Sorry, I forgot to mention that Katherine was the first to break the news on twitter.
And it’s Edgar Bear Runner not Edgar Chasing Bear.
Today, Theresa Two Bulls held a press conference and apologized for the” lack of communication”. Then she proceeded to confuse the issue even further.
She stated that Virgil Kills Straight was the one who originated this “educational opportunity”. I’m still not sure what he had to say other than the whole thing turned out badly.
Apparently Theresa Two Bulls agreed to allow the Colorado National Guard to land at the Wounded Knee site in order to hear an educational and historical presentation by Marie Fox Belly, great-granddaughter of Wounded Knee massacre survivor Dewey Beard. She kind of sort of seems to claim that the helicopters were not war ships, from the 7th Calvary or Weapons of Mass Destruction, but her press conference to clear things up really doesn’t make anything any clearer.
I don’t know helicopters, but I did find that the Colorado's National Guard has deployed 17 of its 20 helicopters to Iraq in 2007. The Colorado Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army and they are most definitely trained in artillery, so it’s not clear why Two Bulls refers to the protester’s statements as “rumors.” There were helicopters from the Colorado National guard in Fallujah. As to the 7th Calvary claim, it could be accurate. The 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry is task organized to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division known from 2008-2009 as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf”). It’s hard to tell with all the activating and inactivating and name changing going on.
http://www.stewart.army.mil/units/1BCT/unit57CAV/history.asphttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/5-7cav.htmOn Brenda Norell’s Censored News blog, Garfield Little Dog, Council Representative from Wounded Knee District said, “A few people present said they heard President Two Bulls on KILI Radio the previous day, asking people to go to Wounded Knee to hear the presentation, but not much information was provided other than that there would be members of the 7th Calvary and National Guardsmen arriving in military air transport.” So there is testimony that the term 7th Calvary may very well be accurate.
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/05/debra-white-plume-military-helicopters.htmlI can’t tell from the video if the copters are the kind used to bring disaster relief to ppl or the kind used in war, but I can tell that there’s NO SNOW on the ground and there’s no blizzard going on there. From what I’ve heard, most tourists park their cars and walk to the Wounded Knee site. They don’t come in helicopters and land right on it. Somehow I don’t think that the US military would ever consider landing helicopters in Père Lachaise, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial or even the Memorial Cemetery in Seoul in the name of learning about history. Apparently anything goes when you adopt the mentality of a tourist in NDN Country. And the guard intended to visit various historical sites that day so I guess the fastest way to see all the sites was just to fly in. Strange tourists ey?
Prez Two Bulls emphasized that the presentation was intended to educate the Colorado National Guard, but she never explained why they needed come by helicopter or why the Colorado National guard all of a sudden needs to initiate some “healing.” She didn’t address the protesters complaints that they weren’t informed or allowed to give input into the plan, but said something about announcing the meeting on KILI radio on Friday April 30th. The protesters are complaining about having less than 24 hours notice and there’s only 30 days in April, so they’re correct on that point. That’s not much time to me. It’s an old trick of the MIM to release a story you don’t want people to know about on a Friday when people are too tired from the work week or too busy with social stuff to notice.
Someone put selected parts of the press conference on YouTube as “OglalaSiouxTribe”
Two Bulls Press Conference pt 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0MSSMBwpB8Two Bulls Press Conference pt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MD27uVY_s0Two Bulls Press Conference pt 3 – not posted
Two Bulls Press Conference pt 4 – not posted
Two Bulls Press Conference pt 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rSkbkPAUicAs it appears on Youtube, this was of the strangest and hardest to follow press conferences I’ve heard in a while. Lots of appeal to emotion, but no real solid information about WHY the copters were allowed to land at that particular site in the first place. Prez Two Bulls totally sidestepped all the points raised by Wambli Tate on Indigenous Rights Movement radio. She never answered the question, why couldn’t they have come in cars and parked at a respectful distance and walked to Wounded Knee? (Maybe it’s in parts 3 and 4 ey?) On YouTube “OglalaSiouxTribe” claims that pt 3 and 4 weren’t posted because YouTube will only allow 10 minutes, but he posted part 5 BEFORE he posted pts 3 and 4. That’s some strange editing.
I’m also not seeing a lot of empathy on Theresa Two Bulls part for the people who went out there to drive the helicopters away. You can’t tell if they were even present at the press conference from the YouTube vidz. I thought the point of the press conference was to listen to the concerns of the people who waved the helicopters off? She seems to be promoting the idea that the whole thing was just a misunderstanding, but it’s clear from the Saturday broadcast that the protesters understood that the guard was coming as part of a healing process. Their issue was clearly with the way they came.
