UNDRIP. Also see Article 46 on pages 104-106. If you need a book “Indigenous Nations Rights in the Balance”, please let me know and I’ll get one to you. The reason I wrote the book was to report what happened with the Original Declaration.

2. The Original UNDRIP was approved by two (2) UN Committees: the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP), and the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Indigenous delegates from all over the world met with the WGIP for ten (10) years to develop the Original Declaration from 1984 to 1994. Tony Black Feather was the Spokesperson then, and Garfield Grassrope went with him at that time. The next step was approval by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). This is where the Original Declaration was stopped.

3. The major colonizing governments did not want the Original Declaration passed. Now that the State papers of Australia have been released for that time period, it has come out that Australia and Canada were colluding together to weaken the Original Declaration, and they did. (See Article: UNDRIP & Canada, Jan. 2024, Attached)

4. When the “Prayer Fast – Hunger Strike” occurred at the UN in 2004, in which I participated doing the Prayer Fast, as stated in the book, the Vice-Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Ambassador Gordan Markotic from Croatia, said that if there was no consensus by the end of the Session, the only Declaration to be presented to the CHR would be the Original Declaration. I am a witness. The other two Tituwan delegates with me at that time, who heard this also have gone home.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) was abolished a year or two later. On March 15, 2006, a new Human Rights Council (HRC) was formed. They did not know anything about what had happened about the Declaration and the first thing they did was to pass the Intersessional Working Group on the Draft Declaration Chairperson’s Declaration, NOT the Original Declaration. He had threatened to do this so that was the reason why we did the Prayer Fast-Hunger Strike. After another year, with changes made by the African Group of Nation-States, and not including the world’s Indigenous delegates, the 2007 UNDRIP was passed by the UN General Assembly.

There were seven (7) Indigenous quislings, hang-around-the-forts, traitors, who approved of the changes in a closed door meeting in New York so the UN could say that Indigenous peoples approved this 2007 UNDRIP. Since that time, we have looked for other ways to keep our Treaty issue alive at the UN as there is no other place to get peaceful help.

The Decolonization Committee, or C-24 (29 now)

The first logical step should have been the UN Decolonization Committee. However, the Decolonization Committee already has a list of territories to decolonize that does not include Indigenous nations. In the establishment of the UN in the mid-1940s, the colonizing governments made sure the Indigenous nations would not have a voice at the UN. The General Assembly approves the list of the Decolonization Committee.

However, the UN General Assembly has declared:

Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2021—2030)

In 2020, the General Assembly adopted resolution 75/123declaring the period 2021-2030 the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. This resolution called upon Member States to intensify their efforts to continue to implement the plan of action for the Second International Decade (see A/56/61, annex). It also called upon Member States to cooperate with the C-24 in updating the plan of action as necessary, with a view to using it as the basis for a plan of action for the Fourth International Decade.

During the 2021 opening session of the Special Committee on Decolonization on 18 February 2021, Ambassador Keisha McGuire, the incumbent Chair of the Committee, called on all the Member States to renew their commitment, and to strive to make this the last decade to be observed.

 

Our most recent letter to the Organization of American States (OAS) which covers the Western Hemisphere is attached. The OAS is a subsidiary of the UN. Our letter was also sent to every member of the Decolonization Committee.

On Oct. 8, 2021, China introduced Resolution No. 48/7 to the Human Rights Council entitled Negative impact of the legacies of colonialism on the enjoyment of human rights. The Resolution includes references to the colonization of Indigenous peoples. We sent thank you letters to each of the Nation-States voting for the Resolution. (Our report for that period of time had a copy of the Resolution and it should be on our website: www.siouxnationtreatycouncil.org)

Using the above actions by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, we are in the process of approaching the Decolonization Committee to get on their agenda to expose our continued colonization by the USA for more than 150 years.

The Advisory Committee to the Human Rights Council

From the UN website:

Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee (hereinafter "the Advisory Committee"), composed of 18 experts, has been established to function as a think-tank for the Council and work at its direction. The Advisory Committee replaces the former Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. The Committee held its first meeting in August 2008. It meets twice a year, for one week in February immediately before the March session of the Council and for one week in August.

 Due to health concerns beginning in 2020, I was not able to travel until now, so I wrote many letters. We are hoping to get on their Agenda for their August meeting but it is a process and we need to find funding. We take no government funding as you know, only donations and grants.

