Sioux Leaders of Pe’ Sla Land Movement in S.D. Announce Deal Between Tribes and Land Owner and Call for Unity Among Reservations; Celebration Rally Planned for Rapid City
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/9/prweb9863003.htm
Rapid City, SD (PRWEB) September 03, 2012
Saturday’s action was organized by Last Real Indians and the Lakota People’s Law Project, two organizations operating in South Dakota that support the return of the Black Hills to the Sioux. The action took place in front of an enormous banner by artist Shepard Fairey and photographer Aaron Huey which read “The Black Hills Are Not For Sale,” a reference to the U.S.’s current policy of ignoring the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851). The treaty, unilaterally overturned by Congress in 1877, acknowledged Sioux ownership of the Black Hills. The United States has offered the tribes $105 million (plus interest) since 1979 as compensation for the seizure of the land, but the Sioux have refused it and maintain that the land belongs to them.
Shepard Fairey created the red and blue “Hope poster” for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and Aaron Huey is the photographer who co-created last month’s National Geographic cover story about the Pine Ridge Reservation. The banner art was driven from California to South Dakota by the Lakota People’s Law Project, an organization which works to return Lakota children from state-run foster care to their families and tribes.
Speakers at Saturday’s press conference were Chase Iron Eyes, spokesperson for the Pe’ Sla movement; Robin Lebeau, tribal councilwoman from the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe; Madonna Thunder Hawk, activist and tribal liaison for the Lakota People’s Law Project; Phyllis Young, activist and tribal councilwoman for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe; and Joe Brings Plenty, former tribal council chairman for the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe.
(more at the link. thank you to all who prayed, worked, and donated to make this beautiful thing possible!)
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