Remember when you were a kid and you had to take history classes in school? I really didn’t like history because it wasn’t what my grandma told me, and I couldn’t remember all those dates. Later, as an adult, I realized that learning history explained a lot of the reasons why things are how they are, including the day called International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples. A specific date was also given to it, August 9th.
Who did this? The United Nations, (UN) of course. It was proclaimed in Dec., 1994, following the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in 1993. That was 501 years after Columbus “discovered” us. Interesting, eh? Too bad it wasn’t called Indigenous Nations Day because we all come from nations. However, if they acknowledge our nationhood, they would have to acknowledge us in the UN as nations.
The UN was created on Oct. 24, 1945, or almost 81 years ago, by 50 different countries including the United States, Russia, China, and Great Britain. It was created to stop any more World Wars. It was created right after the end of World War Two.
The UN Charter is its founding document just like the US Constitution is the foundation of the United States. The Preamble to the UN Charter states its goals and ideals and states in part:
“WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED...to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained,...
It was these underlined portions which our elders read and decided that we needed to go to the United Nations to have our 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty enforced. However, our elders did not know that the colonizing governments, mainly Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States were working behind the scenes to have our Indigenous nations not included. The colonizing governments conveniently overlooked the fact that many of our people were involved in World War Two. The colonizing governments are nicknamed CANZUS, and also worked hard behind the scenes to have the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples changed to fit what they wanted as recently as 2006. [The author participated in the debates and wrote about it in the book, Indigenous Nations Rights in the Balance, with all proceeds going to the work of the 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council.]
However, there is also another portion of the UN Charter under Chapter 1: Purposes and Principles, Article 1 which states,
The Purposes of the United Nations are:… 2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;…3. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
Our elders were right in going to the United Nations. Despite CANZUS trying to stop Indigenous Nations from surviving and overcoming the oppression and occupation caused by CANZUS, there was still a Purpose of the UN that required the principle of Self Determination.
Self Determination means the free will of the people. It does not mean a law by an occupying nation which titles itself as Self Determination, or US. Public Law 93-638.
Even the Creator gave us all free will. In our old Tituwan Oceti Sakowin laws we have the law about not imposing your will on anyone else. This is Free Will.
If we all together want to speak a certain language, that is Free Will. If we all together want to pray a certain way, that is Free Will. If we all together want to share what we have with each other so no one goes hungry, that is Free Will. If we all together have laws to govern ourselves, that is Free Will.
All Indigenous nations around the world had these attributes of Free Will. When a group of people continued to live a certain way, they were a nation. We, the Oceti Sakowin, were a nation for hundreds of thousands of years with our own Ancient Laws long before Columbus “discovered” us. We were honorable people and thought the Americans were honorable people too, but they were not. We were taught for millenia that when you lie, you die. We thought they believed the same way. They did not and still do not today. (See The Ancient Laws of the Oceti Sakowin at www.siouxnationtreatycouncil.org .)
When the United Nations finally respects TRUE Self Determination for ALL Nations, including Indigenous Nations, then there will be a time to celebrate an International Day of the World’s Indigenous Nations. Until that time, we only can Remember the World’s Indigenous Nations, not celebrate.
We are becoming extinct. Our language, our true culture, not the beads and feathers imposed on us by the occupiers, our very nationhood is on the brink of disappearing. Many of our people don’t know why a certain feather is worn; why certain colors are worn; what certain face paint means; and certainly don’t know that our ancestors are continually trying to teach us through dreams. Many of our people don’t know that certain ceremonies can only be done by those who have had a dream or vision. And we wonder why our people have such a hard time. When those protocols are broken, the consequences fall on all of the people.
What can we do? Try to learn from our old traditional people, not elders, but our old traditions that some of our people still know. Ask for help. Pray and meditate. That was part of our old traditions. Help your community to begin again, to heal itself. Don’t wait for a ‘Savior’ to come save you. Each one of us has the choice and the free will to save ourselves and our relatives in our everyday words and actions. If none listens, at least we have tried.
The United Nations won’t be here forever. That is the consequence of NOT respecting their own Charter and continuing to allow the oppression and occupation of Indigenous nations. The United States will not be here forever either. Again, the consequence of Not respecting their own Constitution and their honor and commitment to the UN Charter which they helped build. The Circle does come around.
However, if we live the way the Creator made us to be, we will continue with Ina Unci Makoce (Mother Grandmother Earth) for as long as she is here. We do not have to go the way of the colonizers. We can choose our own way, exert our own individual self-determination. We might be considered eccentric but we will be true to ourselves and the Creator Who made us. Hetchetu ktso. (It is so.)
July 31, 2026
Charmaine White Face, or Zumila Wobaga, is an Oglala Tituwan Oceti Sakowin elder, (79) and the Spokesperson for the 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council. She has attended many meetings at the United Nations fighting for the enforcement of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty including the recognition of the Sioux Nation as a nation. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hello Everyone,
This is an Update of what is happening with us and the UN. On June 10th, I sent you a newsletter about the announcement of an Indigenous candidate, Charmaine White Face, for the position of Secretary General at the United Nations (UN). Donations were also requested for the travel expenses as we do not seek federal, state, or tribal funds, and it was short notice to apply for a grant.
For this current action, we did receive enough private donations for my trip to New York City. Thank you, wopila tanka, to Sylvia L., Harold S., Jennifer S., Steve W., Ingrid M., Bill M., Brenda M. and the New England Peace Pagoda. The plane tickets were purchased and a hotel room was reserved. Then we were informed that the Secretary-General (SG) could not meet at the time we requested. Thankfully, the plane tickets and hotel rooms are on standby.
The organizers have been requesting an audience with the SG since May. The Ambassador of Columbia stated she would receive us at her embassy and also go with us to the UN to introduce us to the SG. Still no response. Now she is going back to Columbia on Aug. 1st.
We know the Indigenous Candidate will not be elected by the General Assembly, but we also have the right to submit an Indigenous candidate if the UN is serious about their Charter which says Self Determination for ALL peoples and nations. We are only exerting our right to Self Determination.
Years ago, the UN designated Aug. 9th to be Indigenous Peoples Day. As that is a Sunday, the UN will be doing a forum on Indigenous Peoples on Monday, Aug. 10th. We are in the process of planning events on both Aug. 9th with the Indigenous community in New York and also at the UN on Monday. Your prayers for our plans, our safety and good health during that time and on our trip would be greatly appreciated.
