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Pine Ridge
Lower Brule
Cheyenne River
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Rosebud
Fort Peck
Crow Creek
Santee
Canadian Sioux

Commission on Human Rights
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities
Working Group on Indigenous Populations
Seventeenth Session
26 - 30 July 1999
Agenda Item 8: Treaties
Intervention of the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council presented by Tony
Black Feather, Spokesman
 
Madam Chairperson, I bring you the greetings of the full-blooded Lakota descendants of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and offer you these words on their behalf as the Spokesman for the Tetuwan Oyate, Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council.

Madam Chairperson, I know that from your years of experience you are familiar with most of our positions and you recognize the grave importance that we have placed upon the Treaty Study which has been submitted by Professor Miguel Alphonso Martinez. With the deepest respect we applaud his efforts and honor his commitment.

This summer the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council, along with the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, hosted a treaty gathering for many nations on our territory at Lower Brule in South Dakota. The purpose of the treaty gathering was simply to plan strategy with our brothers and sisters from other Indigneous treaty nations on the best application of the Professor Martinez's study. It was our humble attempt at heeding his advice that the future of the Treaty Study and its importance in the development of international law is now the responsibility of we, the Indigneous peoples.

The purpose of the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council, for more than 100 years, has been simply to take our place amongst the family of nations. We believe this can only be achieved in international forums. Accordingly, we have been working already for many years to lay the groundwork for the development of an international body of law. In pursuit of justice and the international recognition of our sovereignty, we would urge two things: 1) That the nation states join with the rightful cause of supporting human rights for everyone on the earth and pass the provisions of the Draft Declaration as prepared by the Working Group on Indigenous Populations. If politics and greed prevent the nation states from supporting basic principles of human and group rights for all peoples, then we suggest that they cease the pretense of being the champions of human rights. The time to pass the declaration is NOW. 2) That this Working Group and the Indigenous delegates gathered here support the joint resolution of the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council, The Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, The Confederacy of Treaty Four First Nations, the Haudenosaunee, and the Saddle Lake First Nation, which resolution simply states: "To the extent that the Special Rapporteur's Study on Treaties, Agreements and other Constructive Arrangements between states and Indigenous Peoples concludes that Treaties between Indigneous Nations and Nation States are legal, internationally binding agreements, we support all the recommendations and conclusions which place advocacy for Treaty equity and historical justice within international forums."

As I stated at the Treaty Gathering at Lower Brule, "our people will have justice in the eyes of the World."

Pila maya, Madam Chairperson, Mitaku Oyasin
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