by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Sep 2, 2013 | Indigenous Autonomy, Obstruction & Occupation
By J. G. / Deep Roots Collective
Monday morning September 2nd protestors swarmed and created a road block for cars leaving Whiteclay. Activists marched through the town and blocked entrances into the various liquor stores. Today’s action is part of an ongoing campaign to stop liquid genocide on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The town of Whiteclay lies less than 300 feet from the border of Pine Ridge, where the sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited. While Whiteclay has a population of 14, there are 4 liquor stores in the town, selling 13,000 can of beer each day mostly to the Oglala Lakota in Pine Ridge making $34 million in revenue annually.
Lauren Lorenruiz came from Salt Lake City, Utah to stand in opposition to liquor sales, “The reason I am here today is because Whiteclay is poison…What we are seeing is a place of exploitation, a place of wrong-doing. These kinds of establishments are designed solely to destroy people so its profit over people and its inherently wrong… It has been tearing apart the Lakota people for over 100 years and we’re ready for it to stop.”
A protestor from Connecticut stated, “As an ally to the Lakota people I think that solidarity is in sacrifice. As a non- native white person I have a form of privilege that I can bring attention to these issues.”
Two days previous, people from all over the country marched into White Clay for the second annual Women’s March and Day of Peace to bring awareness of the harms caused by alcoholism.
Even with the highly contentious vote to legalize alcohol in Pine Ridge Pine Ridge activists remain undeterred. Present at the Women’s Day of Peace, Oglala Lakota activist Olowan Martinez spoke to how alcohol has had a devastating impact on the people of Pine Ridge and continues to be used as a chemical weapon of genocide against the Lakota people and their culture to this day, “They use alcohol to trick us and now we trick ourselves.”
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Jul 24, 2013 | Human Supremacy
By Lexy Garza and Rachel
View video of the event at the Deep Green Resistance Youtube channel
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
This quote by Spanish writer and philosopher George Santayana was posted on the wall in my high school history classroom. The idea, as my history teacher explained, it is that learning about history is vitally important because by knowing and understanding past events, we can actively shape the future. According to my teacher’s view, at least the view he shared with his students, the history in our textbooks is objective, time-tested truth, and nothing more nor less.
Some time after that class ended, I read another George Santayana quote, which is somewhat less often quoted, “history is a pack of lies about things that never happened told by people who weren’t there.”
Taken at face value, this statement goes to the other extreme and completely writes off the history we’re taught as lies, as intentionally untrue. I think that both these views let us off too easy, because the stories we call history, and the process by which some stories become the dominant stories, the ones we teach to our children, is more complex than the dichotomy of truth vs. lie.
Another often repeated idea about history is that it’s “written by the victors.” This gets closer to a nuanced look at what history means and what it does.
For instance, in 1890 the US army massacred 300 Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee, burying them in a mass grave. Twenty US soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for this atrocity, just one of the many perpetrated by European colonizers who called genocide their manifest destiny. The vast majority of “historical” accounts throughout the decades don’t call Wounded Knee a massacre; they lend it a false legitimacy by calling it a battle. The same goes for the Washita massacre carried out by Custer in 1868. So-called historical accounts refer to this event as the Battle of the Washita. As it’s been said, “When a white army battles Indians and wins, it is called a great victory, but if they lose it is called a massacre.”
These and countless other examples show us that what we call history is certainly not objective truth. The voices of the colonized and the conquered do not get included in the version of the past we call history. That’s what it means to be colonized: genocide means the mass killing and eradication of entire peoples, but it also means the eradication of their culture, their stories, and the power to pass those stories on to future generations.
In his book A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn wrote, “I knew that a historian (or a journalist, or anyone telling a story) was forced to choose, out of an infinite number of facts, what to present, what to omit. And that decision inevitably would reflect, whether consciously or not, the interests of the historian.”
So this is the question we want to address– What interests are represented by the dominant story? Whose interests does the dominant story serve, and whose does it erase?
But before we get to that, there’s another question– Why does any of this matter? Why does it matter where our popular history comes from, and why does it matter what gets omitted?
It matters because our understanding of history informs our strategy in the present. Our ability to imagine what is possible is shaped by our understanding of the past. Therefore, our actions in the present are shaped by our understanding of the past. And right now, our actions in the present could not be more crucial.