Wopila tanka (deepest gratitude) to all of you who donated as you are providing an opportunity to the UN to be respectful to us and all Indigenous Nations by helping us be able to be there. The UN’s choice, respect or disrespect, whether they believe it or not, is watched by our ancestors and the Creator of all. Self Determination is all we are asking. That means “Free Will” to make our own choices and not always having someone make those choices for us. Free Will is also a spiritual concept and one of the Ancient Laws of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation). “We cannot push our will on anyone else.” Thank you again and for your prayers.
Sincerely,
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson
Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
Hello Everyone,
This newsletter is being sent to keep you updated as a lot is happening in the world that could have a positive effect on us if we “seize the day.” To that end, I have sent letters, which are attached, to Pope Leo; Felipe VI, king of Spain; and Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, via International Priority Mail. Thanks to our relatives from the South, we became aware of these happenings regarding the Doctrine of Discovery. The reason the Doctrine of Discovery is important to us in the United States is because it is the basis of federal Indian law, and also was the cause of so many of our nations no longer being in existence.
The following is taken from an article in El Pais USA Edition, March 16th, 2026, by Miguel Gonzalez, which also can be found at Spain’s King Felipe VI acknowledges that there were ‘many abuses’ in the colonization of America | Spain | EL PAÍS English .
“Spain’s King Felipe VI acknowledged on Monday morning, during a visit to the exhibition Half the World: Women in Indigenous Mexico, organized jointly by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mexican Ministry of Culture, that “there was much abuse” during the colonization of the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors.
“There have also been struggles, let’s say, moral and ethical controversies regarding how power was exercised from the very beginning,” King Felipe said in an informal conversation with the Mexican ambassador to Spain, Quirino Ordaz, as seen in a video released by the Spanish Royal Household on social media.
“The opening of this same exhibition last November served as the stage for Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.... “The shared history between Spain and Mexico, like all human history, has its light and dark sides,” he said. “There has been pain and injustice toward the Indigenous peoples. There was injustice, and it is right to acknowledge and regret it. This is part of our shared history; we cannot deny or forget it.”
However, there must also be action and that is where our recommendation that our Treaty be fully enforced by the UN Decolonization Committee comes in. Both the Mexican Ambassador and the Spanish Ambassador have heard this recommendation coming from us at the UN many times. But now it is directed to the King of Spain and the President of Mexico, as well as the Pope. If they truly want to undo all the harm that has been done, they need to act on our recommendations. Yes, the Decolonization process will take time, but it needs to be started. Kudos to all who are doing language and culture immersion. Kudos to all of you who are decolonizing yourselves. Kudos to all of you who continue to pray and offer your pain and difficulties for the good health of our nation. The Creator did not forget us.
According to our ways and understanding of the circle, by the King of Spain acknowledging the abuses and injustices done by Spain, he began closing that circle of abuse and injustice that was started by his ancestors more than 500 years ago in collusion with the Catholic Church and their Doctrines of Discovery. In addition, with Mexico starting to stand up for Indigenous peoples beginning with their last President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and continuing with the current President, Claudia Scheinbaum, they are also beginning the closing of that circle. Hopefully, it won’t take another 500 years before we can return to being the nation the Creator made us to be.
As the UN Seretary-General Antonio Guterrez’ term expires in December, our relatives to the South wanted to present an Indigenous candidate for thatposition. We haven’t heard if they have chosen a candidate yet.
Finally, I want to thank Steve W. for the postage needed to get this newsletter out to many of our elders and others who still receive it in the mail. Our thanks also goes to Jennifer S. for the envelopes which enable us to mail all the reports and letters. Our special thank you to Bill M. for the funds to make hard copies. Wopila tanka.
If you receive this newsletter via postal mail but want to receive it via email, please let me know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. It will help with our expenses. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted by
Sgnd Sgnd
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
Letter to the Pope
May 8, 2026
Pope Leo XIV
The Vatican
Vatican City
Italy
Greetings,
Thank you for your stance on the genocide of the Palestinians, the Indigenous nation of that part of the world. Your stance against war anywhere is also commended,
However, the Catholic Church’s Doctrines of Discovery are still the foundations of the United States government’s Federal Indian Law, and are still being used against many Indigenous nations and peoples in the United States TODAY. It is an hypocrisy to call out the President and the United States government for what they do in other parts of the world without looking in the United States’ own backyard.
In the case of the Sioux Nation, of which I and all my relatives belong, we have experienced the genocide and continuing oppression to this day even though we have a legal, International Treaty with the United States. Our Treaty, the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty was recognized as still having its International status at the United Nations in 1999 in the Study on Treaties, Agreements and Other Special Arrangements between States and indigenous populations by Special Rapporteur Miguel Alfonso Martinez. The Special Rapporteur actually came to our Territory and visited with our elders about our Treaty with the United States so his findings and conclusions are not taken from any books.
In the 1868 Treaty, which my great-great grandfathers signed, there was set aside a specific geographic land area that was to be “...for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians...”. It was large enough to hold all the buffalo that we would need. However, when gold was discovered by white men trespassers into the sacred Black Hills, the United States government tuned a blind eye to the illegal trespass of settlers and miners and began the illegal, belligerent occupation and genocide of my nation.
We lived with Mother Earth and all Her children in a sacred manner. Our elder brother, the American bison or buffalo, had agreed to come to the Earth to help us in all ways by providing our food, clothing, shelter, tools, and even fuel for our fires through their dried dung. We followed the buffalo in their migratory journeys, and lived in a good way with all of the Creation for thousands of years.
Our great nation consisted of seven sub-nations all with the same culture. The only difference was that we spoke three dialects of the same language, speaking the L, D, or N dialect. Consequently, we were called Dakota, Nakota, or Lakota which is a misnomer. For example, Lakota means the language or ally. Friend is another word. Collectively we are called the Oceti Sakowin, which means Seven Fireplaces. I belong to the western most sub nation called the Tituwan and we are the only ones who speak the Lakota language. Our entire nation once covered 24 American states and 4 Canadian Provinces. However, by 1868, we, the Tituwan, were the last in the United States that had not been dominated by the United States. The United States was the one who asked for a treaty for peace as they could not travel though the center of the country without being stopped by our people.
After the passage of the 1868 Treaty and the illegal discovery of gold, the United States began their genocide of my nation, the Tituwan nation. The massive slaughter and almost complete extermination of the buffalo left us starving and freezing, catching their white man illnesses, and unable to resist their onslaught. In order to contain us, the United States corralled us into Prisoner of War camps, now called American Indian Reservations. Until after World War II, we were required to get permission to travel off the reservations. In the 1950s, a Bill was introduced into Congress that allowed the killing of any Indian that left the reservations. Thankfully the Bill did not pass. My father was working as a teacher off the reservation and he was a veteran of the U.S. Navy from World War II.
