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Oglala
Sioux woman wins historic ruling against U.S. government
PSLweb.org
Army refused to
prosecute recruiter for sexual assault
On May 7, an Oglala Sioux woman from Wounded Knee, S.D., won a
historic ruling in Federal Court. Lavetta Elk won $600,000 from
the federal government after an Army recruiter sexually assaulted
her in January 2003. The judge’s ruling was based on the
"bad man" provision of the 1868 treaty between the
government and the Oglala Sioux.
In 2002, Sergeant Joseph Kopf tried to recruit Lavetta Elk for
the Army. He then harassed her by phone and email for over a year.
In January 2003, she thought Kopf was taking her to be evaluated
for the Army. Instead, Kopf drove her to the middle of nowhere and
sexually assaulted her.
In April 2004, she filed a notice of claim with the Army and
the Department of the Interior, which has jurisdiction over Native
American lands. The Army refused to prosecute Kopf, simply
demoting and removing him from his post as a recruiter.
The Department of the Interior did nothing with Elk’s claim
until she filed in civil court. The case was heard in court only
because of her determination for justice. In the May 7 ruling, a
federal judge awarded Elk actual damages and also imposed punitive
damages.
This case was based on the "bad man" clause, which
states that "if bad men among the whites or among other
people subject to the authority of the United States shall commit
any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United
States will, upon proof made to the agent and forwarded to the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington City, proceed at once
to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the
laws of the United States and also reimburse the injured person
for the loss sustained."
While that clause would fit a long record of offenses against
the Oglala Sioux, this is the first time a U.S. federal court has
cited it in a ruling. If the government appeals the verdict, the
Supreme Court would have to rule on the Treaty of 1868, which
could affect everything from the treatment of Native Americans to
land rights. Such an appeal is unlikely, however.
Elk’s case points to inherent unfairness and racism of the
U.S. capitalist justice system. The clause states that Kopf should
be arrested and charged, but that will most likely not happen.
Instead, hoping to close the matter, the court gave Elk money—as
if that could compensate for the psychological problems she has
suffered since meeting Kopf. Of course, capitalists think money
solves everything—justice be damned.
Nevertheless, the importance of this legal ruling cannot be
denied. Over the past 140 years, the U.S. government has openly
violated every treaty made with the indigenous people of this
land. Elk’s historic victory may have a lasting impact in the
larger struggle for Native American basic human and cultural
rights.
'Battle for Whiteclay'
highlights struggle of Lakota on Pine Ridge
PSLweb.org
Film showings document struggle for self
determination
On April 28, an overflow crowd packed a coffee shop screening
of "Battle for Whiteclay," hosted by the South Dakota
ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). The film
documents the struggle of the residents of the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation in South Dakota and their allies to shut down four
predatory liquor stores across the border in Whiteclay, Neb. It
features Native American activists Frank LaMere, Duane Martin, Sr.
and Russell Means.
Alcohol has been banned on Pine Ridge since the 1970s because
of its crippling effect on residents of the reservation. Whiteclay
is an unincorporated town of 14 people located just 200 feet from
the reservation border and in walking distance from the
reservation’s biggest town. The town as no public services, but
four liquor stores there sell the equivalent of 4.5 million
12-ounce cans of beer annually, mainly to the Native American
residents of Pine Ridge. That’s 12,500 cans per day.
Filmmaker Mark Vasina, who led the discussion at the film
showing, told PSL, "Whitelay is important because it’s a
glaring example, it’s the poster child, for exploitation of the
reservation by border towns."
Whiteclay is known as "the skid row of the prairie."
As the film documents, the misery of alcoholism is on display day
and night in this small town, where public drunkenness is
pervasive. The liquor establishments continually violate liquor
license regulations by selling alcohol to minors, selling to
visibly intoxicated people, allowing alcohol consumption on the
premises and trading alcohol for sex.
Lyle Jack, Oglala Sioux Tribal Council member, describes the
situation in the film: "They know alcohol is banned here, yet
they set up right on the outskirts of the reservation. And they
prey upon our people and their sicknesses, this disease that has
affected them. They make millions of dollars off our people, yet
they do not contribute anything back. … Unfortunately, for a lot
of our people there’s no way out, because the tribe does not
have the funding or the resources to set up our own treatment
centers to help them."
