i want to apologize for thinking this forum was a potential successor to a government that is apparantly breeding a oliagarghy in my view, in other words a lord and peasant senario, to have a new body politic implemented under a name like ROL would be poetic justice and heaing, i realize this pie in the sky thinking but i felt is was worth a try being what it is, i guess we will just have to muddle through this timeframe of inbalance untill someone pops off a big one or something, i suppose it is in the Creators hands cause people have diffaculty in pulling together and coming together on a viewpoint, i was hoping elders would come to this forum and create a thinktank toward building a lifeway that people could rally around, it probably isnt time and i should back off and just pray about it, i saw where a new prcess in Photovoltaic electricity has recently been discovered, i still think Jimmy Carter tried to get us in the solar direction and the Reagan crowd went the oil direction, i have heard stories of suppressed technology for years now and such, well apology again for thinking ROL could maybe guide us into a NEWAGE , adios amigos untill the blue man bites the dust, if you dont know who the blue man is then you aint very Lakota in my book

I actually agree with you Pahanna. I find it quite disturbing that the elders of many nations have no coherent plans. The effort of liberation is not a simple undertaking but a collective duty. It would be difficult if not near impossible for one nation to alleviate the oppression of this behemoth monster called the United States. If there was more cooperation and agreement amongst the native nations of this land I can assure you that progress towards independence would be swift. Languages and cultures would be restored across the land. And wild life would be restored to its natural state with in a century.

As for the blue man he will bite the dust soon. The question is can the Lakota and other nations find a way to cooperate and bring an age of restoration and peace? I fear that even with the blue man gone the people of this land will refuse to cooperate with each other and not learn the lessons of the past which have haunted them for centuries. This is simply my opinion but I believe that everything happens for a reason. However, this is not my nation and these are not my people. I state opinions of mine own and not of the populous….

Sincerely,

Walli

thanks for your comment Walli, Peace

ake takunni slolyaye sni yelo

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Unfortunately I have no clue as to what you are saying. Please forgive me for my lack of understanding in Lakotah. The only word I can full comprehend is the word ake which roughly means again. So I know that you are repeating a point that you have made previously. But please translate for those of us who are not endowed with Lakotah blood.

Pilamaya...

I often wonder when we can stop focusing on our divisions and come together on our common grounds. Good people are good people it does not matter what their skin color is. Same with the flakes, same with the greedy, same with (insert sterotype).
It is my opinion that most whites are stab you in the back steal what they can and take the high ground while grinding someone weaker under their heel. NOT ALL. Blacks again in my opinion are whiners that have turned race hustling into a art form, again not all. Yellows in my mind are manipulative, with long term well planned goals and like the whites will grind others under them just with more direction and hile being honest about it....Not all of them. Reds, in my opinion have adopted the victim mentality and have became helpless in part because of oppression and in part by allowing themselves to believe they are helpless. Not all.
I have friends who are of all of the above races, who do not fit those sterotypes. Respect and status are things that are earned through actions, not by skin color but by what drives the heart and mind under the skin color. I have no problem admitting I am racist even to my own two races, not out of hate or some misplaced perception, but because I want to see both of my bloods become better people. For the masses that have no more mental ability than my herd of goats that follow blindly when I shake a feed bucket, there should be a understanding that the majority of all people of all races have been reduced to herd animals that follow blindly wherever they are led with no thought, playing the role and accepting the destiny someone else has chosen for them.
Working together, respecting each other, even OMFG sharing a different way of doing things is all that seperates us from the masses herd people. Nothing new age in what I say here. Unlike many who come here and have diahrehea of the mouth and stay annonymous. I live the shit I talk and make no seceret of who I am or what I really think. There have been others here and there are others here that practice the same thing. Even if I disagree with their position I still respect them for speaking from the heart and in honesty.
Now I will get back to "grubbing in the dirt with a stick for my food" because instead of talkiing all the time about how beaten down and helpless and oppressed I am, I still have to provide food, and safety for my lodge and won't depend on another to provide for me. It is sad more people can not provide for themselves and not depend on a lying, manipulative group of people that rely of the perception of helplessness to maintian their power, for nearly every aspect of their life and survival.
Russell speaks of unity of friendship and respect. Not of alienation and division.