 We will present two problems:

1.) The Original Declaration needs to be reinstated and the 2007 UNDRIP revoked due to all the reasons stated above. Then Article 36 will come into effect and we can have our treaty issue resolved by an International body, not in a USA court as they have done.

2.) The 1868 Treaty needs to be enforced and our nation recommended to the Decolonization Committee to begin the process of decolonization of our nation.

3.) We need the help of the UN as the USA has exhibited their disrespect for Indigenous nations as exhibited in their support of Israel and the extinction of the Palestinian people. The USA would do the same thing to us if they so choose. Please, pray for our efforts.

 Self-Determination

The Charter of the UN is the governing document of all its members. As the USA continues to call us “domestic dependent nations” based on their colonization controls and refusal to fully enforce the 1868 Treaty, in terminology used after World War II, the USA is “illegally occupying” our legal Treaty territory. The terminology that is also in current use at the UN is the word ‘self-determination.’ A law, such as the Indian Self Determination Act that was created by the “occupying force” is NOT true self-determination of a nation, but is a tactical maneuver to confuse the world about our true status. Therefore, we do not have real ‘self-determination.’

The following from the UN Charter states:

CHAPTER IX INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COOPERATION

Article 55. With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples,...

CHAPTER XVI MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Article 103. In the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other international agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail.

As members of the UN, the USA is obligated to make sure our complete and true self-determination is acquired by our own efforts, not by a law they passed. Passing such a law on us and all the other Native Nations in the USA, is considered an Act of War as we are still under their illegal occupation gained by violent means and lies. These are also arguments we can make.

Finally, the General Assembly adopted another Resolution on Dec. 15, 2022. It is Resolution 77/207. Universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination. Among other provisions, it states:

The General Assembly, …

Welcoming the progressive exercise of the right to self-determination by peoples under colonial, foreign or alien occupation and their emergence into sovereign statehood and independence,…

Deeply concerned at the continuation of acts or threats of foreign military intervention and occupation that are threatening to suppress, or have already suppressed, the right of self-determination of peoples and nations,…

5. Requests the Human Rights Council to continue to give special attention to violations of human rights, especially the right to self-determination, resulting from foreign military intervention, aggression or occupation;

Although this Resolution was made because of what is happening in the Gaza region, colonial aggression and occupation is continuing to happen to Indigenous peoples and nations all over the world. Chile is under military rule so there are no police, only soldiers to do the bidding of the government. The Indigenous people of Papua New Guinea are also under constant threat by colonists. Our situation is at the last end of colonization as our culture and language are almost gone, and our minds polluted with colonialism. My elders, who appointed me to do this work, realized that without our Treaty Territory and the ability to be by ourselves and rule and educate ourselves, we would disappear as a nation. I will continue to do my best to keep our nation alive.

Making Allies

At our Dec. 2021 meeting, our guests were the Western Shoshone Defense Project, and the Yacqui Nation from Mexico. Recently we traveled to Temuco, Chile, in March to meet with the Mapuche Nation. The Mapuche also have a Treaty with the government of Chile and will be remembering their 200^th Year of the Treaty in 2025. We met to discuss our common issues and continue our work together as allies in the International arena. In 2022 we submitted statements and a Press Release as allies. We have been invited to their 200^th Remembrance in January, 2025.

My good friend and brother, Tupac Enrique Acosta, was responsible for our ability to connect with the Mapuche. They have 1.6 million members and still have their own culture. Tupac went home on Nov. 9, 2023, after hosting us at a meeting in Phoenix, AZ. He is greatly missed by many Native peoples and nations as he was involved in the International arena for more than thirty years. He also advised the members of his organization, Tonatierra, to help us with the translations in Spanish with the Mapuche. The young people of Tonatierra have been excellent in their help and have agreed to continue to help us. Some Pictures and a Brochure of our visit are attached.

A lot of information has been given in this Newsletter, so I will stop here. Remember, if there is any information or the book that you would like to have, please let me know and I’ll send it as soon as possible. If you have an email address, also send that to me as we are now sending out this newsletter online. It saves on postage and copying costs. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted by,

 Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Zumila Wobaga, Itancan

 Attachments

ADVOCATES DENOUNCE BID TO WEAKEN UN INDIGENOUS RIGHTS DECLARATION

 

• By Brett Forester, CBC.
• January 24, 2024
•  

Indigenous Rights Advocates Are Far From Shocked To See Evidence Canada Led Efforts To Weaken The Original Draft Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples At The United Nations.