Citations of these violations could easily shut the liquor
stores down, yet law enforcement is conspicuously lacking in the
area. The liquor control commission has failed to act against the
businesses, so they continue to operate freely, even though they
are selling to people who have no legal place to consume the
alcohol. The state of Nebraska receives sizable tax income from
the Whiteclay liquor sales. Business interests, including the
National Beverage Association, have rallied to thwart legislative
efforts to address the problem.
The situation is a clear demonstration that there is one
standard for the majority white population in Nebraska and another
for Native Americans. "It’s a broader issue than the
alcohol—it’s the disregard for health and safety and
disrespect of the Native population on Pine Ridge. [Whiteclay]
only operates with elected officials and law enforcement looking
the other way, all along the chain of command from the local to
the county to the state level," said Vasina.
Conditions on Pine Ridge
Pine Ridge has a long history of oppression and struggle
against oppression. It is home to the site of the 1890 Wounded
Knee massacre, which was later the site of the American Indian
Movement standoff with FBI agents, for which political prisoner
Leonard Peltier is still being held.
A 2006 Special Resource Report by Stephanie Schwartz of the
Native American Journalists Association reveals shocking
statistics about the difficulty of life on Pine Ridge. The tribe
estimates that 40,000 people live on Pine Ridge. Median income is
between $2,600 and $3,500 per year, with 97 percent of the
population living below the federal poverty level. The average
family home has an estimated 17 people squeezed into it.
Thirty-nine percent of the homes have no electricity, in a climate
with extremes of cold and heat.
There is little industry or commercial infrastructure on the
reservation, and as a result, the unemployment rate is soaring at
83-85 percent.
Life expectancy for men is 48 years and for women is 52. Infant
mortality is the highest on the continent, 300 percent higher than
the U.S. average. The school dropout rate is over 70 percent and
the teenage suicide rate is 150 percent of the national average.
Over half of the population over 40 suffers from diabetes, 800
percent higher than the U.S. average.
Alongside and as a result of these desperate conditions,
alcoholism affects eight out of 10 families on Pine Ridge. The
tribal leadership has banned alcohol from the reservation, but the
town of Whiteclay has continued to fuel the problem.
United States breaks treaty
Pine Ridge reservation was originally part of the 60 million
acres of land designated by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 to
belong to the Greater Lakota Nation. But in 1876, the U.S.
government violated the treaty and opened up much of this land to
homesteaders and private interests, including the sacred land of
the Black Hills. What remained was divided up into several smaller
reservations across South Dakota.
After illegal whiskey bootleggers from Nebraska preyed on the
Pine Ridge reservation, the U.S. government established a 50-mile
buffer zone south of the reservation for its protection. But in
1904, President Theodore Roosevelt effectively reversed this
order, over the protests of the Oglala Lakota elders, and the
border town of Whiteclay was born.
Struggle for self-determination
The land on which Whiteclay sits is still disputed by the
tribe. The Oglala Lakota Nation and its allies have continued
their fight, using various tactics to try to shut down the source
of the alcohol that afflicts their people. The tribe has fought
for increased law enforcement, not against their people but
against the businesses that continue to violate liquor sale
regulations on a regular basis. So far, they have managed to pass
state legislation that would prohibit new liquor licenses from
being approved, but they are still struggling to get the existing
businesses shut down.
Starting in 2006, tribal members have attempted an annual road
blockade to stop alcohol from entering the reservation. Protesters
have marched on the capital and also picketed a Nebraska beer
wholesaler that supplies Whiteclay. The film "Battle for
Whiteclay" has raised controversy and awareness about the
struggle across Nebraska. Filmmaker Vasina, who is an organizer
with Nebraskans for Peace, said, "Whiteclay continues to
operate for three reasons: money, racism and apathy." The
ANSWER coalition pledged to help raise awareness and build
solidarity to help overcome these obstacles and win justice for
the reservation. ANSWER will host a second screening next week.