There were many massacres after the signing of the 1868 Peace Treaty, most of which are undocumented but passed down in our oral history. One of the most famous massacres was the Wounded Knee Massacre in December, 1890, in the middle of the Treaty Territory. My great grandfather and great-great grandmother were survivors. There were only fourteen (14) men in the whole camp which my grandmother learned from her father-in-law, a survivor, and she told me. The soldiers lined the men up and took their hunting rifles. Then the Army began shooting their Gatling guns (machine guns) into the whole camp killing more than three-hundred fifty people who were mostly women, children, and elders. Stories handed down through the generations tell of United States soldiers throwing Indian babies into the air and catching them on their swords like a game. Somehow my family escaped with the help of prayer and the spirits, so I could write this today. In the end, the United States gave twenty (20) medals of honor to the soldiers for their bravery in killing women, children, and the elderly.
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened after the United States and the Catholic Church had already started building their missions and boarding schools on the Reservations in order to forcefully assimilate Indian children into the white man’s culture. Both sets of my grandparents and my parents were sent to the boarding schools as children, and subjected to mental, physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuses. We had none of these abuses prior to the coming of the white man. Our ancient laws were strong and our people very spiritual. Pierre De Smet, one of the first Catholic priests to meet our people, said that he had never met a more Christian people. So why did they want to change us?
If a child ran away from the Boarding Schools, they were forced to carry a ball and chain for the rest of their school years. My maternal grandfather ran away from the Rapid City Indian School three times, the second and third times carrying his ball and chain over 100 miles in order to reach his parents on the Pine Ridge Reservation, or Prisoner of War Camp No. 344. This was in the early 1900s.
My parents at the ages of 6 and 8 years of age watched their fellow students be beaten to death as children for speaking one word in their first language, Lakota. Consequently, my parents’ DNA was changed by methylates due to the body’s reaction for survival and they could not speak the Lakota language although they understood it. Their DNA with it’s methylates were passed down to me and my siblings so we are unable to speak our Lakota language either. This has been proven in studies on trauma in young children. (See Grandma's Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes, May, 2013 Issue, Genes & Health, Dan Hurley)
As the children grew older, the girls with darker skin were told they were to have their appendix removed when in reality they were being sterilized. This happened to my father’s sister in 1934-35. This was in accordance with the United States’ efforts at racial control. The practice of forced sterilization of Native American Indian women continued until the 1970s with some girls as young as age eleven (11) being sterilized by the U.S. Indian Health Service.
This genocide continues to today with more than two-thousand (2,000) abandoned, open pit Uranium mines in our Treaty Territory since the 1960s and 1970s. The abandoned mines pollute the entire region with radioactive particles in the land, air, and water. By having to live with this pollution, my people have the highest cancer rate in the country as shown in a study in 2003 by the Indian Health Service. In my family, my father died from cancer, and both I and my sister have had cancer. Very high rates of heart disease and diabetes are all caused by exposure to radioactivity. Although we have made efforts to expose this threat locally and to the highest levels of the United Nations, the United States refused to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxic Waste to investigate this matter. The United States refuses to clean up these mines and our Treaty Territory has been declared a national sacrifice area. Therefore, our mortality rate is also the highest in the United States.
The Catholic Church’s Doctrines of Discovery are responsible for the deaths of millions of Indigenous peoples, and hundreds of Indigenous nations in the United States alone, not to mention all the millions of Indigenous nations and peoples in other parts of the world. In 2023, your predecessor, Pope Francis, did recognize and repudiate the atrocity of what the Doctrines of Discovery did to the nations of Indigenous peoples in the western hemisphere. However, a repudiation is only words. He needed to go one step further and REVOKE the Doctrines of Discovery. Revoking is an action not just words. Revoking would finally mean the recognition of the humanness of all the Indigenous nations and peoples of the world. Revoking would also acknowledge the major violations of the human rights of all Indigenous nations and peoples of the world today.
In our case, we also seek Decolonization through the UN Decolonization Committee through the full enforcement of the 1868 Treaty. You, Pope Leo, could help in this matter by advocating for all Indigenous nations with Treaties, Agreements, and Constructive Arrangements with States to be listed with the United Nations Decolonization Committee. With our undisturbed use and occupation of our entire Treaty Territory, we would be able to heal ourselves and Mother Earth through our prayers and ceremonies.
There are many more abuses and injustices that were and are being committed by the United States against us, people of the Sioux nation. I would have to write a book to cover all those areas such as education, health, the justice system, and so forth. Presented here are only a few examples. However, the fact that the United States government’s actions and laws are based on the Doctrines of Discovery lead us to you and the Catholic Church, the foundation for all this horror.
We pray that you have the courage to revoke the Doctrines of Discovery. Perhaps then the United States will not have the basis for it’s brutal, inhumane actions. To allow the Catholic Church to continue to be responsible for the oppression and domination of Indigenous nations and peoples for more than five-hundred years through the use of the Doctrines of Discovery is an anathema. Our hope is that you will not allow this to continue for even one day longer.
Sincerely,
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
Letter to Felipe Vi - King of Spain
May 9, 2026
Felipe VI
King of Spain
28071 Madrid
Spain
Your Majesty,
It was with great relief and joy that we read of your remarks regarding your disapproval of the abuses and injustices that befell the Indigenous nations and people of Mexico, South and Central America by the conquistadors. Your integrity and courage are commended, We also are aware of Spain’s stance against the wars in the Middle East perpetrated by the United States and Israel. We strongly support Spain’s position.
We have endured what the United States and Israel are doing to the Indigenous nation of Palestine. We also were starved by the United States by their decimation of our economic source, the American bison which we call buffalo. The United States did this to us even though we have an International Treaty with them, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Our Treaty was proven to still retain its International status at the United Nations in 1999 with the UN study on treaties between colonizing States and Indigenous nations and peoples. (Study on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations: final report / by Miguel Alfonso Martínez, Special Rapporteur; 1999; https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/276353?v=pdf)
The United States continues to intimidate the world with arrogance and superiority due to the fact that their laws are based on the Catholic Church’s Doctrines of Discovery. Those atrocious doctrines were developed at a time when the world did not even know we, Indigenous peoples, existed nor that we could be human beings. That superior attitude of eliminating or dominating hundreds of Indigenous nations in the United States has continued in the American mindset to today.
