By Charmaine Whiteface

One of the most wrongful and harmful actions that the United States (U.S.) did to us was to try to take our memory away from us of who we are. If it wasn’t for some courageous men and women, all the knowledge of who we are would be lost. In the late 1800s and early 1900s to the1950s, an Oceti Sakowin (Sioux) person could be jailed or worse for teaching their children or grandchildren our language, our ceremonies, how to pray, to attend our spiritual ceremonies, and especially talking about the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.

Consequently, our U.S.-forced assimilation has led us to where we are today—not thinking clearly. We are led to believe that the federal government will provide us with a solution for the problems they have caused. Looking to the federal government for our salvation is called the Stockholm Syndrome.* This Syndrome is where the abused form an emotional attachment to the abuser, and looks to the abuser as someone who will provide solutions for their problems. In other words, we have been conditioned not to think of solutions by ourselves.

Unfortunately, there are tribal members working for federal, state, and non-profit organizations, who continue to treat us as children incapable of making decisions as adults. Again, this state of affairs is all part of the Stockholm Syndrome. Using tribal members to stand in for the U.S. is all a part of our ‘forced assimilation’ and colonization. “Forced assimilation” for us means doing as the U.S. says or there will be horrific consequences.

There is another recent movement to have a proposed Bill introduced in the U.S. Congress to return only the federal land in the Black Hills to us. Again, by thinking the oppressor will help us and listen to us is a part of the Stockholm Syndrome. The U.S. is never going to return the Sacred Black Hills for a number of reasons. First and foremost, are the billions of dollars that are made from tourism, resource extraction, a military installation and the timber industry to name a few. Second, South Dakota would have an easier way to gain more land from the federal system. This land grab was pre-planned by the Dakota Territory Commission before the signing of the 1868 Treaty. Read their reports in the archives at the Rapid City Library to learn of this pre-planning. When South Dakota became a state in 1889, we were all supposed to be gone. Again, the proposed bill reveals how the Stockholm Syndrome affects us; we think the oppressor will listen to, and help us.

Rather than trying this well-worn route of approaching the U.S. Congress, instead we need to teach our children and grandchildren, our sons and daughters, our nephews and nieces, our sisters and brothers, and, yes, even our neighbors that we remain a nation separate from the U.S. We need to look at this whole situation from a different point of view, that of an occupied nation. This point of view clarifies. It keeps us from forgetting who we are and also reminds us that we are still a nation.

There are approaches other than the proposed Bill. In the first place, the U.S. has caused great confusion for everyone. The U.S. has neither kept its word nor honor. (Do they know what “honor” is?) This confusion not only means that the U.S. government is NOT living up to the fact that it has an International Treaty with us, but also that everyone in the U.S. believes South Dakota and the reservations are “legal” entities. According to the 1868 Treaty, however, South Dakota and the reservations are fictional entities, and have no political or legal standing. Sadly, almost everyone in the United States believes this fiction. Other nations have studied our situation, however, and know that we, the Oceti Sakowin Oyate (the Sioux Nation), have an International Treaty with the United States that is legally binding. Why do other nations in the world study the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty? Are they also wondering IF the United States will keep its word in other international treaties, especially the ones it has agreed to, and signed, around the world?

In a 1999, a United Nations’ Treaty Study was completed by Special Rapporteur Miguel Alfonso Martinez. In the study he states:

“In the case of indigenous peoples who concluded treaties or other legal instruments with the European settlers and/or their continuators in the colonization process, the Special Rapporteur has not found any sound legal argument to sustain the argument that they have lost their international juridical status as nations/peoples.” (author’s emphasis)

No, as a nation, we are not a member (yet) of that exclusive club called the United Nations. Partly due to the Martinez Study, among others, we are recognized as a Nation at various UN meetings. So, we must teach and encourage our people to stand up as citizens of a Nation and not bow down to an occupying nation, the United States. Bowing down to our oppressor/abuser is the Stockholm Syndrome working at its best.

We do have something much stronger than the U.S. government, and even more powerful than its nuclear weapons, and that is our prayers. Given the state of the world now, including Climate Change, it is time to use our prayers.

We can ask for the Creator’s good health and protection of the Sacred Black Hills, then say “Thank you”, and get out of the way of our ancestors so they can do their thing. We need to trust our prayers and watch what happens. Our ancestors, the Four Winds, our Creator have not forgotten us. They’re only waiting for us to ask… especially regarding He Sapa Wakan.

In other difficult times, our prayers have caused many miracles to happen. All of this time, we have waited and given the U.S. the opportunity to do what is right for their own spiritual well being. Now it is time to pray. We have waited long enough. That is why prayer is strongly recommended.

 Thank you in advance for your prayers.

Charmaine White Face (77) is Oglala Tituwan Oceti Sakowin. She can be reached at cwhiteface@gmail.com 

* Stockholm syndrome, psychological response wherein a captive begins to identify closely with his or her captors, as well as with their agenda and demands.

The name of the syndrome is derived from a botched bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden. In August 1973 four employees of Sveriges Kreditbank were held hostage in the bank’s vault for six days. During the standoff, a seemingly incongruous bond developed between captive and captor. One hostage, during a telephone call with Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, stated that she fully trusted her captors but feared that she would die in a police assault on the building.