200 species are pushed to extinction every single day. [1]
A Cornell research survey that found that water, air, and soil pollution account for 40% of human deaths worldwide [2]
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change states unequivocally that for the climate to remain stable and in their words “manageable,” the average temperature rise cannot exceed 2 degrees Celsius. Yet virtually nothing decisive has been done to try and meet that 2 degrees Celsius limit. [3]
According to the International Energy Agency’s November 2010 assessment, which does not include the self-reinforcing feedback loops that many experts anticipate, the global average temperature rise of Earth will hit the 3.5 degrees Celsius mark in 2035, and some climate models have predicted a rise of 11 degrees by the end of the century. [4]
In the short term, we’re already seeing the beginnings of the floods, fires, droughts, and superstorms.
Plankton populations are collapsing, amphibian populations are collapsing, 90% of large fish in the ocean are gone [5].
The fabric of life on Earth is collapsing and humans are not exempt, though the effects aren’t obvious from here behind the military barricade of the US Empire.
The Global Humanitarian Forum recently put out a prediction that, by 2030, 100 million people could be dying annually as a direct result of climate change, based on how many are currently being killed due to climate change, which is around 300,000 per year [6].
We, not only the human we, but the global we of life on Earth are facing a crisis on a scale the planet has never seen, and the reality is that we are losing this fight right now.
With all the world at stake, we need to form and implement a strategy that can work. The latest Climate Commission report has warned that 80% of global fossil fuel reserves will have to stay in the ground if the planet is to avoid dangerous climate change. Our governments and the corporations that run them plan to burn every last drop of oil, every last speck of coal, and every last whiff of gas, and right now, the strategy of the mainstream environmental movement has no hope of stopping them, or even of substantially slowing them down.
If we are to avert the catastrophic dismemberment of our planet, we will need to see past the lies of the dominant culture and recognize its narratives—the mainstream narratives of social change—for the falsity that they are. Ultimately, we will need to move beyond legal & aboveground tactics as a whole movement, and make room for strategic sabotage and militant action in the tool chest of resistance.
References
[1] UN Environment Programme, Ahmed Djoghlaf, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/16/nature-economic-security
[2][http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2007/08/pollution-causes-40-percent-deaths-worldwide-study-finds] (direct link to report: http://www.springerlink.com/content/101592/).
[3] UN Framework Convention on Climate Change**
[4] International Energy Agency’s November 2010 assessment**
[5] http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/05/14/coolsc.disappearingfish/
[6] http://www.ghf-ge.org/human-impact-report.pdf
This is the first part of a two piece series on strategic resistance by Lexy Garza and Rachel. Continue to Part II
Time is Short: Reports, Reflections & Analysis on Underground Resistance is a biweekly bulletin dedicated to promoting and normalizing underground resistance, as well as dissecting and studying its forms and implementation, including essays and articles about underground resistance, surveys of current and historical resistance movements, militant theory and praxis, strategic analysis, and more. We welcome you to contact us with comments, questions, or other ideas at undergroundpromotion@deepgreenresistance.org
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Sep 4, 2012 | Indigenous Autonomy
By Lakota People’s Law Project and Last Real Indians
Last Saturday, at a press conference in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, Lakota leaders of the movement to secure the Lakota pilgrimage site Pe’ Sla for the Sioux Nation announced that the tribes will purchase the 2000 acres of sacred land in the Black Hills. After several weeks of intense fundraising, the nine tribes raised enough to make a deal with the current owners of Pe’ Sla, Leonard and Margaret Reynolds—though details of the arrangement are still being negotiated. The fundraising effort on the part of the Sioux tribes was begun by Attorney Chase Iron Eyes, and the negotiations were carried out in part by Cheyenne River Tribal Councilwoman Robin Lebeau. Both leaders spoke on Saturday. 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.
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.
Iron Eyes described the process by which his organization, Last Real Indians, conducted a fundraising effort to save Pe’ Sla, raising $300,000. This sum was combined with $1.3 million put forth by the Rosebud Sioux tribe, enough to seal the land deal. Mr. Iron Eyes, an attorney in his mid thirties, discussed the teachings concerning the Black Hills that he received from his elders a a youth: “Its back, we’re talking about the Black Hills again, and it’s the right time for it to happen.” Councilwoman Lebeau, also under forty, described the complicated negotiations by which the tribes acquired the land. She implored the tribes to come together: “What I want to stress is unity… All I am asking for you [Sioux] to do is to take [the idea of Pe’ Sla] back to who whomever your spiritual leaders are—your treaty councils, your IRAs—and let’s come together.” Thunder Hawk talked of the importance of land possession to Sioux identity, saying “The land the priceless. The land is who we are. That’s why we still are who we are, because we have a land base…It doesn’t matter how much money the tribes have to put up for Pe’ Sla. We have to have it.” Councilwoman Young, who participated in the conference calls during which the land deal occurred, thanked both her fellow Sioux negotiators and the Reynolds family for obliging Sioux appeals. “As we continue to renew our belief systems and ceremonies, we urge our people to…continue as human beings to contribute and share our lifesystems with the world…so that Pe’ Sla becomes a universal symbol of peace everywhere.” Former tribal chairman Brings Plenty discussed the Sioux struggle for self-empowerment and the role that land plays in it. “This Pe’ Sla movement, it is a victory.”
