Sid
is notable as one of the frontline activists who fought with the Franks
Landing Indian Community, which was recently noted by President Obama
in his speech at the December 2012 meeting with tribal leaders at the
White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/12/06/president-obama-hosts-nations-tribal-leaders . (The activist of Franks Landing!)
Sid
was threatened with jail for trying to reestablish a traditional
cultural camp in the Indian Heaven Wilderness Area surrounded by the US
Gifford National Forest in Washington State. The camp is called Meadow
Creek Indian Camp and is within the Handshake Treaty area.
The
traditional huckleberry picking area of many northwest tribes in it is
located between 4 volcanoes, Mt Rainer, Mt St Helene, Mt Hood and Mt
Adams. On Saturday 7/13/13 there was a bust by Forest Service cops who
also called county Sheriffs, threatened to take Sid to jail for
reestablishing traditional and cultural camp without a permit.
As
president of the Native American Church for the Washington state area,
he and 20 others were preparing for the yearly gathering for ceremonies
in the mountains. This yearly event brings hundreds of indigenous
people from all over the Northwest and as far as Mexico to practice and
exercise cultural and spiritual ways at the end of July.
Now
hundreds are preparing to attend the ceremonies and are also preparing
to go to jail to exercise the spiritual and cultural rights in the usual
and accustomed sites. Pictures to follow. Sid Mills is a decorated
Vietnam veteran and is over 80% disabled from being blown up by mortar
fire, which left him with one lung. Now impaired further with diabetes,
he and others are preparing to once again exercise human/indigenous
rights to practice cultural and spiritual ways at all costs. Sid fought
as an Indigenous man in the armed forces only to be denied his own
rights. The cops realized after threatening to take all 50 Indians to
jail, that this was not going to happen, as they were all ready to call
them on it. So citations to appear in Federal court for destruction of
federal property and being there without a permit were handed to him. A
tree was cut and hole dug in the ground.
Sid
had attempted to get assistance from the US Forest Service, after
President Obama issued the MOU to protect sacred sites and access to the
top Federal agencies (http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/federal-agencies-announce-action-plan-to-guide-protection-of-indian-sacred-sites.cfm)
by holding a meeting with the supervisor of the US Forest service for
the northwest. But the supervisor undermined his efforts and compared
them to the Rainbow family gathering in the US Forests, and further
added that Indians had no special rights because they were also
immigrants to the land. Never once did she acknowledge the President's
MOU, which had been provided to them, as well as a list of other
congressional and international acts regarding cultural and spiritual
rights of indigenous people. While the President might make a nice
written MOU, it’s the white folks in agencies like the US Forest Service
that maintain ignorance and racism. Of all the people the supervisor
could have brought to the meeting, like a cultural liaison, she choose
to bring the head cop for the Forest service, breaking the spirit of her
boss President Obama's MOU.
Original Article
Source: bsnorrell.blogspot.ca
Author: Censored News
No comments:
Post a Comment