For more information or to order a copy of the film, go to www.BattleforWhiteclay.org
By Meagan Sexton
msexton@siouxcityjournal.com
| Posted: Saturday, March 21, 2009
SIOUX CITY-- What did demonstrators in front of the federal
courthouse want Friday afternoon?
To stop the war in Iraq.
When do they want it?
Now.
That was the chant coming from about 15 sign-carrying peace
activists on the sixth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
The demonstration at the corner of 6th and Douglas streets in
Sioux City was hosted by the Siouxland Coalition for Peace and
the Answer Coalition from Sioux Falls.
Gerald Iversen, spokesman for the Siouxland Coalition for Peace,
said his organization conducts monthly activities such as
demonstrations and educational events to keep people thinking
about peace.
"Peace in our homes, peace in our community and our country
and around the world," he said.
Amanda Todd, organizer for the Answer Coalition, said people
seem to forget there's a war going on or think President Barack
Obama's going to get us out of it and move it to Afghanistan.
"We shouldn't be in Iraq or Afghanistan," Todd said.
"It's really important ... because what are we
accomplishing there? Iraq had nothing to do with anything that
happened to us, and in Afghanistan we didn't achieve our
mission, so what are we still doing there?"
Renee Weinberg, of Sioux City, said Obama told the nation the
war would end and the troops pull out, but she said people are
still dying there.
"There's not enough people, in general, that are involved
with the war, and we want to remind them that this is still
going on," Weinberg said. "I've been passionate about
this cause my entire life. I believe there's too much
intolerance in the world."
People need to remember to speak to their representatives in
Washington about the war and keep the issue in the forefront,
Weinberg said, because the economy is all anyone seems to be
concerned with right now.
KMEG
14
Marking
the 6th Anniversary of the Iraq War
Posted:
March 20, 2009 04:11 PM CDT
( SIOUX CITY, IA) This week
is the 6th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Members of
the Siouxland Peace Coalition and ANSWER Coalition from Sioux
Falls demonstrated in downtown Sioux City Friday. About a dozen
people held signs and waved to cars driving by, promoting their
message of peace and their call to bring troops home immediately.
"We just really want to be a positive presence for peace and
we hope and pray for peace in our homes, in our community, in our
country and in our world," says Gerald Iversen with Siouxland
Peace Coalition.
"The war is still going on so it wasn't just Bush's war, it's
the American war so we're still going to demonstrate against Obama,"
says Chris Huska with ANSWER Coalition.
The ANSWER coalition will hold its own demonstration in Sioux
Falls Saturday. On Thursday, the Siouxland Peace Coalition will
hold a panel at Briar Cliff University to talk about the ongoing
conflict in Gaza.
KTIV
4
Siouxlanders
rally for peace on war anniversary
Posted:
March 20, 2009 05:12 PM CDT
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) - On
this 6th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq, some
Siouxlanders got out for a protest against the war.
Members of the Siouxland Peace
Coalition protested outside Friday afternoon in front of the
Federal Courthouse on 6th and Douglas.
They say six years is too long
for the war since nearly five-thousand U.S. soldiers have lost
their lives.
While members are optimistic
with President Barack Obama, they still feel it's necessary to
push the issue.
"With a new president who
has told us he wants us to pressure him and his government to
promote peace and reduce violence, then we're trying to
accommodate him the best we can," Gerald Iversen, Siouxland
Peace Coalition.
About a dozen people
took part in the demonstration.
About
20 activists made up of South Dakota ANSWER,
the Equality Center and other supporters
of Gay Marriage braved a cold windy Valentine's Day in Sioux Falls
to show their support for equal love.
The group was made up of same sex couples, gay activists and
supporters.
Some of the activists came out for the first time, while others
picked up from a rally from last December protesting the passage
of Prop 8.
The majority of people passing by were supportive and honked their
approval.
The rally lasted about an hour and was high lighted by a young gir l
passing out stuffed Valentine's Day kittens that she gave to the
female protesters.
The rally ended with chants of Hey, hey, ho, ho Bigotry has got to
go! And What do we want? Equal Rights! When do we want them? Now!