 

‘We all knew that Canada was in the back rooms trying to counter everything.’

Indigenous leaders always suspected certain countries of colluding behind closed doors to undermine their rights at the United Nations. But now, after newly released Australian cabinet papers showed Canada led efforts to weaken the original draft declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples at the UN, secretly crafting a state-friendly substitute with Australia in 2002 and 2003, they have some evidence to prove it. And they’re far from shocked.

“We all knew that Canada was in the back rooms trying to counter everything,” said Pam Palmater, a Mi’kmaw lawyer and chair in Indigenous governance at Toronto Metropolitan University.

“Not just Canada, but Canada was a main instigator, so to have this on the record from another country just backs up everything that Indigenous peoples have been saying for decades.”

Indigenous leaders completed their original draft in 1993, approved it in 1994, and aimed to finish it by 2004. But around that time, pressure from opponent states sparked negotiation of what became a diluted version that the UN general assembly adopted in 2007, said Charmaine White Face, who remembers it vividly.

“The original one was very strong,” said White Face, or Zumila Wobaga, spokesperson for the 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council in South Dakota. White Face wrote a book analyzing the different versions of the declaration, Indigenous Nations’ Rights in the Balance. She argues the UN betrayed Indigenous nations by weakening the original draft.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” she said. “We knew way back in 1994 that the English speaking, colonizing states were going to try. They don’t want to recognize us as nations with legitimate international treaties with them.”

Canada ‘Disingenuous’ On Indigenous Rights

 

Today, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or UNDRIP, is considered a legally non-binding instrument outlining minimum human rights standards. Four states voted against it in 2007: Canada, Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand.

In the early 2000s, the Canadian government, then led by Jean Chrétien, proposed developing the state-friendly substitute, was willing to commit significant resources to the initiative, and saw Australia as its most promising partner, the newly released documents say. Canada and Australia hoped their draft would “counter the status of the existing draft and prevent it from attaining the status of customary international law.” They also predicted their “non-transparent, bilateral” tactics would attract strident criticism.

They asked three other countries to join them, but none did. Norway was “non-committal,” the U.S. joined as an observer only, and New Zealand asked to “remain at arms-length for domestic reasons,” the papers say.

Sean Carleton, a historian at the University of Manitoba, said the documents provide important evidence to back what Indigenous leaders long argued and suspected.

“These documents help us see the disjuncture between the ways Canada presents itself on the world stage and what it’s doing behind closed doors,” he said. “There’s a disingenuous nature to the way that Canada presents itself and the work that it does to facilitate ongoing colonization.”

Minister Calls Efforts ‘A Stain’

 

Earlier this week, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu tried to distance the Trudeau Liberal government from these initiatives, saying every act of colonization and undermining of Indigenous rights leaves a “stain” on Canada.

“We’ve taken a long leap away from those early thoughts of elected leaders of all stripes who looked to undermine and weaken Indigenous rights in this country,” she said.

But Russ Diabo, a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) policy analyst, said he believes the comment is disingenuous, too. “I think it’s nonsense,” said Diabo. “I see them achieving a lot of what they wanted to do under Chrétien’s agenda from over 50 some years ago, under the guise of implementing the UN declaration and saying it’s self-determination.”

Chrétien is a controversial figure among First Nations people because he authored the Pierre Trudeau government’s 1969 White Paper, a widely rejected policy proposal to assimilate First Nations into mainstream society. As prime minister, Chrétien also enacted policies on First Nations land claims, rights and governance that remain in place, Diabo said. He contends these policies are inconsistent with the declaration. Chrétien-era Indigenous and foreign affairs ministers could not be reached for comment.

After Stephen Harper’s Conservatives won the 2006 federal election, the Liberals, from their new seats on the opposition benches, attacked him for voting against UNDRIP. Harper eventually endorsed the declaration as an “aspirational document” in 2010.

Justin Trudeau’s government enacted legislation to implement the declaration in 2021, for which Palmater gives them due credit, but she said Canada still violates it on the ground.

“You still see them forcing pipelines or mining through Indigenous territories. You still see them sending in the RCMP,” she said.

Kenneth Deer, who is Kanien’kehá:ka from Kahnawà:ke just south of Montreal, was involved in developing the declaration from 1987 to 2007. He said opposition to Indigenous rights is deeply entrenched in Canada’s bureaucracy, not just any one party.