SR....while i agree with with what you write.... on most indian forums, this one included, you usually have non indians still attempting to tell those that carry indian blood, how we should be, how we should act, and what is best for our future. While our tribal gov'ts are still controlled by dominant society, there remains a few that stand firm on our history, our traditions, and our culture to carry us thru to the next level of survival. We have a younger generation ....though few and far between, that have removed themselves from the reservation mentality, recieved a education, and then returned to hear what the elders say.... combining both worlds to produce a better existance for thier indian family. Since the conception of capitalism, many have attempted to "convert" us "poor indians" to the one god and one country mentality. As you know, we have been here for a long time .... and we still remain..... hoka hey

I sometimes am confusing but from my perspective it makes sense. What I am talking about is my post in another thread where I say you can't be us, and then my post in this thread speaking of good people comming together for a common good.
I think I need to clarify a little on how the two are joined. No the others can not be us hell I am 50% and at times struggle with being us but those are the cards creator dealt me to walk with two different colored feet one in each world. At the end of the day I follow mostly the ways of my Red blood but by blood I am enough red to say (us). Unity does not mean sacraficing who you are, pre columbus the system in America was fairly well established alliances were formed as well as strong bonds as well as enemies. Iraquois, Cherokee, L/D/N and on and on inside these alliances were many unique bands. Even if our ways were not identical there was enough common ground and respect for these very unique cultures to thrive alongside each other.

Today those alliances of old are fragments of what they once were, there has been much of our blood spilled from sea to shining sea. There are hard feelings towards other races who many of us still see as invaders always trying to manipulate and assimilate us further into what they believe we should be rather than what we are.

As NdN has said non indiginous always seem to have all of the answers to all of our problems. Are we capable of solving our own problems? I believe we are! IF we were ever allowed the freedom to even get started. The Red Tape (no pun intended) the corruption in the nations ruling classes, the white red people, apples, hang around the forts or whatever you want to call them.....I just call them sellouts, the BIA, Chief Walking Eagle, Land trust, blood quantums, our people relocated, our children relocated. All stand to smack down any hope of being independent.

In another forum a white ask this question innocently enough unaware of the level of ignorance. "If there are no jobs on the reservations and things are so bad why don't these people just move someplace else?"

NdN there are very few people with indiginous blood on any of the indiginous forums that I vist. I see pretenders, I see lots of europeans, I see lots of passivly curious, and I try to respect their words but find the more time that passes that respect becomes less. Still I meet good people who do care and are open to learning about different lifeways and respecting those who are caught in the Indian Trap. I have lived most of my life among whites, I have dealt with their legal system and I have learned this if nothing else. The Wasichu thrives on chaos, the bigger and more twisted the mess they can make and the more confusion they can sow, the more they thrive. It is almost funny to watch the powerful now consuming their own kind. They call it the rule of law, I see it more as the patients running the assylum. Off their radar and in the shadows is the only place freedom can take root and grow before it is strong enough to burst into the light and flourish. That desire is not reserved for anyone race or culture. We do not have to be them to share a common goal.

SR and NDN, words well spoken.

The divisions and disagreements within each nation is how the whites placed our ancestors in the POW camps. They played one faction against the other. Our differences are what makes each nation unique. Tecumseh organized one of the greatest alliances this land ever saw. He accomplished this not because he wanted each nation to be just like all the others, but he had them focus on their common enemy.

SR, you speak of sheep. I am neither a sheep nor a leader. I walk my own path. Sometimes my direction happens to be the same direction others are following, but more often than not, my path is walked only by myself. This board has helped me clarify my way of thinking, and filtered out the fiction. Though for now I must walk the path that leads through the white mans world, which I despise. I can not bring myself to fully embrace socialism. In the global scheme of things it is just as corrupt as capitalism. The only form of socialism that has ever worked, is the one practiced by our ancestors. It worked because it was on a small scale of related villages and nations.

I shared the thread, "Welcome To the Reservation" with my friend, Mick. He is half Korean. He liked what he heard, except for when Leski Russell mentioned the fact that half of the natural resources were under the land the First Nations control. Mick is a die hard capitalist and is all for exploiting the natural world. It is not my way to tell him what to think, or do, but I give him information to think on. I have explained to him that there is no need to drill more wells. I pointed out the fact there are thousands of oil and gas wells that are capable of producing what amerika needs, but they are capped. I do not have the wisdom or eloquent speaking skills to fully convince him in a few conversations the need to change.Yet, he is learning for himself. He has already bought 14 acres in Indiana, and he is wanting me to help him put in the garden and such to be self reliant, to live off of the land without exploiting it. Maybe I am getting through to him, but I dont know. I am only trying to share what knowledge and skills I have.

With good teachers like SR, NDN, and the others on here, I may yet find my way to a better way of being. Keep teh wisdom coming.

I have not much to say. For I have already spoken enough. I will make this short, simple, and to the point. I understand the value of culture, honor, traditions, and dignity. If any one said that didn't matter to them, then they are not human. Humans care deeply about their origins. That is why often times when it is a matter of origins and traditions humans because violent almost guarding what they believe to be sacred, what in fact is sacred.

However, my words at no point in time ever suggested escaping from those traditions or from that honor. Read this carefully and understand the full meaning of these words. Do not misinterpret or take lightly do not read the first part and attack the rest of it's intended meaning. Read, understand, and related. It is what I have done to everyone else's post, so why does my post deserve any less than this?

I think the best way to describe this situation is through an example. An example that may or may not be received well, nonetheless it is an example. The Lakotah are a strong people and this is good, damn good. However, one must know when they can fight a battle by themselves and when they need brothers along the journey. Through out European history alliances have always formed based on common goals. IN these alliances no one has ever surrendered their languages, their culture or their honor. The worked together only for the duration of the task and no longer. There wasn't any sort of merger or anything of that nature in European history until today. In fact many Europeans are still skeptical of the European Union.

The point of this entire message being that for the duration of enslavement by the United States Indians need to temporarily "get or differences", this is NOT stating get rid of your language, cultures, or for you to become one blob. It is simply stating that in the short term we will come together and work together for one common goal and one common purpose. That does not mean we “other Indian nations” will try to take your land, culture, or languages. It simply means we will come together to preserve what we think is sacred and once this is over we will go our own separate ways.

Has nothing to do with becoming a giant unmanageable country. It has everything to do with working together in the short term to get what you want in the long term. Make no mistake about it, I will say this and I will seem very disrespectful and that is fine with me. The Lakotah CAN NOT do it on their own. In fact no one Indian nation can do it on their own. However, if there is cooperation between the Indian nations temporarily then you will achieve the success and freedom you desire.


The BEST example I could possibly give to you all is Bolivia. The Indians in Bolivia banned together and formed the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia. And they have not only reversed their economic and cultural situation, but then end up taking over Bolivia and having their own government over there. If that’s not a good enough example as how working together is important then hell I don’t know what is.

Furthermore, I’m strictly talking about Indian to Indian not any other race or group, just strictly Indian to Indian. If you can’t work with each other for the common good then who the hell will?

I know that movements have failed in the past but it’s up to you all to get united and consider your future. I don’t have to paint a pretty picture, I seriously don’t. Your future is bleak and I’m not just saying that shit. People on the rez know this; they know that extinction is around the corner. The outlook is not bright. And you can understand this and work together, or you can continue to think this is another new aged Pan-Indian message that doesn’t have the best interest at heart. Choice is yours.

Have a nice day,

Walli

Good Luck

I would be happy at this point just to see many individual Nations Unite their own nations. A nation divided and as disconnected with high level corruption with leaders after leaders that grovel and are star struck by the great white father can offer little to a greater alliance. So long as we try to negotiate as victims from a position that is les than stable and strong we will never gain much ground and certainly will never be taken with the seriousness that we require. The path ahead is a long and painful one, It is a path that I fear many will not be able to walk out of fear, fear of losing what little is left.
When I was younger I would proudly say I was half Lakota, enough playing Cowboys a Indian convinced me being white was a lot less painful. When I was adopted by whites and my birth certificate "Modified" I was made legally white and in the new school the ass whippings stopped. The Indian was not beaten out of me but my voice and pride for my Red blood was silenced out of fear. The same fear that causes people to accept things as they are.
almost Every off Rez relocated,and State abducted mixed blood or fullblood I have talked to in the 25 years since graduating the white high school has the same story or atleast one similiar of fear, of being different and punished for it, told we don't think right. I see much of the same for the people on the reservations bullied, told they are somehow broken, and hidden away in remote areas and given just enough to surviv and to be kept in check by their minders.
We are the most romatacized and also the most laughed at people in the United Snakes. Until we lose our fear and move past this nonsense of out indian each other then there will be no great alliance, just a bunch of big talk that has no teeth.

SR....again I agree with what you write.... if I may add these few words .... this is one reason I have dedicated myself to helping those Lakota with the language and traditions that have been passed to me. It unites many people when they start to undestand who they are. It creates a enviroment of belonging within many young and old Lakota that come to my house when they place thier culture and traditions in front of dominant societies ways.... if even for a few hours.

I truely believe there is a "new" generation of Lakota being raised up .... one that is refusing to accept fear as part of thier lives. Maybe you and I will live long enought o see the change come about. hoka hey

Once again your words - SR, Flip an NdN - have suggested me a lot of reflections...Actually, there is no one day in which i don't meditate about these issues...First of all some words about socialism, Flip. You affirm it is 'corrupt' as capitalism: I'd add they are closely related each other. In both prevails an atheistic and materialistic worldview and in both Human Being has finally lost his sacred dimension in order to become an 'homo economicus' whose needs are merely material needs. In this sense, in my opinion, socialism and your ancestor are exactly poles apart. Perhaps, we could find some analogy talking about the social organization: socialism is based on co-operative social relations and self-management, but the virtues and values of your ancestors are something stranger to socialist philosophy.
SR, nowadays the masses are nothing more than herd animals...How I could disagree? That's what I note every day here in my country, as well as all over the world...just for this reason I admire your optimism, because it springs from deep thoughts and it isn't fruit of a superficial worldview.
Your words, NdN and SR, give me the force to hope a 'renaissance' is possible, avoiding stereotypes and...new agers!!
Thanks.

I will add only this much more to this thread. They are words my Uncle Thomas, (some may remember him as Old Fool during the brief time he was on these boards) used and helped me a lot in a time of confusion. I have reflected on these words much over the last few years.
" First we must remember where we put our legs so that we can stand on our own, then we must find our feet so that we can walk, only then can we find our body to hold our hearts and bring our spirit back, when we find our arms we can place our head where it belongs and think correctly! Each Woman, Child, and Man must do these things alone and together. I hear men and women speak of we need a cause to unite us, something for everyone to get behind. These are the words of fools and blind people. We have the cause and always have had it, The cause is the pregnant woman, the sick old person, the lost children, the things that we as a people are losing every day when another goes to the spirits. If that is not a cause worthy of us to fight with all that we are then there is no cause that exist that can make us human beings again."
These are hard words from a proud yet humble man, I expect many find them offensive as truth has a way of offending. We indeed are broken apart in many ways and what Uncle speaks of is the healing within ourselves indicidually and collectivly that simply has to occur. I don't know how we can be looked at as the healers, the start to a renisance until we rebuild our own body and make it healthy again. Each of us has a role to play in this healing and whether or not each of us chooses to do what is required of us will determine whether we become healthy human beings again or remain scavengers taking whatever is thrown in the dirt for us.

"Modern society gives the feeling to every person that he is worthless. It is a political strategy. Once a person gets the idea that he is worthless, he cannot be rebellious, he cannot be independent, he cannot go outside the fold. He cannot choose a path of his own, he will follow the crowd.
Once the idea sinks deep into your unconscious that you are worthless you cannot trust yourself; you will have to trust the priest, the politician, the teacher, the parents — all kinds of authorities. And you will seek them, you will cling to them because the ground underneath your feet has been taken away. You are afraid to be left alone on your own because then you know you cannot decide, all that you decide is wrong; you cannot act, whatsoever you do is wrong. Then it is better to follow the mob; let them decide, you just be an imitator.
To create imitators and slaves each child’s trust in himself is being destroyed all over the world, in all kinds of modern societies and cultures, in all countries.
My effort here is to give you again the feeling of worth, a self-trust — and that is possible only through meditation, because meditation can help you get rid of all conditionings. And it is only a matter of conditioning. Others have told you things again and again, they have hypnotised you. That hypnosis has to be destroyed, you have to be dehypnotised.
That’s what meditation is: a process of dehypnotisation. Once you are dehypnotised you wake up for the first time, then suddenly you know that you are immensely valuable, as everybody else is. Then one feels tremendous respect for oneself also. And it is not ego, because you feel the same respect for others. You are not higher, you are not holier than others; suddenly you have known that everyone is esteemed by nature itself, by the universe itself." (OSHO)

Hello everybody,

I've been mostly here to listen and understand everyone's thoughts.I'm 34 four years old and did not have a single clue about the history of the Western hemisphere until I was 31.I've stumble on a book that explained the treaties between the United States and The Indigenous People's.Furthermore it pointed to practically all the violations of these written documents by the United States.Than I came across the Republic of Lakotah and am astonished by the wisdom of Russell and what he believes will bring the salvation of all human beings regardless of race.I live in NJ where group efforts are non-existed. The only face to face wisdom I have is all kids and the outside world that is all put together by the Great Mystery.When I speak my words their only for the right intentions it is not to insult anyone no matter who you are.I believe wisdom will bring back responsibility to all.Can we start with the foods? This will make all people think critically right?

StormsRider, your uncle was/is a wise man. You are a fortunate man to have an advisor such as he. I have had so few wise teachers in my life, and my mistakes show this to be true. This whole world is turning upside down. I am not sure if it can ever become right side up again. If it is to become right, it is up to the indigenous peoples of the world to begin the apocolyps. To return to the ways closest to the Earth. Yes, I used the word "apocolyps". In todays meaning it has an ominous tone to it. The origns of teh word is ancient Greek, meaning "change", not world wide distruction. If mankind is to survive another 2 centuries, it will have to learn to respect the Earth, and to adapt to the Earths ways. Not trying to adapt the Earth to mankinds ways.

I recall reading an account of the ancients in the eastern woodlands about the time of the initial white invasion. It was said that the ancients would often settle differences between nations on the ball field, stick ball - laccross, instead of the battle field. in my small opinion, that is being "civilized". The wisdom of the ancients astounds me. I remember in the early 90's when there was an outbreak of the plague in the southwestern states. The elders in the Kiva's knew when to expect an outbreak, and how to prevent the disease. Their oral traditions spoke of such events when the temperatures were colder than normal for and extended period of time. Yet, modern medicine did not learn of the true cause of it until the mid to late 90's. How much more knowledge and wisdom has been lost due to the spread of "civilization"?

Wali, your citing Bolivia is a great example of what should happen here. Yet, the difference between amerika and Bolivia is the population differences. In Biolivia, the idgneous populatin is the majority. While here, in amerika, we are a minority. The Ethnic composition of Bolivia is 55% predominantly indigenous, such as Quechua and Aymara. The rest is 30% mestizo (mixed), 12% European descendant and 3% other.

I agree Flip, which is why I've advocated a population increase. I know that with a larger population Indians will be able to make a dent. But I would have to agree with StormRider, that natural process has to occur over time. Fake unities don't last long and aren't useful. First local communities -> Indian Nations -> regions -> ???? Yeah after regions I'm lost . But I get the general idea. There is a process and that process must be followed. The local communities must be fixed.

And Flip I support an apocalypse, in my opinion it means a new start and a chance to get things right.