Your Majesty, your words would be more historic if they were followed by your actions. To that end, would you give your courage and support to Pope Leo XIV so that the Pope will do all in his power to revoke the Doctrines of Discovery? Coming from the King of Spain would mean more to the world than coming from anyone else. No one, in this case, has more influence on this subject than you.
Page 2. Letter Felipe VI
I am a member of an Indigenous Nation located in the middle of the United States. At one time, our great nation called the Great Sioux Nation lived in more than half of the states of the United States and in nearly half of Canada. The goal of the United States is to totally exterminate us even to today through the use of radioactive pollution. Although we have asked for the help of the United Nations in trying to expose this abomination, the United States refused to let the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxic Waste into the United States to do an investigation. My coming to you for help to eliminate the Doctrines of Discovery is also a cry for help so we can live.
By allowing one human being to be subjected to the Doctrines of Discovery without objecting to such oppression is a scourge on all humanity. Please, you Majesty, raise your objections to the oppression of all Indigenous Nations and Peoples world-wide so that all the human beings can know the truth. Millions of us have had to endure oppression and domination for more than 500 years.
We pray for your continued courage, integrity, fortitude, and good health.
Respectfully submitted by,
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
Letter to Claudia Scheinbaum, President of Mexico
May 11, 2026
Claudia Scheinbaum, President of Mexico
Palacio Nacional Edificio 10
Planta Baja Centro
Cuauhtémoc 06060
Ciudad de México
Mexico
Dear President Scheinbaum,
As King Felipe VI from Spain has admitted to the abuses and injustices inflicted on the Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere, we are hoping you will also support his position. Now, five-hundred (500) years later, the world is very much aware that Indigenous Peoples are human beings. We also had and could continue to have civilizations that live with Mother Earth in a way that does not destroy anything. The life philosophy of Indigenous Peoples would be good for all human beings to learn for the continued existence of our planet, Mother Earth.
I am a member of an Indigenous Nation located in the middle of the United States. At one time, our great nation called the Great Sioux Nation lived in more than half of the states of the United States and in nearly half of Canada. The goal of the United States is to totally exterminate us even to today through the use of radioactive pollution. Although we have asked for the help of the United Nations in trying to expose this abomination, the United States refused to let the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxic Waste into the United States to do an investigation. My coming to you for help is also a cry for help for our very lives.
We have endured what the United States and Israel are doing to the Indigenous nation of Palestine. We also were starved by the United States by their decimation of our economic source, the American bison which we call buffalo. The United States did this to us even though we have an International Treaty with them, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Our Treaty was proven to still retain its International status at the United Nations in 1999 with the UN study on treaties between colonizing States and Indigenous nations and peoples. (Study on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations: final report / by Miguel Alfonso Martínez, Special Rapporteur; 1999; https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/276353?v=pdf)
Page 2. Scheinbaum letter
The United States continues to intimidate the world with arrogance and superiority due to the fact that their laws are based on the Catholic Church’s Doctrines of Discovery. Those atrocious doctrines were developed at a time when the world did not even know we, Indigenous peoples, existed nor that we could be human beings. That superior attitude of eliminating or dominating hundreds of Indigenous nations in the United States has continued in the American mindset to today. The American Western movies of cowboys and Indians continue to denigrate us, and glorify the mindset that violence is the answer to whatever they want.
By allowing one human being to be subjected to the Doctrines of Discovery without objecting to such oppression is a scourge on all humanity. President Scheinbaum, raise your objections to the oppression of all Indigenous Nations and Peoples world-wide so that the whole world can know the truth. Millions of us have had to endure oppression and domination for hundreds of years.
We also ask if you could have your Ambassadors to the United Nations Human Rights Council introduce and support the passage of a Resolution for Indigenous Nations to be listed with the Decolonization Committee by the General Assembly. We realize the Decolonization process takes years, but it would be a first step in recognizing the nations that can help with the survival of humankind.
We pray for your continued courage, integrity, fortitude, and good health.
Respectfully submitted by,
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
Hello Everyone,
In the last Newsletter, I mentioned that the position of the United Nations Secretary-General would expire in December. I also noted that our relatives to the South wanted to select an Indigenous candidate for that position. The Indigenous nations in Latin America still number in the millions. Aucan Huilcamon, of the Mapuche Nation, who graciously hosted us when we traveled to Chile for a Summit of Treaty Nations in March, 2024, has kept us in the loop of their discussions. Representatives from many Indigenous nations and organizations were on the Zoom calls, and as their peoples number in the millions, we were interested in who they would select. To keep you up to date before it is publicized, I just wanted to let you know that they selected me. The eagle and the condor are together again as in our Indigenous prophesies.
Many people know me from my work at the UN and from the Spanish version of my book about how the UN betrayed all Indigenous peoples and nations through its version of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The book is called Indigenous Nations Rights in the Balance published by Living Justice Press. Our friends in Phoenix, Tonatierra, published it in Spanish so it could spread farther South.
It is a great honor to be selected and a very humbling experience. An Indigenous candidacy exposes the UN’s hypocrisy regarding true Self Determination by ignoring us and all Indigenous nations. The Preamble to the UN Charter states: “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained... Article 1 No. 2 states: “To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples,...” Yet they totally gnore all Indigenous nations and peoples, sticking us in the corner with their own organizations and not listening to our requests.
Who do I stand for? I stand for all people and nations who are truly committed to real Self-Determination, not the kind imposed by colonizing governments. My presence will also be an opportunity to show the world that we, the Sioux Nation, are still here in the middle of North America, and that we still have a legitimate, International treaty with the United States that needs full enforcement.
We, a delegation from both the South and us, are hoping to go to New York City by the end of the month to make the selection formal and public. However, I wanted you all to know what was happening beforehand. In the meantime, we must raise travel funds for the trip. Tentatively we are planning for June 25 to 30, 2026, to be at the UN for the formal announcement.
Please, your prayers for this endeavor. If you happen to be able to spare some funds, it can be sent to Defenders of the Black Hills, PO Box 2003, Rapid City, SD 57709. Defenders is our fiscal agent and a non-profit corporation, and I am the only one right now to check the mail. Remember, this Treaty Council does not accept state, tribal, or federal funds, only individual donations or small grants and our coffers are very low.
Thanks to Steve W. for the postage and Bill M. for the funds to do the copying. My gratitude also goes to my cousin, Edward V., for editing this as I’m still kind of in shock but getting ready for this next challenge.