“It’s not just Chrétien,” he said. “It’s the institutions in Canada that were resisting the rights of Indigenous peoples.”

END

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1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council COPY

Post Office Box 2003, Rapid City, South Dakota 57701 – USA

Feb. 16, 2024

 

Secretary General Luis Almagro

Organization of American States

17^th St. & Constitution Ave NW

Washington DC 20006-4499

 

Your Excellency,

 

Our apologies for not being able to address you in your own language. We are a very small and impoverished nation with no capabilities for translators. From our status as a nation, we are sending this communique to you and the members of the Organization of American States (OAS) Permanent Council. Your forms and procedures are for individuals, not nations, therefore we are approaching you in this respectful manner.

 

The OAS Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples speaks to the issue of treaties made between Indigenous nations and colonizing governments. Article XXIV specifically states:

 

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance, and enforcement of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements concluded with States or their successors, in accordance with their true spirit and intent in good faith and to have States honor and respect same. States shall give due consideration to the understanding of the indigenous peoples as regards to treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements. (Author’s emphasis)

 

2. When disputes in relation to such treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements cannot be resolved between the parties, they shall be submitted to competent bodies, including regional and international bodies, by the states or Indigenous Peoples concerned. (Author’s emphasis)

3. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as diminishing or eliminating the rights of Indigenous Peoples contained in treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements. (Author’s emphasis)

 

We are a small, Indigenous Nation located in the middle of North America. We are currently and illegally occupied by the United States which is a violation not only of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, but also a violation of the International Laws of Belligerent Occupation.¹

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 (25 USC Section 1776i) was a treaty for peace, sought by the United States and specifically delineates a land area in Article 2 thatwas set aside for “our absolute and undisturbed use and occupation”.² However, when gold was discovered in our Treaty Territory, the United States physically destroyed our economy, starved and divided us, and placed us in Prisoner-of-War camps now called ‘American Indian Reservations.’ Furthermore, the U.S. imposed Tribal Council forms of government on our nation by U.S. federal law in 1935. This was not the way we governed ourselves. Finally, the Sioux Nation Treaty Council was secretly established in 1894 because to speak of the Treaty at that time was punishable by death or imprisonment by the United States. Without our Treaty being fully enforced, the negative impacts of colonization have almost totally destroyed our Nation.

 

At this time, there are no places for Indigenous nations to present their conflicts with International treaties and colonizing governments. It has been twenty-five years since the Martinez Treaty Study at the United Nations.³ In that Study, Special Rapporteur Dr. Martinez clearly states that these are viable International treaties.

 

(Paragraph) “270. This leads to the issue of whether or not treaties and other legal instruments concluded by the European settlers and their successors with indigenous nations currently continue to be instruments with international status in the light of international law.

 

271. The Special Rapporteur is of the opinion that those instruments indeed maintain their original status and continue fully in effect, and consequently are sources of rights and obligations for all the original parties to them (or their successors), who shall implement their provisions in good faith.

 

Therefore, we are coming to you to request a recommendation from you to the United Nations General Assembly so the procedures of the UN Decolonization Committee can begin the decolonization processes and full enforcement of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty as is our right under the OAS Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

 

There is no question that the Treaty is old, however, certain portions of it, such as health issues, have been upheld in U.S. federal courts as recently as 2021. Also, there is no legal precedent that one nation can selectively choose which portions of a treaty they will enforce. Additionally, there is no issue of secession because our nation is not a part of the United States as exhibited by the very fact of the Treaty.

 

By presenting our grave situation to you, we are giving you the physical and spiritual opportunity to correct a very old and continuing injustice. We hope you find the courage in your minds and hearts to pave a way for freedom for our very ancient nation. Thank you for considering our request.

 

Wopila tanka (Our deepest gratitude),

 

 

Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson

Zumila wobaga, Itancan

 

cc: United Nations Decolonization Committee

 

www.siouxnationtreatycouncil.org Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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¹Many areas of the International Laws of Belligerent Occupation from the Fourth 1949 Geneva Convention have been breached by the United States, too numerous to mention in this document. A succinct summary of the Laws is provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross at The law of armed conflict - Lesson 9 - Belligerent occupation (icrc.org)

 

²A map of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty Territory is attached.

 

³Study on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations: final report / by Miguel Alfonso Martínez, Special Rapporteur, 1999, UN Digital Library, UN.org