« BACK |
The Non-dialogue Dialogue
By Charmaine White Face
When US Senator Tom Daschle took the stage at the recent Gathering and Healing of Nations meeting, whose purpose was to try to talk about the areas of agreement and disagreement between the whites and the Indians of South Dakota, I'm sure he never expected to see protest signs at the back of the room. The signs read "Uphold the 1868 Treaty Uphold the US Constitution" and "Restore the 1868 Treaty." They implied that he and SD Gov. Mike Rounds did neither. Which is true. They don't...uphold either the 1868 Treaty or the US Constitution. Article Six of the Constitution states that "Treaties are the Supreme Law of the Land" yet somehow these two elected officials seem to forget that.
As I was the one carrying the "Uphold..." sign, as soon as the opening session disbanded, and we had established a small area right outside the main door from which to hand out information, we were surrounded by Daschle aides and Secret Service people. One of the aides, a young Lakota man in suit and tie, was adamant and tried to use traditional embarrassment on me in saying that Sen. Daschle wanted to dialogue. I laughed and told him that I had been writing about the Senator since 1989 and the Senator already knew everything that I had to say. The aide was persistent in saying that the Senator wanted to dialogue about our issues, and that the meeting was for reconciliation, and how could there be reconciliation if one side wouldn't talk. I told him the Senator wasn't going to talk to me, but the aide thought he knew his boss better than I did. So finally I told him to set it up and I would be there.
Almost immediately, I was told to follow them. Our small group became alarmed and said someone should go with me. I was joking about disappearing under Homeland Security and asked another Lakota woman to come with me. We were led to a small room and the door closed. Present was Senator Daschle, two aides, my friend and I.
He tried to shake my hand when we first entered. I refused and told him I knew who he was. This is a traditional way of letting him know I totally disagree with his actions. The Lakota aide lit some cedar and smudged everyone. Then he prayed and handed out wasna which he said his grandmother made. I accepted it knowing he was trying to accomplish something good. Then all eyes were turned to me so I began to speak.
I told the Senator we were there with our signs because all the issues on the agenda were covered in the Treaty, yet the Treaty was not on the agenda. This was disrespectful to the Treaty and all the Lakota people. I told him I had campaigned for him when he first ran in the 80s. I didn't tell him of my disappointment at his opposition and outright campaigning against the Bradley Black Hills Bill.
I did tell him that I lost all respect for him when, as the Treasurer for the Oglala Sioux Tribe in 1988, I discovered a check copy for $10,000 that was written on a secret account to him. I told him of going to the US Attorney, the FBI, the Senate Special Investigators, and the Senate Ethics Committee and nothing was done. I told him we had no where else to go. I told him that was part of the reason why I campaigned against him in his last election because I know how the poorest people in the United States live as I also have lived that life raising my kids with no running water or central heat..and sometime with no job. I couldn't have respect for someone who would take $10,000 from the poorest people in the country.
I told him I was not going to talk to him about the Mni Wiconi Project which he pushed through even though two-thirds of the people of Pine Ridge said they didn't want it in a referendum vote as it violated the Treaty. I said I was not going to talk to him about the Mitigation Act which gave treaty land to the state of SD and violated not only the Treaty but a federal law as well (the Pick-Sloan Act). I also said I was not going to talk about his Forest Rider last year (Section 706 of PL 107-206) which opened up the last remaining 3 percent of the Black Hills to logging so that as we were speaking, a sacred site or burial site was being destroyed and there was nothing we could do about it.
But I did remind him that he and the Governor take oaths of office to uphold the US Constitution and they were violating that oath when they do not uphold the Treaty. I reminded him about Article Six, and also about the March 3rd Act of 1871 which says that "treaties made heretofore" would not be abrogated. I reminded him that any federal laws after that, such as the 1877 Act, were a violation of the Constitution AND the March 3rd Act of 1871. But I said that if he and the Governor were to uphold the Constitution as they are supposed to, then they would both have to admit that they were only a Governor and a Senator for half of a state since the other half was the Great Sioux Reservation.
I reminded him that we are Lakota people and forced to live under a foreign system. I gave him the example of being forced to eat foreign food which has led to our health problems with diabetes, gall bladder disease, liver and kidney diseases, among others. I told him that even though it might appear that some of our people are successful under the American system, if you looked deeper, they usually had major problems.
I also reminded him that the Powder River basin in eastern Wyoming was also part of our treaty land, and that the DM&E Project was going to hurt the whole world with the amount of CO2 that would be generated from the coal being mined there. I then finished by telling him that I pray for him all the time since he holds the lives of so many people in his hands. As I had presented the major portions of my part of the dialogue, then I looked at him for his arguments. He said, "Thank you for praying for me." and rose to leave. I stood, shook hands with him, and he walked out. There was no dialogue.
If it surprised anyone, I think it surprised his aides. He made them become liars. It didn't surprise me. I expected it and had told them as much. Why waste my time when I knew the Senator was not going to talk to me. It reminded me of the marriage counseling sessions with my ex-husband.
So, we continued to man our little space outside the main door, handed out almost 400 pieces of information before we ran out, and talked to some media. We received lots of hugs and handshakes, which wasn't surprising since most of the audience was Native American. People kept asking the same question, "How can you have reconciliation when only one side shows up?" I kept thinking that my meeting in the morning with the Senator was really a symbol of the entire day. It was another non-dialogue dialogue.
####
Charmaine White Face is a freelance writer and member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, or the Oglala band of the Tetuwan Oceti Sakowin.