On another note, the Memorial for our friend and Treasurer for more than two decades, Brian Brademeyer, will be held at 10:00 AM on Monday, June 22nd at his place in the Black Hills. The easiest way to get to his place is to go all the way through Hill City. At the stop light on the highway leading to Mount Rushmore or on to Crazy Horse Monument, take a left to Mount Rushmore. About 6 miles on this road, the first sign you will see will be Palmer Gulch Campground on the right, and a short distance beyond that is a gravel road on the left leading to his place. The next turnoff is Palmer Gulch Lodge and you have passed his road.
He asked to be cremated and also said he was an atheist. However, he was very, very respectful of our ways. His two sisters and brother are doing the Memorial. It would show our respect for all he did for us if any of you know a traditional Memorial song and can be there. He was a true ally, a true Lakota. He was also honored by the Oglala Sioux Tribe in 1997 for his work on protecting the Black Hills.
Hope you all have a wonderful and safe summer.
Respectfully submitted by
Signed on Original Signed on Original
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
Hello Everyone,
Thank you to Sylvia L. for her $100.00 gift/donation to the Treaty Council for my birthday. What a nice birthday gift. Thank you also to Steve W. and Jennifer S. for their donations of stamps and for Jennifer’s donation of envelopes. You have no idea how much this helps.
1. Decolonization In February, the UN Secretary-General (S-G) Antonio Guterres gave a statement congratulating the Decolonization Committee that there were only 17 territories to be decolonized. As I took exception to this since we have been trying to get to the Decolonization Committee for years, I wrote a letter to the Secretary-General with a copy sent to the Chairperson of the Decolonization Committee asking to meet with them in New York in June. That’s when the Committee will be meeting. The letter was sent via postal mail and email. They probably will not answer, as in the past, but we have to keep trying.
Also regarding the S-G position, our relatives from the South are conducting a campaign to call out the UN on their stance on Self-Determination of all peoples, by seeking to replace Guterres during the upcoming UN elections with an Indigenous nomination. It probably won’t happen as none of us are members of the UN, but it will show the hypocrisy that is in the UN when they don’t uphold their Charter. We have been meeting with our relatives from the South via Zoom meetings.
2. Report on the Human Right to a Healthy Environment There was a call for input into a report to be submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the human right to healthy environment. Her report will be given to the General Assembly next Fall. We submitted a Report which is attached.
3. INCOMINDIOS PROJECT We are still finalizing the report to INCOMINDIOS on the project they funded for us last Fall. There were three parts: the Analysis of the 1868 Treaty which was sent to all the region’s high schools; the International Work of the 1868 Treaty Council, a video of a Power Point presentation; and a Report entitled “To Revitalize our Nation”, also attached. I am still trying to get the video as it was lost someplace in the clouds. As soon as I have it, I’ll let you know.
Respectfully submitted by
_______Sgnd___________________ _______Sgnd________________
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
Attachments (3): Letter to S-G Guterres; Report on Health; Report on Revitalizing our Nation
Attachment - Letter to S-G Gutterres
Feb. 23, 2026
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
United Nations
405 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017 USA (Also sent via email)
Dear Secretary-General Guterres,
Your remarks at the Feb. 16th meeting of the United Nations (UN) Decolonization Committee were very interesting. However, they were also disheartening that only seventeen (17) more nations are being considered as remaining for the Committee’s work without once including Indigenous Nations. We came to the UN as a Nation seeking our freedom and independence, not seeking economic and social help.
What about ALL of the Indigenous Nations with legal International treaties with colonizing governments? Are we to be left behind? Aren’t our freedom and Self Determination at the same level as other nations? Are we to be left in situations of belligerent, illegal occupation by domineering colonizing governments until we disappear? That is genocide! That is our reality NOW!
Please, Secretary-General Guterres, Indigenous Nations need to be allowed the opportunity to be heard and listed on the Decolonization List before we become extinct. Our ancient Nations have so much to teach the world.
The UN Charter specifically states that it is “for all nations great and small.” Does that also mean EXCEPT for Indigenous Nations? We have no where else to go to present our situations except at the UN.
Can our delegation meet with you and the Chairperson Menissa Rambally and Vice-Chair Ernesto Soberon Guzman of the Decolonization Committee in June, 2026, when they have their next two week meeting in New York City?
We look forward to your response and hope we can have a mutually productive meeting. Thank you for considering our request.
Sincerely,
Sgnd Sgnd
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
cc: UN Decolonization Committee Chair and Vice Chair
Attachment Report on Health
HEALTH REPORT ON THE 1868 FORT LARAMIE TREATY TERRITORY
Thank you to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment, Astrid Puentes Riano for this opportunity to present this information for her thematic report to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Sioux Nation is an Indigenous nation of approximately 90,000 people. However, the human rights of all of the people residing in this area, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, are being affected by radioactive pollution caused by mining of Uranium and other elements. For the Sioux Nation, this is certain genocide as the majority of the Sioux people live in western South Dakota on four of the largest American Indian Reservations, which began as Prisoner-of-war camps, in the United States. Starting in the 1950s, more than 25,000 Sioux people currently live in surrounding cities and towns in western South Dakota and the southern portion of North Dakota.
The Sioux Nation is an ancient, Indigenous nation that at one time covered nearly half of the North American continent. During the invasion and belligerent occupation by European-American colonizers, the Sioux Nation signed many treaties with France, England, and finally the United States. The final treaty with the United States, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868contained a provision for a land base that was a small area in which the Sioux nation could continue to survive. Article 2 of the Treaty states that the area shown in Fig. 1. would be for “the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation” of the Sioux nation.[1] However, with the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874, the U.S. government allowed miners and settlers into the area and continue to allow their citizens to occupy this International Treaty protected area to today. 2
The Sioux Nation Treaty Council established in 1894 is submitting this communication through their Spokesperson, Zumila Wobaga, also known as Ms. Charmaine White Face. There is no need to keep any of the submitted information confidential, as the information has been presented many times seeking resolution in many fora.
The difficulty arising in answering the Special Rapporteur’s Key Questions is the illegality of the United States in the 1868 Treaty Territory. As a belligerently occupied nation, we have no control of the dangerous environmental effects destroying our human right to a healthy environment.
In 1980, the Supreme Court of the United States admitted to the illegal taking of the Black Hills, admitting it was unlawful and illegal, but would not return that small portion of the Treaty territory to the Sioux Nation. Shortly thereafter, the 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council began approaching the United Nations for a resolution.
