Sioux Nation Treaty Council - est 1894

A summary of the 1851 and 1868 treaties

The Great Sioux Nation, whose real name is the Oceti Sakowin, is comprised of  seven sub-nations who spoke the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota language.  The Tituwan sub-nation spoke the Lakota dialect and lived in the western most portion.  The Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) occupied a vast land area that covered 24 American states and parts of 4 Canadian Provinces. Other smaller nations also lived within the area as the Indigenous concept of territory followed natural law and was much different than the European concept of territory. The people of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) originated from the mouth of Wind Cave in the Black Hills.  The Black Hills were so sacred that they were used for ceremonial, prayers, medicinal, and burial purposes only.

Read more: A Summary of the 1851 and 1868 Treaties

Spokesperson

Charmaine White Face  Zumila Wobaga

We affirm that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was enacted in 1868 as an international agreement between the Sioux: Brule, Oglala, Miniconjou, Yanktonai, Hunkpapa, Blackfeet, Cuthead, Two Kettle, Sans Arcs, and Santee, and Arapaho and the United States of America.

We affirm that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was enacted and ratified by the Congress of the United States of America under Article VI (2) of the Constitution of the United States which states: 

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereon; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

We affirm that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was further protected by United States federal law, Statutes at Large, 16:566, the March 3rd Act of 1871 which states: “Provided, further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate or impair the obligation of any treaty heretofore lawfully made and ratified with any such Indian nation or tribe…”

We affirm that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was not a treaty of land cession but was a treaty of peace, and that no land within the Treaty Territory as delineated within the 1868 Treaty and stated in Article 2: “…commencing on the east bank of the Missouri River where the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude crosses the same, thence along low water mark down said east bank to a point opposite where the northern line of the State of Nebraska strikes the river, thence west across said river, and along the northern line of Nebraska to the one hundred and fourth degree of longitude west from Greenwich, thence north on said meridian to a point where the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude intercepts the same, thence due east along said parallel to the place of beginning;…” has ever been ceded to the United States or any other government.

We affirm that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 also did not cede any water, forests, minerals, air, animals, or other ‘natural resources’ to the government of the United States of America or any other government.

We affirm that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 did not give to the United States of America the unilateral authority to make any laws regarding any aspect of the Indian tribes so named.

We affirm that the land, water, forests, minerals, air, animals and all other ‘natural resources’ within the boundaries of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 according to Article 2, were and are “set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named…” 

We affirm that any use, abuse, sale, or exchange of the land, water, forests, minerals, air, animals or other ‘natural resources’ within the confines of the territory as delineated in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 is illegal, trespass, and theft.

We affirm that the environment of the 1868 Treaty Territory has been almost completely destroyed under the illegal occupation of the United States of America.

We strongly recommend that the United States begin an awareness process to educate all of the people living in the American states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska that they are illegally trespassing within the confines of the 1868 Treaty Territory.

We strongly recommend that the United States begin a process to compensate their citizens for any losses they sustain as a consequence of their believing they were able to live legally within the confines of the Treaty Territory, and also to provide assistance to relocate said citizens to other places.

We strongly recommend that the United States develop a plan for the return of the 1868 Treaty Territory to the Indian tribes so named, and that such plan shall also include compensation for the repair of all environmental damage including damage to the land, water, forests, minerals, air, animals or other ‘natural resources.’

We strongly recommend that the United States develop a plan with enough appropriations for the repair of the societal structures of the Indians named for a period of at least 10 years. 

We strongly recommend that the United States cease blocking the Great Sioux Nation and other Indigenous nations of the North American continent from participation at the same level as other Nation-States in the United Nations and other International Fora by the practice of the United States of declaring that such Indigenous nations are domestic nations when in reality the United States is illegally occupying Treaty territories and destroying the economies of once independent Indigenous nations.

CERTIFICATION

This Declaration was duly discussed and consensus reached at the 140th Anniversary of the signing of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 at Mni Luzahan within the confines of the Great Sioux Reservation on April 12, 2008.

Attest:

_____________________________ ___Garvard Good Plume____________

 

Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson Witness
Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council

_____Clifford White Eyes, Sr. ____ ____Vincent Brings Plenty __

 

Witness Witness

 

____John Long Sr. __________ 

Witness 

 

Donate

Donations may be sent by check or money order to:
Sioux Nation Treaty Council,
PO Box 2003, Rapid City, SD 57709. 

Or, purchase the book, Indigenous Nations Rights in the Balance, from Living Justice Press and all royalties go to the Treaty Council.  Thank you

Contact

Sioux Nation Treaty Council
PO Box 2003
Rapid City
SD 57709  USA

Email: cwhiteface@gmail.com

"...CONCLUSION  Various historians has determined that the "Sioux Nation Treaty Council" formally formed in 1894, shortly after the Wounded Knee massacre. The Sioux Nation Treaty Council represents all of the Sioux Tribes (Approx 49 Tribes), and all other Sioux Treaty Councils would be subordinate to it, regardless of the Treaty Council's name...."  See Bielecki Report pages 7 & 8,  Oct. 5, 2008 (Bielecki Report)