Republic of Lakotah
The Republic of Lakotah or Lakotah is a proposed country in North America to serve as a homeland for the Lakota.
Its boundaries would be surrounded by the borders of the United States, covering thousands of square miles in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana. The proposed borders are those of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie between the United States government and the Lakota.
A group of Native Americans called the Lakota Freedom Delegation traveled to Washington, D.C., on 17 December 2007 and delivered a statement asserting the independence of the Lakota from the United States. The group argues that the recent declaration of independence is not a secession from the USA, but rather a reassertion of sovereignty. Their leader is Russell Means, one of the prominent members of the American Indian Movement in the late 1960s and 1970s.
The Lakota Freedom Delegation does not recognize tribal governments or presidents as recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, sometimes referring to these groups as "stay-by-the-fort Indians
The Republic of Lakotah proposes that the nation be organized as a confederation that would respect the libertarian principles of posse comitatus and caveat emptor, would offer "individual liberty through community rule," and would collect no nationwide taxes. However, individual communities within the proposed nation would be allowed to levy taxes with the consent of the taxed. No currency has yet been proposed but Russell Means has suggested that the proposed nation should not use fiat currency but instead adopt a gold standard. Means has stated that this system of government is derived from the traditional Lakota government system. Means said, "we are going to implement how we lived prior to the Invasion. Each community will be a mini-state unto itself ... They will form the federation known as Lakotah." Currently, Russell Means identifies himself as "Chief Facilitator" of a provisional government of the Republic of Lakotah. The provisional government is currently being operated out of Treaty School/Ranch in Porcupine, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge reservation.
Through its membership and work, the Republic of Lakotah has several direct ties to other activist movements among both the Indian and libertarian communities.
Russell Means and Robert Robideau have both long been prominent in the Autonomous American Indian Movement, with Means along with Tegheya Kte having taken part in the Wounded Knee incident and Robideau acquitted in a trial related to the Leonard Peltier case. Tegheya Kte, meanwhile, led the Big Foot Riders in 2007, while Phyllis Young is a founder of the Women of All Red Nations feminist movement.
The Lakota Freedom Delegation traveled to Washington, D.C. and contacted the United States Department of State, announcing that the Lakota were unilaterally withdrawing from the several treaties between themselves and the United States government. The delegation presented a letter, dated December 17, 2007 and signed by longtime Indian activists Russell Means, Garry Rowland, Duane Martin Sr. also called Canupa Gluha Mani, and Phyllis Young, which declared the Lakota to be "predecessor sovereign of Dakota Territory" and cited gross violations of the treaties between the Lakota and the United States as the immediate cause for withdrawal. The letter also invited the United States government to enter into negotiations with the newly-declared entity, there identified only as "Lakotah." It threatened that if good-faith negotiations were not begun then "Lakotah will begin to administer liens against real estate transactions within the five state area of Lakotah."
The group also has pursued international recognition for the Lakotah at the embassies of Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, and South Africa and has claimed that Ireland and East Timor are "very interested" in Lakotah's declaration and that they expect recognition from Russia. Russell Means has made reference to Finland and Iceland as well. However, none of these nations has publicly announced recognition for Lakotah.
A secessionist movement in Texas has expressed its support for the Republic of Lakotah, even though it, too, has not officially recognized the area's independence
Motivations for independence
Lakotah's founders cite the Oglala 1974 Declaration of Continuing Independence:
The United States of America has continually violated the independent Native Peoples of this continent by Executive action, Legislative fiat and Judicial decision. By its actions, the U.S. has denied all Native people their International Treaty rights, Treaty lands and basic human rights of freedom and sovereignty. This same U.S. Government, which fought to throw off the yoke of oppression and gain its own independence, has now reversed its role and become the oppressor of sovereign Native people.
The groups cite several reasons for its assertion of sovereignty, all connected what they refer to as the "colonial apartheid" of the reservation system in the United States. The group claims that control by the United States has led to massive unemployment, poverty and disease among the Lakota people and also alleges that 150 years of US administration is responsible for the statistical poverty of Lakota lands. The group claims that withdrawal from the United States will reverse these problems as well as help reestablish the Lakota language and culture.[31][32] The group also claims persistent violations by the United States of their treaties with the Lakota.
Another longstanding point of contention between the Lakota and the United States is the status of the Black Hills of South Dakota, which were part of Sioux reservation lands until they were taken without compensation by the US government and opened for gold mining following the collapse of the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). In 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court decision United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians awarded $105 million to eight tribes of Sioux Indians as compensation ($17.1 million for the market value of the land in 1877 and $88 million in 5% per annum simple interest between 1877 and 1980), but the court did not award land. The tribal governments of the Lakota has refused the settlement, and as interest accrues, the unclaimed award is approaching $1 billion.
The Alaskan Independence Party, in an announcement dated December 21, 2007, "applauded" the independent Lakota nation and granted it "full recognition". The secessionist movement Second Vermont Republic has also announced its support, and encouraged other American Indian groups to similarly declare independence from the United States.
In February 2008, the Lakotah Freedom Delegation (including Means) handed over a formal petition, asking for recognition of the Republic of Lakotah, to the embassies of Russia, Serbia, Bolivia, Venezuela, the Republic of South Africa, Ireland, France, Nicaragua, East Timor, Chile, Turkey, India, Finland, Iceland and Uruguay. The text of the petition is available online.
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