Figure 1. The Northern Great Plains and the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty Territory
According to a report entitled The Great Plains Area Leading Causes of Death, Jan 3, 2022, the American Indian/Alaska Native rate of mortality is above the rate for all races in the United States.3 The areas with high mortality rates are: heart disease, malignant cancers, other causes, accidents and adverse effects, diabetes mellitus, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, COPD and allied conditions, Cerebrovascular diseases, Pneumonia and influenza, and suicide and self-inflicted injury. The rates for mortality of non-Indigenous people living in this region is also higher than the rates for the entire country. Yet no one asks why. However, there are more than 2,000 open, abandoned Uranium mines in our Treaty Territory and more than 10,000 open, abandoned exploratory wells for Uranium also. Radioactive pollution could be a major factor in these higher mortality rates for all people living in this region. More than twenty years ago when the author of this report via a phone call asked the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) to investigate the situation, the answer was that as there were not one-million people in the state of South Dakota, they would not come in. South Dakota is a low-population agriculture state in the US.
The perpetrators of this dire health situation in our Treaty Territory are many national and international mining and oil companies under the auspices of the U.S. federal government and also include the governments of the states of Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota. There have been many violations by extractive industries starting in 1874 and continuing to today. The ones that are emitting radioactive pollution are the most hazardous and are the ones described in this Report. Radioactive pollution is long-term and affects the human right to good health for generations to come.
The major perpetrator denying our human right to a healthy environment is the US government. With the Trump administration eliminating environmental laws, the situation will only get worse. In addition, their federal laws, rules and regulations allow the industries to operate within the 1868 Treaty Territory when the US government does not have the legal authority to grant such operations.
The federal agencies involved include: the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies dealing with fiscal and mining regulations. In addition, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Indian Health Service are extremely negligent as they illegally hold the responsibility for the health and wellbeing of the people of the Sioux Nation through the US government.
The state agencies regarding clean air, clean water, mining and drilling operations, natural resources, water resources and health in the following states are also complicit and come from the states of South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming in which the 1868 Treaty territory is located. (See Fig. 1) Their departments and agencies grant permission or licenses and oversee the numerous private industries which conduct the extractive processes. The industries pay taxes and excise fees to these states. The Sioux Nation receives nothing.
The number of private businesses conducting the extractive processes are too numerous to mention in this report. However, they would not be able to contribute to the radioactive pollution without the permission of the federal, state, and county governments.
The radioactive pollution that isgrievously affecting the health of the people of the Sioux Nation comes from the Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUMs), Surface Strip Coal Mines and Coal-fired Power Plants. The coal contains Uranium. All three pollution sources have been occurring for more than 60 years. The problem of radioactive pollution without any remediation or reclamation will continue for thousands of years. Beginning in the 1950s and continuing into the 1970s, more than two-thousand (2,000+) open-pit Uranium mines were dug in the 1868 Treaty Territory in the Northern Great Plains region.
However, the majority of these open-pit mines were never covered over, or reclaimed as reclamation laws were not in place at the time of their closure. One of the larger open pit mines in the southwestern portion of South Dakota would cover a mile square. Called the Darrow Pits Mine, it still sits uncovered. Therefore, the winds can pick up radioactive particles in the dust and carry it from the West and Northwest to the South and Southeast. South Dakota lies in the southern and western focus of the wind currents. With the prevailing westerly winds, the dust is then carried further East and South over the rest of the American states. When it rains or snows, these large holes in the ground, the abandoned Uranium mines, collect water which becomes toxic with radioactive pollution then runs off into creeks and streams, or soaks into the ground entering underlying aquifers.
A nuclear physics professor from the University of Michigan, who also studied the radioactive emissions at Fukushima shortly after the tsunami and nuclear power plant accident, stated that the levels she and her students found in one abandoned Uranium mine in South Dakota were four (4) times higher than at Fukushima! Nevertheless, after years of bringing this to the attention of both state and federal lawmakers, nothing has been done to stop this devastating situation. This situation was also reported to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in the early 2000s, to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and to the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights and hazardous substances and waste, Mr. Baskut Tuncak. Following his report to the UNHRC’s 30th Session in September 2015, he verbally informed this author that his request to study our situation was denied by the US government.
On June 8, 2007, and again from Feb. 18 to March 7, 2008, a report with this same information was given to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination ofRacial Discrimination at their 72nd session.4 Help from the World Health Organization (WHO) for a study on the abandoned Uranium mines situation in the United States was also given as a recommendation to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The recommendation was accepted and presented in their report to the Human Rights Council but the WHO never did a study. This issue of abandoned Uranium mines and their effect on the Sioux Nation was also presented many times at the United Nations during the debates of the Intercessional Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
According to a study conducted for the U.S. Indian Health Service, the Sioux people of the Northern Great Plains have the highest rate of many cancers in the United States.5 Prior to the United States illegally occupying our territory, we did not even have cancer.
As this dangerous situation of large amounts of radioactive pollution contaminating the central part of the United States has been allowed to continue for more than 60 years, we are coming to the United Nations to ask for your help. It must be stopped. For us, the members of the Sioux Nation, our increased diseases and other health problems mean certain genocide.
Recommendation
As the US government has consistently shown their lack of concern for our human right to health, we are requesting that our nation be granted our freedom and independence to care for our own environment and our own health within the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty Territory. This can be accomplished by recommending our nation to the UN Decolonization Committee.
Thank you.
Submitted by Zumila Wobaga, Itancan
Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson
Sources:
[1]>> Fort Laramie Treaty, April 29, 1868 (15 Stat., 635.Ratified, Feb. 16, 1869. Proclaimed, Feb. 24, 1869) The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, under Article 12 can only be changed by three-fourths approval of all adult Sioux males. Although this has never happened, the United States, in violation of their own Constitution, Article VI; and federal law, the March 3rd Act of 1871, forced the Sioux people into prisoner of war camps, now called American Indian Reservations located primarily in the state of South Dakota.
2 Study on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations, Final report by Miguel Alfonso Martinez, Special Rapporteur to the UN Commission on Human Rights., Paragraph 286, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/20
3 The Great Plains Area Leading Causes of Death,
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/sarah.shewbrooks/viz/GPAMortalityDashboard/GPAMortality
4 A copy of the 90-page report which includes all the documents pertaining to the report, both before and after the UN CERD meeting, is available upon request from the 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council, PO Box 2003, Rapid City, SD 57709
5 Cancer Mortality Among American Indians and Alaska Natives: Regional Differences, 1999-2003; Donald Haverkamp, MPH; David Espey, MD; Roberta Paisano, MHSA; Nathaniel Cobb, MD; February 2008
Attachment - Report - To Revitalize our Nation
>>
“To Revitalize our Nation”>
By Charmaine White Face March 21, 2026
When I was a child getting ready to enter First Grade, (there was no kindergarten in the early 1950s) my grandma told me to be a scout and learn all I could about the white people. She said I already knew who I was, so now I had to be a scout. She said someday I would write words on paper that would help our people. That’s what I have been doing for many years. That’s what this is about: my scout report.