As long as gays and lesbians are denied their equal rights the
ANSWER Coalition and other activists will be in the streets to
fight for them.
South Dakota defeats
abortion ban measure
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
PSLweb.org
In brief
Nov. 4 brought a major victory to the working class of South
Dakota. For the second time in two years, voters defeated an
abortion ban by 55 percent to 45 percent.
Out of 66 counties, three counties that voted for the ban in 2006
voted against it in 2008. Forty-two counties voted against the ban
both times. The bourgeois forces that put abortion on the ballot
claimed that as long as there were exceptions for rape and women's
health, the ban would pass. The voters rejected this by voting
"no" to the government telling women what they could and
could not do with their bodies.
However, this victory is not enough. South Dakota still has the
strictest laws in the country when it comes to the right to
choose. There is a mandatory 24-hour waiting period, and a doctor
must perform a sonogram and inform the woman that, by having an
abortion, she is terminating a life. The struggle to overturn
these backward laws must continue.
Mass
protests repudiate homophobic Proposition 8 across the country
Monday, November 17, 2008
PSLweb.org
Grassroots
mobilizations may signal the beginning of new civil rights
movement
On
Nov. 15, demonstrations demanding equal rights for LGBT people
took place across the country, fueled by mass outrage against
California’s Proposition 8. The measure, narrowly approved by
voters on Nov. 4, amends the state constitution to define marriage
as a union between a man and a woman.
In
an impressive show of unity and resolve, mass demonstrations took
place in all 50 states. In Texas, thousands participated in
rallies in Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio; in Wisconsin,
protesters took to the streets in Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay,
La Crosse and Superior; in Colorado, actions were held in Denver,
Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Durango and Aspen.
Altogether, hundreds of cities across the country mobilized in
force, as well as in cities in Canada, England and Australia.
The
grassroots forces at the forefront of this new mass movement have
decisively pushed the struggle into the streets, something that
the “No on 8” campaign put forth by lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender organizations refrained from doing in the lead-up to
the elections. Word of the demonstrations spread quickly through
the Internet and cell phone text messages.
Members
of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition
(Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) participated in a number of
the demonstrations taking place around the country. A round-up of
those actions follows below.
Sioux
Fall, S.D.
Members
of South Dakota ANSWER and the Party of Socialism and Liberation
were joined by the Centers of Equality, Peace and Justice Center
and some students for an LGBT rights rally at City Hall.
After
being told by police that they could not be there, the group
marched over to a busy intersection where they held their signs.
Their anti-bigotry message was met with positive honks of
approval.
Despite
the cold and a strong wind, the group was energetic and there was
a lot of positive energy in bringing a diverse group of people
together with a common cause. Some of the groups had not met or
worked together before, yet they are now planning to collaborate
on future demonstrations and film showings.
Another
demonstration took place in the western region of South Dakota, in
Rapid City.
|
Yankton
Sioux stand up to South Dakota troopers
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
PSLweb.org
Hog
farm project a violation of Native sovereignty
A peaceful demonstration against a hog farm being built
on Yankton Sioux tribal land in southeastern South Dakota
was recently countered by over 70 armed law enforcement
officials in riot gear.
|
|

Snipers positioned on top of a
trailer near the Yankton Sioux
demonstration.
|
In what some are justly describing as an occupation of the
Native lands, the troopers—many of whom come from Iowa—lined
their patrol cars near the Sioux camp on tribal property. Two
snipers were set up on a trailer.
On April 16, the Yankton Sioux Tribe asked the South Dakota
Peace and Justice Center to call for witnesses at the confined
animal feedlot operation (CAFO) construction site near Wagner,
S.D. At that time, 22 people had already been arrested by
the sheriff's department.
According to witnesses at the site, there were over 50 state
troopers backed by another 22 in reserve, all dressed in riot
gear to intimidate the protesters. The road blocked by
protesters is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, not South Dakota state police.
Despite the troopers’ terror tactics, the demonstrators
remained peaceful and undeterred. Many residents have vowed to
keep up the vigils seven days a week. As of May 6, 38 people had
been arrested and subsequently released, including minors and
tribal elders.
