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declaration of sovereignty from the indigenous peoples of the rocky
mountains to the governments of canada, alberta, the united states
of america and the world.
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1992 marks 500 years of european domination in the western
hemisphere, and for the indigenous peoples of the rocky mountains
and northern plains it will be a time for total emancipation from
the alien laws that have allowed us to live as we were instructed
to by the great mystery.
we have witnessed your concept of sovereignty and civilization
which allows air, water, earth and yourselves to be poisoned,
raped, and despiritualized so that your children inherit the curse
you refer to as your culture. the earth is our government, and the
natural laws of the creation that we have chosen to honour and live
by, give us our sovereignty.
our people have lived sovereignty in this western hemisphere for at
least thirty thousand years because of our belief system.
going back a mere one hundred years to the time of your industrial
revolution in our homelands, the earth and our people have been
victims of serious and unnecessary destruction to the extent that
your own scientists have announced that you must change your
unnatural and unclean ways or you will not survive another decade.
upon your arrival in this hemisphere, our ancestors advised your
forefathers how to live with the earth, because of greed and
arrogance you find yourselves in the perilous situation that you
are today.
we cannot relate to "canada" because it represents colonial
oppression, industrial and corporate greed, and a people out of
balance living in distress and uncertainty. the origin of the word
"canada" derives from the word "kanata", which, in our language,
means clean; so for us to accept being canadian is to accept not
only the pollution of our language but to include ourselves amongst
those who have turned this beautiful country into the unclean state
it is in today. you would be well-advised to listen to those
concerned people amongst you who are offering safe and healthy
alternatives to your dangerous and life threatening ways.
our people have historically accessed the rocky mountains and
ceased to do so only because of the imposition of "your indian
act", and "your fraudulent treaties" which we were forced to sign
or face extermination.
the day is over for our people existing in "third world" conditions
created by you and further perpetrated through your racist
governmental policies.
we will begin to occupy the rocky mountains in the province of
alberta as we are aware of the water diversion conspiracy between
the governments of the united states of america, canada, and the
province of alberta.
we will not allow you to divert the rivers to the south because
they do not belong to you and were not placed on this earth to
accommodate your schemes. these rocky mountains have always been
and will continue to be our sacred spiritual centre, so it should
be well understood by all why we will defend them with our very
lives. we will obey the law of our nation and stop anyone who will
come in to abuse or disrupt the natural order; the natural order
includes the animal nations that are an inseparable part of our
world.
we are not claiming ownership of these mountains as it is against
our laws to own the earth, but we are informing you that no
government or corporation in this world will ever again be allowed
to imposed their alien legalistic policies of destruction on our
homeland. all people are welcome to access these mountains and
experience the beauty and power of our common mother, but we will
not tolerate any further desecration of our holy land.
the political terminology use to determine the status and rights of
our people will no longer apply. we know who we are, and we will
not permit neo-colonialists to further misrepresent us by begging
for recognition from you through a constitutional process which you
cannot even agree upon amongst yourselves.
any harassment whatsoever from any branch of your governments,
directed toward our people, will be interpreted as an act of
aggression and will be dealt with immediately by our nations'
defenders.
if you wish to deal with us in a court of law, we will gladly
accommodate you through a world tribunal held in our territory with
all the other nations present to witness your reply to the charge
of genocide.
in conclusion, we would like you to understand that we have serious
concerns for our children's future and that future depends on our
ability to honour the earth by protecting the natural world of
which we are a part. for non-indigenous peoples and governments,
we invite you to learn from us for the good of your children's
future and to restore the balance and sanity to the people of the
earth. to the government of canada, we invite your representatives
to abandon their arrogance and misconceptions of our people and
begin to listen and learn from us, for we have much to offer you in
ways of finding solutions to the problems you have created. we
have been watching you stumble through your constitutional talks
and see clearly how secularly humanized you have become, so we
will, in closing, offer you some advice which to our people is a
living philosophy: "a constitution that is in harmony with the
earth will bring harmony to the people of the earth."
for an in-depth understanding of
this declaration, write or phone:
indigenous people of the rocky mountains
p.o. box 5157
hinton, alberta
canada t7v 1x5
phone: (403)865-7549