Gov’t violates Indigenous rights

At a meeting and film screening held Oct. 23 at the International Action Center in New York, Debra and Alex White Plume described their several-years struggle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation—one of the poorest places in North America—to help develop a sustainable crop: industrial hemp. They were exercising their treaty rights as a sovereign nation and building a grassroots effort to provide a viable economy and employment for the Lakota Nation.

Left to right: Debra White Plume, Tiokasin Ghost Horse and Kent Lebstock.

The federal government swooped down on the reservation with armored assault vehicles, helicopters and armed DEA agents to burn and destroy the crop. The White Plumes now face substantial prison time from federal criminal indictments.

The film “Standing Silent Nation” is a powerful 50-minute documentary that records this on-going struggle. See www.pbs.orgfor more info on the film.

The event was co-sponsored by First Voices Indigenous Radio, Owe Aku—Bring Back the Way, Flying Eagle Woman Fund, Medora Woods and NorthEast Two Spirit Society. Other speakers of the evening included Tiokasin Ghost Horse of First Voices Indigenous Radio, Kent Lebstock of Owe Aku, Jesse Lokahi Heiwa and Sara Flounders of the International Action Center.

—Report and photo by Sara Flounders