The construction began with no formal notice to the tribe and no
environmental impact statement, despite the fact that Yankton
Sioux Tribe children attend Head Start less than three miles
from the site.
The farm being built by Long View Farms from Hull, Iowa, will
house over 7,600 hogs. Industrial livestock is a major source of
greenhouse gasses and water pollution. The site is only four
miles from the Missouri River, a source of water for many
communities.
The treatment of Native Americans in the United States has many
similarities to the colonial apartheid imposed upon the
Palestinians by Israel. Treaties between the Native Americans
and the U.S. government have been broken over and over by the
latter.
The racist state police are on tribal land to "serve and
protect" the hog farm company. Sheriff Westendorf's son is
the electrical contractor for the farm construction project.
South Dakota law enforcement—like any arm of the capitalist
state—exists to defend private property, not the community.
A Yankton Sioux Tribe Hog Farm legal defense account has
been set up at Commercial State Bank at 204 S. Main Ave.,
Wagner, South Dakota 57380.
|
PSL's Amanda
Todd third for Sioux Falls city council
Saturday, April 12, 2008
PSLweb.org
Campaign fought for immigrants, Native Americans,
workers
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Party for Socialism and Liberation member Amanda Todd
received 11.1 percent of the vote in the April 8th Sioux
Falls, S.D., city council election. A first-time candidate,
Todd placed third behind the winner, Kenny Anderson Jr., in an
impressive finish.
Todd, a postal worker and activist, gave the working class
a rare voice by supporting immigrants, sovereignty for Native
Americans and a livable minimum wage. Todd promoted socialism
and the PSL while campaigning in the northeastern section of
Sioux Falls.
With many voters dissatisfied with the current make up of the
council, Amanda provided a genuine alternative. Voters
recognized Todd’s qualifications as a worker and activist,
proving that there is a place for socialism in South Dakota
and that working people do want to be represented.
Todd will use the momentum of her remarkable showing to
further promote socialism and continue fighting shoulder to
shoulder with the workers of Sioux Falls.
Doing their part to protest war
Group wants troops to return from Iraq
By Steve Young
Published: November 25, 2007 in the Argus Leader
Ron Smith knew men who have died in Iraq.
Because of that, the 40-year-old Sioux Falls man knew he had to
stand in the brisk November wind Saturday afternoon and make a
statement about how senseless those deaths are in his mind.
So he and a handful of others gathered along 41st Street in front of
the Olive Garden Restaurant and held up signs calling for an end to
America's war efforts in the Middle East.
"I went into the Army for Reagan and Bush, God and
country," said Smith, dressed in an Army fatigue jacket.
"What I found out was that everything about the world doesn't
conform to what I was told about it. That's why I'm here, to get
people to think a little bit about what we're doing over
there."
Rally organizer Chris Huska said he hoped for several dozen
supporters to display anti-war signs on the bridge over the Big
Sioux River.
The event was held in conjunction with national efforts by the
Answer Coalition, which stands for "Act Now to Stop War and
Racism," Huska said.
The coalition began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and
pushes an agenda of stopping the war and bringing the troops home,
Huska said. The South Dakota chapter has held rallies in Brookings
and Sioux Falls, including one earlier this year at the South Dakota
Battleship Memorial.
Huska said the response they get from passing motorists is mostly
positive.
"Most people, I would say, give us a thumbs up or a
wave," he said just as a truck passing by honked its horn.
"And people who don't agree with us aren't totally negative.
They might give us a thumbs down ... or another digit."
His group supports the soldiers, Huska said, but thinks the best way
to express that support is in a call to bring them home.
"People don't like to hear this, but the reason we are doing
this as a country is to control Iraq and the oil supply. Even Alan
Greenspan has said that," Huska said. "I don't believe
imposing democracy by gunpoint is the way to go."
Neither does Larry Larson, 46, of Sioux Falls. In holding up a sign
Saturday, he was hoping to have a singular effect on the vehicles
driving past him.
"I just want them to think and ask questions," he said.