Once we were a great nation composed of seven sub-nations. That is what Oceti Sakowin means, seven nations together as one, speaking the same language with only three letters different: Dakota, Nakota, or Lakota. Those names are not what our people called themselves. Those words mean “ally”. For a more detailed description including the names, go to www.siouxnationtreatycouncil.org and look up the history of the Oceti Sakowin in the June 28, 2023 Newsletter.
What I’ve learned over many years is that here are many differences between the white peoples’ culture and ours. Unfortunately, they thought theirs was better than ours so they tried to change us into being white people. That is like changing an eagle into a sparrow. Only now is it known that Indigenous peoples’ DNA is different and has also been damaged by the trauma brought by the invaders called colonists or settlers.
For us to begin to revitalize ourselves and our nation, we have to get over the brainwashing, or colonizing that tried to make us believe that we were not human and we were stupid. The situation is entirely different. We need to understand the differences between the white peoples’ culture and our own so we can be ourselves again. The differences have to do with our values and our mindset rather than the physical exploitation of everything. Because of the brainwashing or colonization, a large part of our culture has been lost or polluted. However, because of some of our courageous ancestors, some of the aspects of our old lifeways are still here.
There are two main differences that make us miles apart from the white peoples’ understanding, prejudice, values and culture. One is “spirituality” instead of “organized religion.” The second difference is the concept of “property.”
Spirituality versus Organized Religion
Someone once said to me that “organized religion” only causes wars while “spirituality” does not. ‘Organized Religion’ is man made. ‘Spirituality’ is an individual person’s relationship with the Creator. One of the main and first laws of our Ancient Laws is to never question a person’s relationship with the ‘Creator’ or their ‘Spirituality.’ That is why when Christian missionaries first arrived, our people were respectful and let them talk about their beliefs. However, the first missionaries saw all of the ‘miracles’ and the ‘Christian’ way our people lived and became alarmed. What could they teach these heathen savages about “religion”? The word “religion” was not even in our language. Members of the various denominations of organized religion pressured the US Congress to ‘outlaw’ our Spiritual practices so they could gain control of the people.
There was a letter in the historic archives in Bismark, ND, from a Catholic priest to a federal official which I read years ago. The priest says of one of our ceremonies that they (Christians) know this type of ceremony is impossible. However, he adds, the practice needs to be outlawed “just in case” it was possible. So the Congress passed many laws and regulations making our ceremonies and culture illegal. (See the Code of Indian Offenses of 1883) Also added was speaking about the treaties, or teaching about the treaties which were punishable by death or imprisonment.
Without being disrespectful, our old holy men like Black Elk became Catholic and were still able to pray and heal under the guise of Christianity. The same with keeping the treaty information alive through the use of the Saint Mary and Saint Joseph Societies which allowed the people to be able to travel to visit with our people on the other reservations. They needed written passes to travel between the reservations which were initially created as Prisoner of War camps. All of these activities were totally “foreign” to our peoples’ way of life. No, you won’t find this information in white peoples’ books. This information has been handed down by word of mouth.
When my grandmother was teaching me in the late 1940s and early 1950s, she also knew she could be arrested. She told me not to tell anyone, not even my parents, her son and daughter-in-law. I didn’t. However, our people are so misguided and confused at these end times, that I don’t think the ancestors and grandparents will be disturbed if I share our ways. There are also many good white people who have been misguided too. If they read this and learn something to help their spirits, that is good too.
Our values, our way of life, our culture were all based on ‘spirituality’ or how the Spirits and the Creator made us to live, to be. Taking the children to boarding schools, and introducing alcohol as something other than a medicine, further eroded our spiritual understanding thereby eroding our lifeways and culture. There was no such thing as ‘child abuse’ before meeting the white people and now many of our people are in prison because of ‘child abuse.’ (More on this later)
What is happening today in Gaza and Iran is between three different kinds of “organized religion” when all three have a common foundation which is the Old Testament of the Bible. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, which all start from the Old Testament, start from a book written by men. Over the years, the three organized religions have split like three branches of the same tree. (I have always wondered why they fight each other as they all have the same Ten Commandments which say they will not kill, steal, lie, or want their neighbor’s possessions. Do they not know these are supposed to be orders from God?
(For the purposes of this writing, the word God or Creator will be used instead of Tunkasila (grandfather), Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery, Great Spirit, Jehovah, or Allah.)
As Indigenous peoples and nations all over the world have been coerced into Christianity, the Christians always say that they believe that God is in everything. For those of us who have taken the steps to relearn our old understanding, we don’t believe God is in everything. From our old knowledge of what Spirituality is, we know God is in everything. There is a big difference between believing and knowing. For example, if I believe that there is a hole in the road, but I don’t know it, I will step into the hole anyway, and probably break my ankle. However, if I know there is a hole in the road, I will walk around it.
In our old way of understanding Spirituality, we know that God is in everything. We even have a sacred name for God that in English means “the movement behind the movement.” We are not even supposed to speak the name out loud because of respect to God as thoughts and words have great influence.
Nuclear physicists, the scientists who study the atom, question what makes the electron move in the specific pathways it takes in each kind of atom. They are all different and the electrons should move erratically, unpredictably, any old which way, but they don’t. Astro physicists, the scientists who study the stars and planets, also question how the planets and stars move in the predictable patterns they do. Our people knew the answers to these questions for millennia.
Of course, it is the Creator, the Movement behind the Movement, from the smallest atom, to the tiniest grain of sand, to each cell in your body, to all the innumerable universes in the heavens. How do we know? Spirituality. When we increase our spirituality, our relationship with the Creator, we are led to learn many things and increase our wisdom...and humility. Christians will say we experience “miracles”. We say that is only a part of the learning. It is because of this “knowing” that God is in all things that ‘respect’ for everything becomes one of the foundations of our lifeways or life philosophy. Furthermore, it is not just respect for living beings, but respect for ALL things: stones, mountains, air, water, fire, the sun, the stars. They are all Spirits and have names too.
