Statement by David Swallow, Jr., Wowitan Yuha Mani
Teton Lakota Spiritual Leader, Sun dance Chief of the Medicine Wheel Sun dance, and a Headman of the Lakota Nation Band of Wana Way Gu (Broken Bow)
*For Immediate Release
Statement Date; May 8th 2010
Transcribed To and edited by Keith Rabin
Hau, Mitakuyapi Na Mita Kola.
Mitakuyapi Sunka Wakan Oyate
Lakota Nation, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
The Lakota people of Pine Ridge South Dakota continue their struggle to protect their Sacred Horses from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council and the Parks and Recreation Department.
Since June 2009, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council and the Parks and Recreation (OSTPR) have been removing horses owned by the Lakota People of Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota without permission, without notice and without any warrant issued or receipt. Despite repeated efforts, continued obstacles have made it impossible for the Lakota People to get their horses back.
The horses were to be delivered to the St. Onge Livestock Company LTD by the OSTPR to be auctioned off on Sunday, 5/9/10 as loose horses.
In A statement from Elder and Spiritual leader David Swallow, on May 7, 2010, based on the grounds of trespassing on private property, a temporary injunction was granted by the Tribal Court to stop the “Oglala Sioux Tribe “Parks and Recreation Department” from auctioning off these horses on 5/9/10 [Mothers Day]. (Further details regarding the injunction to follow early next week).
The ” Mitakuyapi Sunka Wakan Oyate ” is working to establish a designated fund where supporters will be able to donate funds to help return these Sacred horses to the safety and care of The People. Supporters are encouraged not to send any money at this time.
Please watch for updates as to how to help.
Mitakuyapi Sunka Wakan Oyate (Relatives of the Sacred Horses)
Lakota Nation, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
Our Horses are sacred to us and they are our relatives.
We are family and we take care of each other and help each other in times of need.
That is the Lakota way.
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Categories: Horse News
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
I am glad to hear of this injunction, and these horses are safe for the moment, thank you R.T> for all the information you send to us.
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Why are money and control the only thing sacred to some!
The BLM and BIA are next door to one another in Washington and the corruption, for what ever reasons, must be associated.
The Native American citizens are treated like the wild horses. Both are in their way.
The Tribal Governments operate like the Federal Government, corporate influence, special interests and lobbying are allowably in control. Indigenous life and rights have no real importance or significance.
It is shameful and reprehensible, but as we have seen, their actions continue cruelly and without conscience.
We are at war and the picture keeps getting larger!
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hi Jill are you by any chance Jill Wallis from Weston South Dakota or do you know her? My Mother Barbara Wagner went to college at Eastern Washington normal school and knew Jill Wallis and Mothers friend Stella Mae knew her also.
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Hi, Meri,
I’m sorry, I did not see your question until now.
No, I am not Jill Wallis.
I don’t know if the information on this site could help you find her, but it may:
http://www.cyndislist.com/native.htm
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Does anyone know why the tribal government (not sure which one because there are so many layers) and the law enforcement (whatever they are!) are doing this?
It would seem that that the Native Peoples of America have been beaten and trashed enough, but if I understand this correctly, it is Native Peoples doing this to Native Peoples???? WTH????
You’d think with the destruction the white man brought they would have nothing to do with his ways (except the casinos and gaming thing…I consider that payback, but I know it is not working well or benefiting all members of those tribes).
What a mess.
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Unfortunately it has been shown that the tribal governments who are only “sycophants of the Federal government” (to quote a knowledgeable friend) frequently are more concerned with the welfare of the Tribal Council and not the tribe in general. Sort of sounds familiar there. Its like the casinos–people erroneously think that everyone gets rich–not true, there are those that are more equal than others. It was explained to me that under the Marshall decision the government actually came out and stated that Indians are nothing more than savages not able to determine their own fate and so they were put into a guardian/ward status by the govt. The Tribal Councils just take advantage of this and of course the Feds don’t help as basically any and all agreements and lands that the Native American have can be taken from them instantaneously by their “guardian” the Feds.