"If they do that, then it was worth it for me to be here."
Police kill with
impunity in South Dakota
Friday, November 30, 2007
PSLweb.org
State clears police in every instance
Police killings of working-class people do not happen in
South Dakota as often as in big cities like Oakland or New
York. South Dakota police officers, however, can and do shoot
people without worrying about the repercussions.
South Dakota statutes justify homicide if "necessarily
committed" by an officer who is "overcoming
resistance to arrest, capturing escaped felons, arresting
felons fleeing from justice, suppressing a riot or keeping the
peace." (Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Nov. 18)
Over 20 years after a Supreme Court ruling overturned a
Tennessee state law that justified killing a fleeing felon by
police, South Dakota has yet to take its similar law off the
books. Before the ruling, police legally were allowed to kill
any "felon." That is no longer the case, but South
Dakota never changed the law.
While police are given the benefit of the doubt by the media
and ruling class in other states, in South Dakota it is the
rule.
Out of 12 police shootings in the state since 2001, Attorney
General Larry Long has cleared the cops involved in all 12
cases. Six of the victims died at the hands of police. The
state deemed each of the shootings as "justified."
In fact, seven cases occurred in one city, Rapid City, and
three of those cases involved the same officer.
One of the cases involved Lucas Ghost Bear, who was shot three
times and killed by police officer Marc Black. Ghost Bear was
brandishing a knife and was suicidal. Although it was alleged
that Black did not follow police protocol, he was cleared in
an investigation.
Police brutality is much higher on Native American
reservations and in Rapid City than in the eastern part of the
state where more white people live.
No matter where one lives in the United States, police
brutality is a fact of life for workers and oppressed people.
Laws like South Dakota’s help police get away with their
crimes with impunity.
With our without these laws, cops still kill under capitalism.
Exposing this truth and building a genuine movement of
working-class people to stop killer cops is necessary.
|
South Dakota
voters reject anti-woman abortion ban
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
PSLweb.org
Pushing back right-wing attack on women's rights
On Nov. 7, South Dakota voters overturned a state law
that had banned nearly all abortions.
|
In March, Gov. Mike Rounds signed a law that prohibited
abortions at all stages of pregnancy and offered no
exceptions for cases of rape or incest or if the mother
was in poor health. The law would have allowed a doctor to
perform an abortion only if the mother’s life was in
danger, but required the doctor to try to save the life of
the fetus as well as the woman.
The issue of abortion has been used by the Bush
administration and its followers in Congress and state
legislatures to whip up bigotry among their right-wing
religious base. The legalization of a woman’s right to
choose—won as the result of years of struggle—is in
danger.
The South Dakota law was an integral part of this
campaign. The anti-abortion capitalist politicians were
using it as a test case in their continuing attempts to
undermine the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that
legalized abortion. It was the most extreme version of
anti-abortion legislation that has been pushed and passed
in other states. All of these laws have the same
goal—eroding a woman’s right to control her body.
The South Dakota measure was to take effect in July,
but a petition drive by abortion-rights groups forced the
issue onto the ballot and delayed its implementation
pending a voter referendum on the issue.
If the law had been implemented, it would have been a
step backward for women’s and workers’ rights and
further opened the door to attacks on reproductive rights.
In the wake of the law’s defeat, anti-abortion state
legislators are split on whether to accept the will of the
voters or to try to implement an abortion ban with some
exceptions.
Republican senator Jason Gant said that the state
voiced their opinion and "we need to just go with
that." But state representative Roger Hunt, who
introduced the bill banning abortions, vowed to restart
discussion of an abortion ban in January 2007. (Sioux
Falls Argus Leader, Nov. 9.
Hunt also said that lawmakers could introduce bills
that continue to chip away at the availability of the
procedure. One possible bill would require a pregnant
woman to view a fetal ultrasound before the abortion
procedure takes place.
Women’s reproductive rights are already severely
restricted in South Dakota. There is only one clinic in
the state that provides abortions and only on one day per
week. The single clinic is at the extreme eastern part of
the state. All women who seek abortions must go through a
24-hour waiting period and endure mandatory counseling.