The organizers of Saturday’s press conference are holding a rally in Rapid City this Wednesday, September 5, to celebrate the purchase of Pe’ Sla. It will be at the Memorial Park Band Shell at 5 PM.
From Intercontinental Cry: http://intercontinentalcry.org/lakota-announce-new-deal-with-landowners-for-the-return-of-pe-sla/
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Aug 29, 2012 | Colonialism & Conquest, Indigenous Autonomy
Mujeres de la nación Oglala Lakota, junto con activistas de Resistencia Verde Radical, AIM Grassroots, Movimiento Nativo Juvenil, Un-Occupy Albuquerque, Occupy Lincoln, y el Centro de Paz y Justicia Rocky Mountain participaron en una marcha desde Billy Mills Hall en Pine Ridge hasta White Clay para protestar contra la industria depredadora de bebidas alcohólicas que está presente allí.
White Clay tiene, para una población de 14 personas, 4 tiendas de bebidas alcohólicas en el pueblo que venden 12,500 latas de cerveza cada día. Las tiendas han sido investigadas varias veces por haber vendido a vendedores ilegales, personas embriagadas, menores y tambien a cambio de favores sexuales.
“Durante más de 100 años las mujeres de la nación Oglala Lakota han hecho frente a un ataque a los mentes, a los cuerpos y a los espíritus de sus parientes”, dice Olowan Martinez, un organizador principal del evento y residente de Pine Ridge. “La Oglala han sido callados mediante la guerra química por parte de las corporaciones que explotan y se benefician del sufrimiento y de la miseria de nuestra gente. El tiempo ha llegado para terminar este sufrimiento por todos los medios necesarios.
Debra White Plume, una activista Lakota y residente de Pine Ridge habló durante el evento y proclamó, “Una indígena sobria es una indígena peligrosa. Tenemos que mandar un mensaje a Nebraska y a sus ciudadanos de que no vamos a tolerar los asuntos tal como están. Este es el Día de Paz de las Mujeres pero esta paz acabará pronto.”
Después de la marcha y de los discursos de los miembros de Resistencia Verde Radical, se hizo un bloqueo del camino hacia White Clay.
Media hora después de que el bloqueo comenzara, un agente policial bajó su ventanilla del coche y sin discriminación roció a la multitud con gas pimienta. Hasta 12 personas fueron rociados, incluyendo al hijo de 10 años de una mujer Lakota que ayudó a organizar la marcha. Tambien una anciana mujer Lakota, Helen Red Feather, denunció que su pierna fue golpeada por un coche policial. Médicos en la protesta trataron a las heridas producidas por el gas pimienta.
A las 7:39, los cinco activistas que participaron en el bloque fueron llevados en un remolque de caballos a la cárcel del distrito de Sheridan en Rushville. Después fueron liberados bajo su propia tutela.
Hoy en día falta mucho para que la justicia se cumpla, como en White Clay se sigue destruyendo a los Lakota Oglala y a la gente de Pine Ridge. La Oglala Lakota de la reservación Pine Ridge seguirán presos mientras las tiendas de bebidas alcohólicas en White Clay sigan funcionando.
Las consignas de “Tanto como dure!” fueron coreadas por la gente y por las personas que las apoyaban, de pie junto a ellas desde el comienzo de la protesta. La lucha continua.
Para más información sobre El Dia de Paz y La Marcha de Mujeres, y para fotos de la acción, visita a http://dgrnewsservice.org/2012/08/26/womens-day-of-peace-action-in-white-clay/
Quiere ayudar en la acción? http://deepgreenresistance.org/feature-help-support-indigenous-solidarity-in-whiteclay/
For the English version of this article, see http://dgrnewsservice.org/2012/08/26/womens-march-and-day-of-peace-turns-violent-protesters-arrested/