Off topic slightly but RT I just wanted to tell ya that I always enjoy every one of your blog posts. Have yet to read one that I didn’t find interesting reading and that wasn’t spot on. You Rock RT
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Again, when I was researching the San Juan I found that “Tribal Sovereignty” refers to government, laws, policing, etc. Federal legal documents and treaties regarding trust lands and water issues often use the term “dependent states”.
For any Native Americans who read this, please don’t be angry with me. This is information I found during countless hours of research. I undoubtedly need more education and updating, and welcome your comments.
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Morgan, Idon’t think off topic at all – an excellent comparison, a mirror, of our elected officals towards those that elected them, too many times – as example the treatment of our wild horses.
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Thank you for posting this. It is not mentioned, however I read that the Native Americans who want their horses back home also need land for them. Not sure how the reservation lands are used by the people who are forced to live there.
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I did a lot of research on Native American sovereignty, land ownership, and water rights when the feds were remanaging the San Juan River. I would imagine these issues are part of the mix.
Land Trust (Wikipedia) – Approximately 56 million acres (230,000 km2) of land in the United States is owned by the United States Government in trust for Native American tribes and individuals (I believe only about 11 million acres are actually owned by Native Americans) .[6] The Indian trust lands are governed by the tribes, exempt from taxes, and are usually exempt from state laws. Indian trust lands differ from commercial land trusts in that there was no trust document that created the Indian trust and specified the duties incumbent on the federal government in managing the trust. This is the DOI link for [6].
http://www.doi.gov/ost/about_ost/history.html
This is an interesting website regarding Native Americans and Reservation land: http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/s98blak2.htm#Resist
This an article about tribes that aren’t waiting for the federal government to decide the issue, but instead are buying back their land. They often use gaming revenue, but many tribes aren’t in the financial position or have good locations to build and operate a successful casinos: http://www.newsweek.com/id/139090
I certainly hope the Lakota are more successful in obtaining a positive outcome for their cultural relationship with horses than Native Americans have received regarding ownership of their land.
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I had this vision when the casinos started that one day the Native American Indians would buy up a huge part of America – take it back from the invaders – and that gave me a feeling of great satisfaction.
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These are excerpts from “Black Elk Speaks – Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux” that provide insight into their sacred cultural relationship with horses.
This was Black Elks first vision – “The Great Vision” – which was given to him when he was about 9 years old:
http://www.firstpeople.us/articles/Black-Elk-Speaks/Black-Elk-Speaks-The-Great-Vision.html
This was a later vision with many of the same elements, but also significant differences:
http://www.firstpeople.us/articles/Black-Elk-Speaks/Black-Elk-Speaks-The-Horse-Dance.html
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“America, the land of the Free”….Apparently, STILL a joke, though NOT a humorous one!! First of all, WHY are these people, America’s ONLY true NATIVE AMERICANS, STILL being mistreated & abused like this!!??This is 2010, NOT the early 1800’s. We freed slaves, allow “proper” immigration, yet our native Indian people are STILL being told what to do, how to do it, having their possessions taken away from them, plus, they have the hightest rate of poverty, joblessness, alcohol & drug dependence, lack of heating & cooling, food & medicine, & education!! This is an OUTRAGE!! It’s bad enough that America treats it’s horses, wild & domestic, like crap, but, to continue treating people like this is just NOT ACCEPTABLE!! I think it’s high time, our dear, sweet President Obama remembers where he came from, &, ALL of America as well!! How can we “help & save the rest of the world”, when we can’t even take care of our OWN!!??
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Go directly to the source and post on Salazars facebook page..He has been very proud of ALL he has done for the tribes-this was one of Obama’s campaign promises to all the tribes, that they would be treated fairly…ask him to intervene on behalf of the tribes horses..He gets hammered by us where everyone can see who doesn’t have any idea what has been going on with the wild horses.
http://www.facebook.com/SecretarySalaza
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