19/12/07 MEDIA RELEASE / Freedom



LAKOTA
Lakota Freedom Delegation in Washington D.C.
www.lakotafreedom.com


MEDIA RELEASE
Immediate Release: 19 December 2007

Media Inquiries:
Naomi Archer, Communications Liaison (828) 230-1404 lakotafree @gmail.com or press@lakotafreedom.com


Freedom! Lakota Sioux Indians Declare Sovereign Nation Status
Threaten Land Liens, Contested Real Estate Over Five State Area in U.S.West
Dakota Territory Reverts back to Lakota Control According to U.S., International Law


Washington D.C. – Lakota Sioux Indian representatives declared sovereign nation status today in Washington
D.C. following Monday’s withdrawal from all previously signed treaties with the United States Government.
The withdrawal, hand delivered to Daniel Turner, Deputy Director of Public Liaison at the State Department,
immediately and irrevocably ends all agreements between the Lakota Sioux Nation of Indians and the United
States Government outlined in the 1851 and 1868 Treaties at Fort Laramie Wyoming.

“This is an historic day for our Lakota people,” declared Russell Means, Itacan of Lakota. “United States
colonial rule is at its end!”

“Today is a historic day and our forefathers speak through us. Our Forefathers made the treaties in good faith
with the sacred Canupa and with the knowledge of the Great Spirit,” shared Garry Rowland from Wounded
Knee. “They never honored the treaties, that’s the reason we are here today.”

The four member Lakota delegation traveled to Washington D.C. culminating years of internal discussion
among treaty representatives of the various Lakota communities. Delegation members included well known
activist and actor Russell Means, Women of All Red Nations (WARN) founder Phyllis Young, Oglala Lakota
Strong Heart Society leader Duane Martin Sr., and Garry Rowland, Leader Chief Big Foot Riders. Means,
Rowland, Martin Sr. were all members of the 1973 Wounded Knee takeover.

“In order to stop the continuous taking of our resources – people, land, water and children- we have no choice
but to claim our own destiny,” said Phyllis Young, a former Indigenous representative to the United Nations and
representative from Standing Rock.

Property ownership in the five state area of Lakota now takes center stage. Parts of North and South Dakota,
Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana have been illegally homesteaded for years despite knowledge of Lakota as
predecessor sovereign [historic owner]. Lakota representatives say if the United States does not enter into
immediate diplomatic negotiations, liens will be filed on real estate transactions in the five state region, clouding
title over literally thousands of square miles of land and property. =

Young added, “The actions of Lakota are not intended to embarrass the United States but to simply save the
lives of our people”.

Following Monday’s withdrawal at the State Department, the four Lakota Itacan representatives have been
meeting with foreign embassy officials in order to hasten their official return to the Family of Nations.

Lakota’s efforts are gaining traction as Bolivia, home to Indigenous President Evo Morales, shared they are
“very, very interested in the Lakota case” while Venezuela received the Lakota delegation with “respect and
solidarity.”

“Our meetings have been fruitful and we hope to work with these countries for better relations,” explained Garry
Rowland. “As a nation, we have equal status within the national community.”

Education, energy and justice now take top priority in emerging Lakota. “Cultural immersion education is
crucial as a next step to protect our language, culture and sovereignty,” said Means. “Energy independence
using solar, wind, geothermal, and sugar beets enables Lakota to protect our freedom and provide electricity and
heating to our people.”

The Lakota reservations are among the most impoverished areas in North America, a shameful legacy of broken
treaties and apartheid policies. Lakota has the highest death rate in the United States and Lakota men have the
lowest life expectancy of any nation on earth, excluding AIDS, at approximately 44 years. Lakota infant
mortality rate is five times the United States average and teen suicide rates 150% more than national average
. 97% of Lakota people live below the poverty line and unemployment hovers near 85%.

“After 150 years of colonial enforcement, when you back people into a corner there is only one alternative,”
emphasized Duane Martin Sr. “The only alternative is to bring freedom into its existence by taking it back to the
love of freedom, to our lifeway.”

We are the freedom loving Lakota from the Sioux Indian reservations of Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
and Montana who have traveled to Washington DC to withdraw from the constitutionally mandated treaties to
become a free and independent country. We are alerting the Family of Nations we have now reassumed our
freedom and independence with the backing of Natural, International, and United States law. For more
information, please visit our new website at www.lakotafreedom.com.

Lakota 444 Crazy Horse Drive, P.O. Box 99; Porcupine, SD 57772

23/12/07 MEDIA RELEASE / A Free People, A Free Nation!

LAKOTA
www.lakotafreedom.com
Immediate Release: 24 December 2007

Media Inquiries:
Naomi Archer, Communications Liaison (828) 230-1404; lakotafree @gmail.com or press@lakotafreedom.com
Lakota Freedom: Treaty Withdrawal For Elders and Children
Sovereignty Action Sparks World Discussion, Disagreement, Inspiration
Lakota – What began as sparsely attended press conference announcing Lakota sovereignty has grown into an
international roar of freedom inspiring people on every continent and sparking excitement and discussion in
homes, tribal councils, schools, and on internet blogs and message boards. Across Indian Country in particular,
the impact of the sovereign action is creating both inspiration and concern as the reality of freedom sinks in.
But mixed with the excitement and joy are concerns the Lakota people’s needs will not be fully met, especially
needs and concerns of the youth.
Lakota Freedom delegate and Oglala Lakota Cante Tenza - Strongheart Warrior Society leader Canupa Gluha
Mani (Duane Martin Sr.) issued the following statement after discussion with the Strongheart Grandmothers:
“The whole Lakota declaration of withdrawal from the treaty is vested on the power of the Lakota
people and our children.
When we undertook the process of announcing the withdrawal, the capacity was far greater than most
people anticipated about an individual. But throughout our history, the people have never excluded
anyone within their own lifeway and when it becomes a listener’s view that its about one individual, one
individual does not represent the nation itself, the nation represents the individual, and that is Lakota.
The withdrawal is for the people, the Elders, mothers, fathers, and the children.
Throughout our history and through the enforcement of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934,
Congress said they would oversee the provisions of 1868 (Fort Laramie Treaty), but they failed to do so.
Some minor provisions were kept, but overall the treaty was not honored. Because if the treaty was
honored, we would not have this colonial catastrophe of alcoholism, drug abuse and poverty and we
wouldn’t have the overall high incarceration rate of the male and female in the prison populations. This
leads to our children being taking away by Social Services which puts our children out of balance from
learning the traditional lifeway. When the children can reconnect with who they are, they come back to the process of knowing what is
Lakota in the true point of view. In this true point of view Lakota is about being free and left alone, so
we can govern and save our own with the teachings of the Animal Nations.
If we can conclude with this statement in the positive venue, its not about Russell Means, and certainly
not about Canupa Gluha Mani or any individual, this about the Lakota Nation and the Animal People
who are no longer alone.”
We are the freedom loving Lakota from the Sioux Indian reservations of Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
and Montana who have withdrawn from the constitutionally mandated treaties to become a free and
independent country. We are alerting the Family of Nations we have now reassumed our freedom and
independence with the backing of Natural, International, and United States law. For more information, please
visit our new website at www.lakotafreedom.com.