Tribe Member: 'We Would Have Been Dead By Now' If We Acted Like Oregon Militants

[tecelote]

The Paiute tribe says the protesters need to leave.



BURNS, Ore. -- The armed protesters who seized remote federal property in Oregon should leave, the Burns Paiute Tribal Council urged Wednesday. The occupiers claim the federal land rightfully belongs to the mostly white population of eastern Oregon, but Harney County was largely Paiute territory prior to white settlement.

On a foggy Wednesday morning, some of the tribe's nearly 420 members gathered at the top of a snow-packed hill on the Paiute reservation to discuss their concerns about the outsiders. The doors of the meeting center were plastered with signs warning people not to bring firearms inside.

"As a Native, if we were to go out there and fight back like they are, we would have been dead by now," said Carla Teeman, a social services assistant at the tribe.

"They are desecrating one of our sacred traditional cultural properties," said Charlotte Rodrique, the tribal chair. "They are endangering our children and the safety of our community."

Read More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tribe-member-american-indians-would-have-been-dead-by-now-if-they-protested-like-oregon-militants_568d8bc8e4b0c8beacf58547

[Downwinder]

1. The public shaming of White Privilege might be

best thing to come out of this.

[madokie]

2. You bet they would

and this white privilege that we're so caught up in sucks

I'm an old mostly white man btw

[Ms. Yertle]

3. That situation has happened, with no deaths

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexian_Brothers%27_Novitiate#Seizure_of_the_Novitiate

The building is best known for being seized by the Menominee Warrior Society, a subset of the American Indian Movement, in 1975, with demands that it be turned over to the nearby Menominee Indian Reservation. Though successful, it ultimately was returned to Gresham, where it would be largely forgotten.

[newfie11]

4. That's very true, sad but true!

Russel Means is still in Jail from the 70's.

[Mendocino]

5. Russell Means

passed away in 2012. Are you maybe thinking of Leonard Peltier?

[newfie11]

8. I had no idea he had passed away, thanks

I'm not on the Res anymore so had not heard.
So Leonard Peltier is still in prison?

[liberalhistorian]

9. You're thinking of Leonard Peltier.

Russell Means died of cancer in 2012 and had not been in jail for a very, very long time at that point. He'd run twice for Chairman of the Oglala Sioux Tribe (Pine Ridge Reservation) just a few years before and was narrowly defeated each time.

This state (South Dakota) spewed its usual racist shit when he died, twisting and distorting history and his words and actions.

Peltier could use some thoughts, however, as he now has a serious abdominal aorta that is on the verge of bursting and he's rightfully very worried about the kind of treatment he'll receive or if he'll get the surgery he needs to remove it.

[Omaha Steve]

6. I agree

K&R!

OS

[kiva]

7. Nope.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_incident Two deaths after two month of occupation, though a U.S. Marshal was shot a paralyzed about a month into the occupation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Alcatraz No attempt to kill or oust occupiers, one death due to an accident.