Progressive groups and reproductive rights
organizations were jubilant with the results. "It is
a very important victory for people who are open-minded
and progressive in this country," said Sarah Stoesz,
chief of Planned Parenthood’s operations in the Dakotas
and Minnesota. (Reuters, Nov. 8)
Over $2 million was poured into the ballot issue on
both sides. It became a national flashpoint for both
women’s rights advocates and reactionary, anti-abortion
activists.
Grassroots organizing helped stop the legislation. More
than 2,000 volunteers throughout the state stood on street
corners, knocked on doors, and helped to reenergize the
pro-choice movement in South Dakota in the months before
the vote.
Reproductive rights need to be seen by revolutionaries
and progressives as part of the overall struggle for
working women.
Protestors gather to oppose war in Iraq
Peace rally held to demonstrate opposition to the
war and call for soldiers to come home
(SDSU Collegian)
By: Jenna Mann
Posted: 9/19/07
SDSU students, faculty and Brookings residents held a peace rally
outside the post office at noon on Sept. 14.
The group of anti-war protesters gathered at 11:45 a.m. in the
grass just southwest of The Union and then marched to the post
office on Main Street for a silent vigil. They wore painted
T-shirts and held homemade signs calling for a troop withdrawal
from Iraq. The South Dakota Answer Coalition sponsored the event
in concurrence with a rally held in Washington D.C. that drew tens
of thousands of people, including Jane Fonda, an actress who drew
fire for protesting the Vietnam War, to the city to protest the
war in Iraq.
"We want to get the troops home right now," said Chris
Huska with the Answer Coalition. According to Huska, they also
held a rally Sept. 15 at the Battleship Memorial in Sioux Falls.
"A lot of people probably aren't thinking about the war, but
when they see people walking with signs, they know someone is
trying to do something," said Huska.
"It's something I do feel very strongly about. I've felt from
the start that we shouldn't be in Iraq," said Allison Crisler,
a junior English major, who was one of the students involved with
the peace rally. She said there were more people taking part than
she had expected, and also of different demographics. She said she
had assumed the participants would be mostly students and she was
surprised to see so many instructors and city residents. Crisler
also said this was an unusual time for this type of demonstration.
"Now we're in the majority," she said.
Russ Stubbles, a parks management professor, also took part in the
rally. "I've seen war. I prefer peace. Anybody with a brain
would do the same," he said.
According to Brian Price, a Brookings resident and self-proclaimed
"concerned citizen," the war in Iraq is the first
privatized war in American history. He said the war is
government-funded, but is controlled by corporations like
Halliburton.
"It's an experiment in privatized government and it's not
working," said Price.
Huska said that if there is enough interest, the Answer Coalition
would hold more demonstrations in Brookings and at SDSU. He said
that the Answer Coalition holds a demonstration the last Saturday
of every month in Sioux Falls.
For more information, visit www.sodakanswer.org.
Franklin
Patriot Video of September 15 Protest in Sioux Falls

Click to Watch
Labor Day Event On
Healthcare Sheds Light On A Broken Capitalist System
September 10, 2007
The Sioux Falls Trades
and Labor Assembly hosted a Labor Day Rally on Monday September 3rd, which was attended by
about 80 people. The three hour event's theme was on
healthcare and what can be done for American workers.
The event featured several speakers including South Dakota AFL-CIO President Mark Anderson, two
South Dakota state senators and a member of the ANSWER Coalition.
With South Dakota ranking near the bottom of the list of the Kaiser
Foundation report on Employer-Based Family Premiums, many workers
were concerned about healthcare for families and who would
pay for uninsured children.
The politicians gave vague answers and talked about the need to
support democratic candidates, while admitting that democrats
would be playing "defense" against a republican led
state congress.
Speaking on behalf of the American Postal Workers Union and
representing all workers and the South Dakota ANSWER Coalition, Chris Huska talked about the 47
million people in the US who lack healthcare and the bosses who
put rising costs on the working class. He also talked about how
retirees are especially hit hard and as contracts expire, so do
the health benefits.
