Native Americans Hold Equal Rights Rally
Lee Ann Ragains requests that President Obama sign a Presidential Executive Order in support of an Emancipation Proclamation ending the trust responsibilities of the U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) over individual Indians. Lee Ann calls on the U.S. government to release allotted lands, as well as the money now held in trust accounts—to help transition American Indians from bondage under "sovereign" tribal governments to individual liberty and equal rights. Lee Ann: "Tribal councils, the U. S. Department of Interior and its Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, do not speak for American Indians. Please make the U.S. government stop its version of 'helping' us. We've been American citizens since 1924, yet we are still considered to be incompetent domestic dependents—segregated since Congress's 1830 Indian Removal Act. This abuse of war power by Congress also undermines and diminishes the sovereignty rights of city, county, state, and federal governments." Lee Ann continues, "A new Emancipation Proclamation must allow every American Indian citizen, on or off a reservation, to have the same equal protection of U.S. law that governs citizens in every city and county across America." Todd Fast Horse: "Sovereign tribal governments deny citizens equal rights and constitutional protections. People just don't understand that the sovereignty enjoyed by tribal governments takes away the rights of us tribal members. Tribal councils control Indian lives and every aspect of tribal government, programs, federal funding, revenue, jobs, and even food donated by organizations. I firmly believe that aggrieved tribal enrollees must have access to the same legal opportunities, including state and federal courts, as every other U.S. citizen." Other speakers at the Sept. 25 noontime Capitol Rally will be The Resource Party candidates Linda Eno (Governor), Howard Hanson (Lt. Governor), and David Hoch (Attorney General). When The Resource Party soon evolves from third-party status to a major party, and is allowed into major-party debates, its great platform can fix our Republic. ST. PAUL, MN - Lee Ann Ragains, a Northern Arapaho, Cherokee, and Spirit Lake Sioux from Kingfisher, Okla., and Todd Fast Horse, a Lakota Sioux from Rosebud, S. D., will speak on the Minnesota Capitol steps in St. Paul this coming Saturday, Sept. 25, at 12 noon. Guests of The Resource Party, they will advocate for equal protection of the law for American Indian United States citizens. The Resource Party proudly embraces a platform plank supporting their efforts.
