Somebody was wondering a while back when the last time the Militia was put into use. Well, right now, the Militia IS in use.
Seems appropriate to me. You can dick around with bureaucrats and gubmint agencies for a couple of lifetimes with no results. Sometimes, when the situtation gets just so bad, you boot the rascals out, literally.
--------------------------
Bury the news at Wounded Knee
In the poorest county in America, you can take over the
government and the media won't even notice.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Julie Winokur
March 13, 2000 | PINE RIDGE, S.D. -- If the people of Connecticut
took over the state capitol, the media would swarm into Hartford
and the nation would tune in to watch. Such a move might
warrant the intervention of the FBI, the Justice Department and
the National Guard. But for almost two months, 100 Indians have
been occupying the tribal council headquarters here and the story
has barely traveled past the edge of the plains. Despite the fact
that a sovereign government is under siege, there has been a
virtual news blackout.
Jan. 16 a group calling itself the Grass Roots Oglala Lakota
Oyate entered the Red Cloud Building and declared a takeover
of tribal council headquarters. They met no resistance as they
seized financial records and installed their own tokalas, or scouts,
for security. They sealed off part of the building containing critical
files, locked down the computers and called in the FBI to remove
all financial records. That they summoned federal law
enforcement was in sharp contrast to the famous Wounded Knee
uprising of 1973 in which three people were killed.
This takeover, planned for nine months, was a desperate measure
by a group who claim their tribal council has embezzled millions of
dollars, that mismanagement of funds has forced the Oglala Sioux
into the depths of poverty, and that they had no recourse but to
sieze the seat of power.
Pine Ridge lies in the poorest county in America, with 75 percent
unemployment and an average family income of $3,700 per year.
The life expectancy for men is 48 years, 25 years below the
national average. The infant mortality rate is the highest in the
country. Bad health, disease, drugs and alcohol have ravaged the
Oglala Sioux. Their culture has been diluted by television and their
language is gradually dying out.
"Millions are being embezzled and nothing's being done," says
Floyd Hand, one of the leaders of the Grass Roots movement.
The group points to personal loans to councilmen as high as
$126,000 in one month (despite a $500 cap), countless job
placements made to council members' families and a complete
disregard for the tribal constitution. The group has demanded the
resignation of treasurer Wesley "Chuck" Jacobs and immediate
suspension of all council members, pending a referendum vote.
They are also calling for a complete overhaul of the current form
of government. Hand insists that the only way to expose the truth
is through a full forensic audit, and the only way to accomplish
that was through a takeover.
Regardless of whether the takeover was justified, it seems to have
broken years of stalemate. The occupation has forced the Bureau
of Indian Affairs to intervene in what Robert Ecoffey, BIA
superintendent for Pine Ridge, claims is an "internal matter," and
an independent audit of the general fund is under way. Jacobs has
been suspended pending a hearing. Other council members have
been sent into a frenzy defending their actions, and Harold Dean
Salway, tribal president, has been forced to document the
spending of $30,000 in federal aid given in the wake of last year's
devastating tornado.
While people on the reservation may disagree on the Grass Roots
movement's methods, they agree that the tribe's funds are
chronically mismanaged, that nepotism rules job placement and
that a handful of people are getting rich while the rest of the tribe
struggles to survive.
Seems appropriate to me. You can dick around with bureaucrats and gubmint agencies for a couple of lifetimes with no results. Sometimes, when the situtation gets just so bad, you boot the rascals out, literally.
--------------------------
Bury the news at Wounded Knee
In the poorest county in America, you can take over the
government and the media won't even notice.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Julie Winokur
March 13, 2000 | PINE RIDGE, S.D. -- If the people of Connecticut
took over the state capitol, the media would swarm into Hartford
and the nation would tune in to watch. Such a move might
warrant the intervention of the FBI, the Justice Department and
the National Guard. But for almost two months, 100 Indians have
been occupying the tribal council headquarters here and the story
has barely traveled past the edge of the plains. Despite the fact
that a sovereign government is under siege, there has been a
virtual news blackout.
Jan. 16 a group calling itself the Grass Roots Oglala Lakota
Oyate entered the Red Cloud Building and declared a takeover
of tribal council headquarters. They met no resistance as they
seized financial records and installed their own tokalas, or scouts,
for security. They sealed off part of the building containing critical
files, locked down the computers and called in the FBI to remove
all financial records. That they summoned federal law
enforcement was in sharp contrast to the famous Wounded Knee
uprising of 1973 in which three people were killed.
This takeover, planned for nine months, was a desperate measure
by a group who claim their tribal council has embezzled millions of
dollars, that mismanagement of funds has forced the Oglala Sioux
into the depths of poverty, and that they had no recourse but to
sieze the seat of power.
Pine Ridge lies in the poorest county in America, with 75 percent
unemployment and an average family income of $3,700 per year.
The life expectancy for men is 48 years, 25 years below the
national average. The infant mortality rate is the highest in the
country. Bad health, disease, drugs and alcohol have ravaged the
Oglala Sioux. Their culture has been diluted by television and their
language is gradually dying out.
"Millions are being embezzled and nothing's being done," says
Floyd Hand, one of the leaders of the Grass Roots movement.
The group points to personal loans to councilmen as high as
$126,000 in one month (despite a $500 cap), countless job
placements made to council members' families and a complete
disregard for the tribal constitution. The group has demanded the
resignation of treasurer Wesley "Chuck" Jacobs and immediate
suspension of all council members, pending a referendum vote.
They are also calling for a complete overhaul of the current form
of government. Hand insists that the only way to expose the truth
is through a full forensic audit, and the only way to accomplish
that was through a takeover.
Regardless of whether the takeover was justified, it seems to have
broken years of stalemate. The occupation has forced the Bureau
of Indian Affairs to intervene in what Robert Ecoffey, BIA
superintendent for Pine Ridge, claims is an "internal matter," and
an independent audit of the general fund is under way. Jacobs has
been suspended pending a hearing. Other council members have
been sent into a frenzy defending their actions, and Harold Dean
Salway, tribal president, has been forced to document the
spending of $30,000 in federal aid given in the wake of last year's
devastating tornado.
While people on the reservation may disagree on the Grass Roots
movement's methods, they agree that the tribe's funds are
chronically mismanaged, that nepotism rules job placement and
that a handful of people are getting rich while the rest of the tribe
struggles to survive.
!