Tony Black Feather, Spokesman,
PO Box 48, Pine Ridge, SD 57770,
605-867-5938 Black
Hills Teton Sioux Nation Tetuwan Oyate

MEMBER RESERVATIONS
Pine Ridge
Lower Brule
Cheyenne River
Standing Rock
Rosebud Fort Peck
Crow Creek
Santee
Canadian Sioux

January 25, 2000 PINE RIDGE TAKEOVER
Statement of the Tetuwan Oyate, Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council.

The occupation of the tribal council offices at the Pine Ridge Agency (Bureau of Indian Affairs) continues as of this afternoon. Since 1894, the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council has advocated for the sovereignty of the Lakota Nation, the traditional Tetuwan Oyate, as preserved in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 with the United States. Since 1984, that advocacy has been extended into the international forums of the United Nations, wherein the elders and leaders of the Tetuwan Oyate believe that true justice must be sought, separate from the control of the United States federal system.

From the headquarters of the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council at Wolf Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Tony Black Feather issued this statement relative to the occupation at the Agency:

"My name is Tony Black Feather and I am the Spokesman for the Tetuwan Oyate, Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council, at the United Nations on behalf of the Lakota Nation. Since 1984, we have participated in international forums, seeking justice for our Lakota people. As a United Nations delegate, I have been closely following the events where I live on the Pine Ridge Reservation at the Tribal Council offices.

"My observations will be filed in detail with the Working Group on Indigenous Populations under the UN Commission of Human Rights. The grievances about the Tribal Council on my Pine Ridge reservation are a result of the imposition of the white man's federal U.S. system on our territory. If we turn back through the pages of history we will find that the United States has conceived corruption and violence in our Lakota country and this has affected the mentality of our Lakota people. It is why our people mistakenly believe that justice can be found in the ways of the colonizer. But this is not true. We must
listen to our elders. We must return to the Natural Laws of our traditional Lakota system. The presence of the United States on our territory is still our problem today.

"As long as our people seek a solution in the American federal system, we will be subject to the corruption the system imposes. If the United States is not going to honor the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, it is time that they pack up and leave our country. Mitaku."

First Opened: November 13, 2000
Revised: June 2004