I’ve seen plenty of New Age apologists jump from one emotionally loaded irrelevant point to another and proclaim the good intentions of someone who’s given offense while harping on the need for healing. The same rhetorical techniques are being used here. So the Colorado National guard came with open hearts and minds and there’s a need for healing? No one’s disputing that or upset about that. This tiresome rhetoric doesn’t even begin to address the issues that the protesters raised about how this was done or how war machines at a massacre site could have ever be considered appropriate. Nobody wants to see their tribal dirty laundry aired in public, but not addressing the issues raised never settled anything it usually just makes things worse.
One commenter on Youtube said that to initiate healing, the best place to start is with the truth. I couldn’t agree more.
It also doesn’t make much sense to me that the Colorado National guard would want to initiate a “healing process” with NDNS in South Dakota about something that occurred in the 19th century? Wouldn’t those good intentions have been put to better use delivering food and fuel to the people who needed it last winter? There’s no names given either. This press conference leaves you with more questions than answers.
There’s a better copy of Theresa Two Bull’s press release from Brenda Norell’s Facebook page:
(Go to “view photos of Brenda” link)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30764907&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=807242415&id=1173715012It says that Birgil Kills Straight was contacted by the Colorado National guard and that the guard asked for permission to come to Wounded Knee to have a tribal historian share the stories of what happened on December 29, 1890. Two Bulls claimed she tried to seek input on April 22nd, but didn’t get a response. If your read on, the guard is saying that the reason for the massacre was that the “values of military leadership failed.” If they already know what happened, why do they need a historian to tell them what happened? That doesn’t add up. Two Bulls claims that the guard had an “ethical purpose” by wanting to know the truth, but it sounds like they already had their theory for why the massacre occurred – a failure in leadership! It makes me wonder exactly what would have transpired if the leadership of the 7th Calvary had not failed in 1890! That’s not exactly a heartfelt desire for healing or an admission that anything the 7th Calvary did was morally reprehensible!
I’m not Lakota, so it’s not my business, but the whole thing has the familiar fishy smell of bad tribal politics. It seems to me that Prez Two Bulls and the ppl who started this mess, just want this whole thing to go away. If you talk long enough about things that are beside the point, some people will get tired of it and just drop it.
Here’s a sampling of today’s Face book comments:
Lawrence Sampson:
“Oh yeah. And as the prez admitted, more should have been done to communicate and avoid the scene altogether. In any event, landing those choppers out there was a provocative act, intended or not.”
Michelle Wilder Face Book Notes:
“I ask you to just please just remember the traditional people here.
These are people, real people, who live here, whose relatives died and are buried here. To them, this is terribly disrespectful to their dead.
Neither government appears to see this. This will be the third time that military machines have come to Wounded Knee. It should be understandable that it triggers a deep fear within the people. What is worse is that it is believed to be 7th Calvary helicopters. That still hasn't been cleared up.
Regardless, this is cemetery... have a heart and let their people rest in peace... please... those elders, women and children weren't prayed for when they were dumped into that mass grave. There are so many things wrong with this but rather than rehash it all, can we just agree to stop the hurting?
Talk to the REAL Lakota people, the traditional people, not the people who jump at the chance to make money off of this tragedy. These people only want their dead relatives to be respected.”
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=1379384453Argus Leader article:
Belva Hollow Horn, a member of the Descendants of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre organization, said she considered the helicopters’ presence at the memorial site “outrageous.”
Hollow Horn also said, “Why would you want helicopters landing at the Wounded Knee massacre site,” “That is totally insulting.”
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20100503/NEWS/100503027The incident is starting to get national attention, and not always in a good way.
The comments that were written on the white house discussion board by nons are very offensive and racist. It’s pretty depressing to see how callous and ignorant ppl can be.
http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=63811549237#!/topic.php?uid=63811549237&topic=19183The Daily Show Forum mentions the incident
http://forum.thedailyshow.com/tds/board/message?board.id=story_suggestions&message.id=25741The View Forum has it also
http://theview.abc.go.com/forum/fyi-guys-if-youre-interested?page=1And of course, Russell Means has chimed in on the incident
http://www.republicoflakotah.com/2010/counting-coup-lakota-citizens-stop-us-helicopters-from-landing-at-wounded-knee/Looks like a meeting to establish a protocol for dealing with any more military personnel who want to initiate “healing” is a very good idea.
It also looks like it’s gonna be a real long time before we hear the whole story
.
At least some NDNS found out how to use twitter to get a message out to a lot of potential supporters.
This whole thing is making me glad I only have to deal with the healing energy of the US border patrol who want to harass me for proof of citizenship just for breathing while brown.