For example, our understanding of how Mother/Grandmother Earth came into being is called a myth by the white people. Our story says that a Sacred Being, or Sacred Spirit turned itself inside out and created Mother/Grandmother Earth. This means she is sacred and alive. Scientifically speaking, there is a seam that goes all around Mother/Grandmother Earth, like a seam with no beginning or end which scientists call the Mid-Oceanic Ridge. They even have videos showing how it continually is spilling out magma. Now how would us ignorant heathens coming from the middle of the continent know about the Mid-Oceanic Ridge even during the 1400s before Columbus “found” us? The white people didn’t know about it until the 1970s nearly 500 years later. Unfortunately, they don’t understand that is is sacred and alive which is why Grandmother/Mother Earth is sacred and alive. After all, our understanding is only a myth according to the white people.
Or, another example. How did we know that there were four (4) stars in the Pleiades when the white people only learned about that AFTER they had built their large telescopes in the late 20th Century?
We understood the spirituality of everything, and that certain things were very sacred. There was a time when we conversed with everything: animals, birds, all creatures, even the plants. Today there are some who say they can still do that. Even long ago, when someone said they could do such things, there was an old test that would show if the Creator had given that ability to them, or did it come from the Trickster, or the Evil One? Of course we knew about the Evil One, the Trickster, and the Double-faced Woman. They are spirits too and have abilities too. They are here to allow us choices. However, the humble little sage is also here and grows profusely so we can protect ourselves from their influence.
In the old test, if it was a man, he would be shirtless. If it was a woman, she would have to attach her sleeve to her shoulder. Then when a whirlwind came, the person had to stick their open hand into the whirlwind, close their hand, then pull their arm out. When they opened their hand, there would be a butterfly sitting in their hand. Simple. Then the people knew they could come to that person for prayers or healing. There were other tests too, but usually the family saw from the time a child was born that he or she would help the people. Being a medicine man or woman, or being a holy person was not something a person chose. The Spirits chose the person and showed the family at their birth, or when they were a baby. The Spirits would also show this to the people throughout the person’s life. Who are these Spirits? They would usually be the ancestors of all the people.
Our Spirituality taught us many things that could not be learned only with physical things like books. Our Spirituality lets us be able to travel without the need for oxygen or a space ship. But denying our ability to hand down that information, that kind of spirituality to the younger generations has put us in the place we are now...except for a very few. Increasing our Spirituality will help us in the days to come to remember who the Creator made us to be. We can ask our ancestors and the Creator to help us remember, and how to strengthen our Spirituality, our relationship with them, with Grandmother/Mother Earth, and with the Creator. They do listen to us. Even the Christian books say, “Ask and you shall receive.” Just don’t forget to say “Thank you. Wopila tanka.”
This doesn’t mean that a person needs to stop praying their Christian prayers, if that’s all a person knows. Increasing your Spirituality can be done by just talking to God. If the thought of God is too big, then talk to an ancestor, or an angel. We knew angels too. They can hear you just as easy, but remember they will answer you with thoughts. In our culture we are taught to watch our thoughts as they go outside of our skulls and can have influence. None of this is taught in organized religion.
The Concept of Property
Now that you know a little about our Spirituality, it makes talking about the concept of property much easier to understand. In our old culture, there was no such thing as property the way the white people understand property. In the white peoples’ culture, everything is property even women and children. The reason a woman takes a man’s last name when she marries him is because she becomes his property as do their children. In the United States, it is changing a little, but this concept of property through colonization, or forced assimilation, has polluted our relationships in our families.
In our old way, women, children, and elders were all sacred. The men had the saced honor of protecting and providing for them. The women were sacred because they could bring life into this world. Children were sacred because they had just arrived from the Spirit world. Elders were sacred because they were preparing to go to the Spirit world. That was why there were ceremonies just for men, to help them with their responsibilities. The Inipi, or sweat lodge is one such ceremony just for men.
Nowadays, women, children, and elders are treated grotesquely having to wait on the men, providing for the family, or being sexual objects for the men’s lust, and going through much physical violence if they do not not comply. Stockholm Syndrome is rampant as people become emotionally attached to their abuser. Our way of the sacredness of even the reproductive act has been desecrated.
Because we understood the sacredness of everything, having learned from our older relatives the buffalo and many other creatures, we lived by natural law. Yes, we had strong rules to live by, but that was for the good of the whole. A baby was taught not to cry out at birth because such a cry could scare away any food source that might be nearby and could feed the whole camp. The other living creatures also have strong rules for survival.
When you live with natural law, and spirituality, then you know and respect that others who also live with Mother/Grandmother Earth and you do not totally destroy anything. You share. You also know that Mother/Grandmother Earth is alive and the things inside Her need to remain there; things like oil, coal, uranium, gold, quartz and others. You know that there is a reason Creator put them there. Lodge poles or tent poles were gathered after a fire went through the forest. The fire, if it didn’t destroy them, made them stronger. In gathering plants, you first prayed and asked their permission, and gave them a gift. Then you only picked a variety not just the tallest, and especially not all of them. These all follow natural law. The wild animals and birds live in a similar fashion but not the domesticated animals. They live in concert with the two-legged humans and each help the other.
The white people don’t understand about ‘natural law.’ They only know man-made law although a few are learning. The white people make man-made laws, and try to punish those that break their man-made laws. This also does not follow natural law. Punishment doesn’t teach anything. Taking responsibility for their actions was what our people did to those who broke the rules. A murderer was responsible for all the responsibilities of his victim, and the people including the murderer’s family, made sure the duty was accomplished for the rest of his life. If not, banishment meant sure death.
In the 1980s, many of our elders were concerned that our young people were not knowing who they were. So they asked that our old rules be written down and called it
“The Ancient Laws of the Oceti Sakowin.” We were all hoping that someday we could live in peace again in our old ways. If we physically still had to live under the domination of the United States, at least we could keep our old ways as much as possible. These Laws can be found at www.siouxnationtreatycouncil.org . More is being added.
Conclusion
Can we revitalize our nation? We have to not just want to as the current situation in the world will disrupt our lives and ability to survive if we do not. We can ask the Creator, the spirits, our ancestors and angels for help. We can increase our Spirituality and know the Creator Who is in all things and everywhere. We need to teach each other our values and virtues and support each other in all our endeavors. We don’t need to participate in the white peoples’ ways of violence and exploitation of everything. We have survived this long working at their jobs for our survival. However, the white people are still learning. We need to be led by our old ways and survive to be who the Creator made us to be again.
Thank you for understanding why it is time for this scout report to be written.
Sincerely,
Charmaine White Face Zumila Wobaga


Donations may be sent by check or money order to: