Mary Brave Bird was a Sicangu Lakota writer and activist who was a member of the American Indian Movement during the 1970s and participated in some of their most publicized events, including the Wounded Knee Incident when she was 18 years old.
Brave Bird was the author of two memoirs, Lakota Woman (1990) and Ohitika Woman (1993). Lakota Woman was published under the name Mary Crow Dog and won the 1991 American Book Award. It describes her life until 1977. Ohitika Woman continues her life story.Her books describe the conditions of the Lakota Indian and her experience growing up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, as well as conditions in the neighboring Pine Ridge Indian Reservation under the leadership of tribal chairman Richard Wilson. She also covers aspects of the role of the FBI, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the treatment of the Native Americans and their children in the mid-1900s. Her work focuses on themes of gender, identity, and race.
“It is really true, the old Cheyenne saying: ‘A nation is not dead until the hearts of it’s women are on the ground.” Well, the hearts of our full-blood women were not on the ground. They were way up high and they could still encourage us with their trilling, spine-tingling brave-heart cry.”
“What treaty have the Sioux made with the white man that we have broken? Not one. What treaty have the white man ever made with us that they have kept? Not one.” – Sitting Bull
Witko, a street artist, graphic designer, and hip-hop artist, founded True Pride Music with Nataanii Means. The collective brings law students, graffiti artists, tattoo artists, filmmakers, and musicians together to “make something out of nothing.” As a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Mike is using his art to shine light on the continuing battle to maintain Lakota land.
In John G. Neihardt’s book, Black Elk Speaks, Oglala Lakota holy man and visionary Nicholas Black Elk shares a great vision which came to him in the summer when he was nine years old and which guided him throughout his life. That vision was extremely rich in detail and symbolism, all of which became important to him in the years ahead, but one image which was revealed to him in his vision and informs the entire book is the image of two spiritual paths: the Red Road and the Black Road.
The Red Road or Chanku Luta, as it is known by the Lakota, is a metaphor for living a spiritual way of life. It is a unique spiritual path that runs north and south. The Red Road is a way of life and enlightenment which has no end. This road is described as narrow, winding and difficult to follow. During times of difficulty, the Lakota people could always rely upon the Red Road for strength and renewal, just as they could rely upon the Inipi, also known as the sweat lodge ceremony.
There is also a fearful black road of troubles and of war, which contrasts with a good red road of spiritual understanding. The Black Road or Chanku Sapa, which runs east and west, is a path of non-spirituality and self-centered greed. The two roads are said to cross in the center of the sacred hoop of the world, where the Tree of Life blooms. Walking the Red Road is a deep sense of obligation and a meaningful personal commitment to purposefully live your life each day, practicing and embodying the seven sacred virtues of the Lakota: prayer, honesty, humility, compassion, respect, generosity and wisdom.
(DC1) DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 23—ARMED TAKEOVER—Members of the American Indian Movement stand guard in a state office building here after 10 AIM members occupied the offices Wednesday. The Indians peacefully vacated the building after two hours.
The American Indian Movement were a groundbreaking organization for indigenous rights, taking their inspiration from their contemporaries, the Black Panther Party. They boldly challenged the American power structure and demanded self-determination for their people and an end to the genocide they continue to face. Their history is a rich source of knowledge for us to take inspiration from, as well as learn from their mistakes.
Every year, hundreds of Native American Children in South Dakota are removed from their families and institutionalized, or placed in non Native foster care, in direct violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act. Innocent Native parents face a racially biased and deliberately obstructive justice system when they try to get their children back.
WE CAN END THIS. WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Sign our petition urging President Barack Obama to end these illegal seizures: lakotalaw.org/action
Sign the petition to help Lakota families: lakotalaw.org/action
The bond between a mother and child is precious, strong, and worth fighting for. Help us protect the rights of Native American mothers in South Dakota, who are four times more likely to have their children removed by state authorities than any other ethnic group.
We are working to create on-reservation foster care for Lakota, by Lakota, that will honor familial relationships and existing kinship structures, while protecting children.
You can learn more about our struggle at: lakotalaw.org/reports
We are proud to report that our South Dakota lead attorney, Chase Iron Eyes, has been elected Vice President of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
Our collective goal is for the perpetrators of the boarding schools to acknowledge their role in this genocidal policy, and its ongoing devastation in Indian Country, as well as the possibility for real solutions to these problems and meaningful reconciliation.
The Lakota People’s Law Project is excited to have a voice in this alliance. This is a positive step in our mission, giving us a national platform to protect the sovereignty of Native families.
Please help end the state-sanctioned kidnapping of Lakota children by becoming a member: lakotalaw.org/donate-new
Our report, Native Lives Matter, finds that, “Native American youth are found to disproportionately suffer adverse effects at the stages of arrest, diversion, detention, petition, adjudication, probation, and secure placement in the juvenile justice system.”
Please help us in our mission to keep Lakota children with their families and culture, and out of the state system that is failing them.
Every human has the natural right to raise and nurture their own children in the traditions of their people. Unfortunately, many Lakota families in South Dakota are denied this basic right.
Every year, the Department of Social Services of South Dakota removes dozens of Native children from their families and places them in non Native foster care or group homes. From 1999-2009, the average number of Native American children entering foster care in South Dakota was 742 per year. These seizures are often the result of unfair profiling due to impoverished living conditions, as well as South Dakota DSS’s lack of understanding and respect for Native American kinship relationships and culture.
In 2005, the Lakota People’s Law Project was founded with a mission to end this tragedy and win return thousands of children that were illegally taken from their families and tribes by creating foster care for Lakota, by Lakota. The Lakota People’s Law Project is working with tribal leaders; emerging Lakota leaders; grassroots organizers; and federal officials in the Department of Justice, Department of Interior, and Health and Human Services to finally end this genocide and create the permanent solution of tribal sovereignty.
Share this post with your friends to raise awareness for this important issue!
You can learn more about our mission, and sign our petition to Obama to tell the state of South Dakota to stop kidnapping Lakota children at:lakotalaw.org/action
We believe that South Dakota’s DSS has created a conception of “neglect” that is severely biased against American Indian families, especially those residing on reservation. First, this conception inappropriately equates economic poverty with neglect. Second, it fails to understand the tribes’ kinship system of extended family care, a cultural tradition of the kind that ICWA was actually designed to protect. Under this bias, South Dakota identified neglect as the primary justification in 95.8% of its cases that resulted in removal of children into state custody. The national average is 78.3%.
This inflated statistic represents South Dakota’s clear discrimination against Native American culture. Become a member to help return Lakota children to their families and communities: lakotalaw.org/donate
Please take the time to sign our petition and create foster care by Lakota, for Lakota: lakotalaw.org/action
When asked by NPR journalist Laura Sullivan how important the federal money is for the state’s DSS, former South Dakota Governor William Janklow’s response was telling: “It’s incredibly important. I mean look, we’re a poor state…We’re like North Dakota without the oil. We’re like Nebraska without Omaha and Lincoln. We don’t have resources.”
Are Native children resources for South Dakota? All signs and money point to yes. Help us change this situations. Children are not to be bought and sold.
Lakota Children make up 13.2% of the child population in the state of South Dakota, yet they represent 50.3% of the children in foster care. This disparity is largely due to the Department of Social Services identifying poverty as neglect–a distinction that is NOT valid!
Please help to discouraging this unequal treatment from continuing by signing our petition to Obama to return the children to their families and their communities: lakotalaw.org/action
We stand with Floyd Westerman in calling for Pope Francis to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery! Please sign our petition: RomeroInstitute.org/petition
The Doctrine of Discovery is a vicious and antiquated series of Papal Bulls dating back to the 15th century giving the moral and legal justification for the taking of indigenous lands and resources.
With Pope Francis’ recent encyclical stating, “it is essential to show special care for indigenous communities and their cultural traditions. They are not merely one minority among others, but should be the principal dialogue partners, especially when large projects affecting their land are proposed.” And, with his visit to Bolivia in which he apologized to the indigenous for the past crimes in the name of the Catholic Church, “I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offense of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America,” we feel that NOW is the time to ask for the revocation of the Doctrine of Discovery!
There is a huge disparity between what the state of South Dakota receives for the emergency care of Native children versus what is allotted for the tribes. This is why the permanent solution is to have foster care by Lakota, for Lakota. By redirecting federal funding for Child and Family Service Programs, each tribe will receive the entire amount of funding and it will be kept away from the corrupt state.
If the Lakota children are able to grow up with their culture and their community, their education will be far more rich and their culture will be able to survive!
In 2005, the Lakota People’s Law Project was founded with a mission to end this tragedy and win the return of thousands of children that were illegally taken from their families and tribes by creating foster care for Lakota, by Lakota. The Lakota People’s Law Project is working with tribal leaders; emerging Lakota leaders; grassroots organizers; and federal officials in the Department of Justice, Department of Interior, and Health and Human Services to finally end this genocide and create the permanent solution of tribal sovereignty.
Please support our efforts to bring the Lakota children home by becoming a member (lakotalaw.org/donate-new) and sign our petition to Obama (lakotalaw.org/action) to tell the state of South Dakota to stop kidnapping Lakota children!
The decision in the case Oglala v. Van Hunnick in Pennington County, South Dakota confirms that justice will come to the Lakota. Please sign our petition to encourage these victories to continue: http://lakotalaw.org/action
In a landmark decision, Federal Judge Jeffrey L. Viken found, as a matter of fact, that the state of South Dakota has been systematically and comprehensively violating the federal rights of Indian families in the State of South Dakota pertaining to the removal of Indian children and their placement in white foster care settings. He determined that the state of South Dakota not only violated the Indian Child Welfare Act, but also the families’ constitutional right to Due Process of law. Read the decision here: https://www.aclu.org/cases/oglala-sioux-tribe-v-van-hunnik and scroll to the bottom to link to the summary judgment.
