The Lakota Indian tribe has voted to secede from the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

They also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and will continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months, they told the news conference.

Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free -- provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Means said.

The treaties signed with the United States are merely "worthless words on worthless paper," the Lakota freedom activists say on their website.

The treaties have been "repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life," the reborn freedom movement says.

Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said.

"This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution," which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.

"It is also within the laws on treaties passed at the Vienna Convention and put into effect by the US and the rest of the international community in 1980. We are legally within our rights to be free and independent," said Means.

The Lakota relaunched their journey to freedom in 1974, when they drafted a declaration of continuing independence -- an overt play on the title of the United States' Declaration of Independence from England.

Thirty-three years have elapsed since then because "it takes critical mass to combat colonialism and we wanted to make sure that all our ducks were in a row," Means said.

One duck moved into place in September, when the United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples -- despite opposition from the United States, which said it clashed with its own laws.

"We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children," Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told the news conference.

The US "annexation" of native American land has resulted in once proud tribes such as the Lakota becoming mere "facsimiles of white people," said Means.

Oppression at the hands of the US government has taken its toll on the Lakota, whose men have one of the shortest life expectancies -- less than 44 years -- in the world.

Lakota teen suicides are 150 percent above the norm for the United States; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.

"Our people want to live, not just survive or crawl and be mascots," said Young.

"We are not trying to embarrass the United States. We are here to continue the struggle for our children and grandchildren," she said, predicting that the battle would not be won in her lifetime.

 

It'll be interesting to see how the federal government chooses to deal with this... especially since they're inviting American citizens to live tax-free in the new 'Lakota Nation'.

man good for them

seriously the American government's treatment of the Native Americans in the second half of the 20th century sickens me

yes lets give nominal rights to african americans and women (but fuck those red bastards who gives a shit about them they dont even get the priviledge of us pretending to care about them because they are such a nuisance)

fuckinnnnn

I'd also like to note that if this happens it is an INCREDIBLY BIG DEAL possibly dwarfing everything that's happened in the US in the past decade. We are talking about the Lakota attempting to literally create a NEW NATION inside the US legally independent from it.

Not that it ever WILL happen because THE MAN is going to come down on them pretty hard very quickly.

whoah

what are they going to call it

whoah

what are they going to call it

Quebec.

...Lakota, probably.

EDIT:

This could be huge because there is a huge oil reserve under North Dakota, south eastern Saskatchewan and south eastern Manitoba, that rivals the oilsands of Alberta in potential.  (It's only being explored now because it is ridiculously deep and was prohibitively expensive to drill ... that is, before new technology, techniques and the price of oil jumping to $90 a barrel came into play these past 10 years).  And like 70% of the oil is in North Dakota.

Lots o' money potential here.

So, what do you think they will do if this goes through and the US cuts off all power and other infrastructures that they have been taking for granted?

This is pretty cool. I hope they succeed in this great operation of true freedom.

Either they're going to get crushed by the US military or they're just not going to recognize them or pay any attention to this at all. In any case, good for them, man! Native Americans have been shit on for hundreds of years now. Let's see how this goes.

I'd also like to note that if this happens it is an INCREDIBLY BIG DEAL possibly dwarfing everything that's happened in the US in the past decade. We are talking about the Lakota attempting to literally create a NEW NATION inside the US legally independent from it.

Not that it ever WILL happen because THE MAN is going to come down on them pretty hard very quickly.

THIS.

My biggest question is how they'll protect their new nation.  A country with its own sovereignty follows it's own laws and unless the U.S. signs some sort of protection treaty (which I doubt considering these guys want NOTHING to do with the U.S.) then the country is perfectly open to raids from anyone who's armed enough to attack.

I honestly can't imagine this place lasting long.  They're not large enough to be a self sustaining nation meaning they'll have to rely on the U.S. for food and imports regardless.

Holy crap. This is crazy, especially considering I didn't even have any idea they existed until reading this article.

I too am interested in how the government will respond to this. If this was a hundred year ago they could use troops, but if we did that now people would call us inhumane.

I really want to see how this will turn out.

THIS.

My biggest question is how they'll protect their new nation.  A country with its own sovereignty follows it's own laws and unless the U.S. signs some sort of protection treaty (which I doubt considering these guys want NOTHING to do with the U.S.) then the country is perfectly open to raids from anyone who's armed enough to attack.

I honestly can't imagine this place lasting long.  They're not large enough to be a self sustaining nation meaning they'll have to rely on the U.S. for food and imports regardless.

I'm sure that even in the worst of situations they would maintain some kind of cooperative agreement with local law enforcement agencies in the 5-state area.

Oil Monies.

North Dakota is going to be huge in the next 3-10 years.

I'm sure that even in the worst of situations they would maintain some kind of cooperative agreement with local law enforcement agencies in the 5-state area.

Then they're not really free, are they?  If they wanted to truly be a free nation then they would drop all connections with the US government which would mean that they would have to create their own currency, have something to trade for revenue, and have their own source of income... otherwise the entire state would turn into a sort of primitive land of ghost towns. 

They denied all treaties and they're in no position to demand aid from the US government.  The generous thing would be to help but we're all old enough to know how politics work.  This is actually pretty scary to me, because anyone with big guns and a lot of friends could storm the place and claim the land as their own.  If the US Military retaliates then the entire country would be under US control again and the entire Lakota tribe would be wiped out.

Also, anyone who's played Shadowrun is probably getting some bad feelings right now.  Next thing we'll all become awakened and turn into trolls.

All i can say is good luck to them. But they better be prepared, its not just about declairing independence. They have to find a way to sustain themselves, if not there in trouble.

maybe theyll convince the police living in those states to join them did you think of that

also i hope they dont call it lakota, they should call it like

well i dont know but something cool

I hope nobody starts a war because of this

War of Secession II

Maybe Native America would work for a name heheh

And if it were "afro-americans" instead their country would be called Afro-America? LOL

And if it were "afro-americans" instead their country would be called Afro-America? LOL

they don't have claims to this land, we're the ones who brought them here

This will never work.  Sure, it sounds good to make up for the past, but in actual working reality the government isn't just going to say "okay, have part of our states then, it's all yours", they're going to either take it back over or shut down all their services, or both.  Otherwise pretty much anyone could just claim parts of the country as their own independent countries.  Like others said, if this DID work they'd have to get their own currency, electricity, resources, etc.  Have fun guys.

They're indigenous, they didn't need electricity before whites came and they don't need it now