Charles Yow on Sovereignty

Leaders are not known by that which they do in the easy times, but that which they do when the risks are great and they are determined to do that which is best for the people.

SOVEREIGNTY?

"Friday, April 14, 2000, Joe American Horse announced on KILI Radio that to be Sovereign the tribe must act Sovereign, so accordingly, he will plant industrial hemp seeds on April 29, 2000 to advance the authority of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in the matter of jurisdiction over tribal lands." His statement was based on his knowledge of two things, Sovereignty and the Tribal Code.

But first, why should we be concerned with the Tribal Code? After all the Federal Government has millions of pages of statutes, regulations and rulings by Federal Courts, and the State of South Dakota and the various cities and counties and commissions have additional hundreds of thousands of pages of laws, regulations, so why should we care about the Tribal Code? The reason is simple, it is exactly as Joe American Horse proclaimed: S O V E R E I G N T Y !

What is Sovereignty? First it has nothing to do with Sovereign Immunity and using the term Tribal Sovereignty is an demeaning insult. Despite what politicians say, Sovereign Immunity is what cowards and bullies use to protect themselves from being held responsible for breaking the law, and hurting other people. For example, the Code prohibits nepotism. An example of nepotism is Cheryl Valandra's daughter was recently hired to work in the courthouse, and her uncle was just hired without Tribal Council or Executive Board approval as a judge to help address the court's backlog. Sovereign Immunity might be used as a defense if someone filed suit over the fact that the CODE says nepotism is illegal and Cheryl Valandra's uncle was not approved by either the Tribal Council or the Executive Board. Come to think of it, why should Cheryl Valandra's uncle be hired as a judge when people are being laid off and we are told there is no money to assist those who are without heat when the backlog of cases is due to her not coming to work?

Tribal Sovereignty is a term used to describe a legal term known as Subordinate Sovereignty. An example, If a government is all powerful in a specific area it is Sovereign. Any government entity below the most powerful government is called a Subordinate Sovereign. States are Subordinate Sovereigns to the Federal Government, and Counties and Cities are Subordinate Sovereigns to States. The term Tribal Sovereignty is a demeaning myth that the Federal Government has authority to "give" Sovereignty to Indian tribes, bands and nations.

Over the last more than a hundred years the various Indian tribes have seen a marked decline in respect for Sovereignty, and with a couple of exceptions in New York, Federal and state governments have ran rough shod across reservations from Coast to Coast. Even though the Treaties, Constitution and Code clearly declare Sovereignty, it is largely ignored.

When the issue of Sovereignty is discussed someone always says the funding the Oglala Sioux Tribe receives from the U.S. Government reduces its claim of Sovereignty. Does it? If we can agree Panama and Israel are Sovereign countries, is the Oglala Sioux Tribe any less Sovereign? In 2004 Panama received 50% more funding from the US Government as O.S.T. received and Israel received approximately 60 times as much aid from the US Government as O.S.T. Are they still sovereign? Yes!, and so is O.S.T.

The first step to reclaiming Sovereignty is to reclaim the ability to require those who break the law, any law, to answer for their actions, in the courts of the same Sovereign as the action was committed. This is a fact that has remained true throughout time, and it is true today. The O.S.T. Grand Jury is a first step, and requiring extradition hearings prior to the transfer or arrest of citizens of the Oglala Sioux Tribe is something that must be done.

In 1868, more than 180 Indian leaders, and a number of US Army officers and officials signed a treaty that was later ratified by the US Senate as the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Contrary to some opinions this contract (a treaty is a contract), and it did not sign away Sovereignty. The treaty was a contract for the transfer of land and conditions for coexistence. Nothing more or less. A contract that is made by two parties can be revoked or amended only with the agreement of all parties, not part, but all parties.

In 1998 the Oglala Sioux Tribe passed Ordinance 98-7, specifically authorizing the planting of industrial hemp, and it distinguishes industrial hemp from marijuana. It is not unimportant that Canada has commercial production of hemp, and a significant portion of the Canadian hemp crop is produced to meet the growing US demand for hemp products which ranges from commercial feed additives, to paper.

Most people know the events that transpired since 1998, the case involving Pine Ridge hemp is still in Federal Court. This single case will determine the Sovereignty of the Oglala Sioux Tribe for generations because this case involves the legality of a law at Pine Ridge that is similar to a law in Canada. While the US Government does not raid any of the numerous Canadian hemp farms, in violation of the Treaty of 1868, the US Government sent black suited, machine gun carrying thugs onto Pine Ridge to destroy a crop the Oglala Sioux Tribal Code said was legal. To Alex White Plume's credit, he has put his neck on the line and declared OST is Sovereign. It is easy to talk Sovereignty, but it takes courage to take a public stance like Alex White Plume and Joe American Horse.

Leaders are not known by that which they do in the easy times, but that which they do when the risks are great and they are determined to do that which is best for the people.

Once again we look to the red brick building and wonder, what if the President, and Tribal Council stood with O.S.T. Vice President Alex White Plume and declared O.S.T. to be Sovereign, not by the will of the US Government, but as a matter of International Law, and someone read the Treaty of 1868 ? What if the President, Tribal Council and Prosecutor read the Code and decided to pick between nepotism and providing heat for those who shiver each day as the sun went down and someone read the Code, really read the code (by the way, that is still on page 327). And what if The President and Tribal Council asked Joe American Horse to explain Sovereignty and Sovereignty became real on Pine Ridge?