While the capitalist healthcare industry brings in billions of
dollars in profits each year, workers are hit with higher costs.
Only a socialist system sees healthcare as a human right and
workers must spearhead this struggle with a mass action campaign
to win universal health care and defeat insurance companies and
capitalist bosses.
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Pine
Ridge Reservation will not get health clinic
Friday, August 10, 2007
Continuing the annihilation of Native peoples
The article is a special report to PSLweb.org
from South Dakota.
The Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in
South Dakota is as big as the state of Connecticut.
It is one of the poorest areas in the Western
Hemisphere. Unemployment is around 85 percent and
the average family income is $4,000 a year.
The reservation is home to 28,000 Lakota Sioux.
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Each person on the reservation receives a paltry $2,000
a year in compensation for land stolen by the U.S.
government. Although the land is some of the
richest in the country, the tribe sees only a third of
the over $30 million in agricultural wealth that is
generated off the land every year.
And now Pine Ridge residents may be deprived of
something else they should rightfully have.
In February, T. Denny Sanford donated $400 million
dollars to Sioux Valley Hospitals (now Sanford Health)
in order to build centers for pediatric care in areas
with little or no services in South Dakota. Sanford is a
billionaire banker.
A number of communities, including Pine Ridge, have
expressed interest. So far, 80 have applied. The need is
great in each area, but nowhere is it greater than on
the reservation.
In the late 1800s, the U.S. government signed
treaties with the Sioux nation pledging that the federal
government would fund medical treatment on reservations.
But like many other treaties, the government has broken
its word. The Indian Health Service, especially on the
Pine Ridge Reservation, is inadequately funded and
greatly understaffed.
On the reservation, the infant mortality rate is the
highest on this continent. It is 300 percent higher than
the U.S. national average. The tuberculosis rate is 800
percent higher than the national average.
The weight of hundreds of years of state-sponsored
genocide, ethnic cleansing and national oppression still
weigh heavily on the Native populations in the United
States. This is felt most heavily on reservations like
Pine Ridge, where just over 30 years ago the U.S.
government brutally repressed a thriving national
liberation movement led by the American Indian Movement.
Sanford Health is ignoring the reality facing Native
peoples as it chooses future pediatric- care clinic
locations. They have "more important" things
in mind. Sanford Health officials have said that, while
the clinics are not meant to be "cash cows,"
they must be financially self-sustaining. (Sioux Falls
Argus Leader, June 24)
David Link, Sanford Health’s vice president of
development and research, has said there are no plans to
open a reservation clinic at this time.
In reality, the new clinics are meant to secure
Sanford’s hold on the medical market in the state and
to bolster the corporation’s profits. The medical
corporation has started an advertising war with Avera,
Sanford Health’s major competitor in South Dakota. A
drive around Sioux Falls reveals expensive Sanford
Health billboards everywhere one looks.
Sanford Health has been moving into South Dakota
towns like Mitchell and Aberdeen where Avera is already
located—an attempt to smash the competition. Helping
those in need is secondary to staying number one in the
capitalist health market.
More health clinics are badly needed in the United
States, especially in rural areas and places like the
Pine Ridge Reservation. Billions of dollars are needed
for the working class and oppressed to have adequate
health care.
In addition, Native Americans in Pine Ridge and all
over the country deserve massive reparations and control
over the conditions under which they live. This
includes, first and foremost, modern health clinics and
hospitals.
Any clinic or health service that the people can win
or establish will be helpful, but the biggest
impediments to greater health care are the big hospital
chains like Sanford Health, the insurance companies and
the drug companies—products of the capitalist system.
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First
South Dakota execution in 60 years
Friday, July 20, 2007
PSLweb.org
Capitalist machinery to kill the poor
On the night of July 11, South Dakota executed
Elijah Page. He was the first person executed by
the state in 60 years.
Over 100 people turned out to protest the
execution.
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Elijah Page
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Page was killed by a lethal injection. The
execution was originally set for last year. Governor
Mike Rounds postponed the execution because of
concerns over the drugs used in the lethal injection.
Page was convicted in 2000 for the death of Chester
Allan Poage. Page, 18 at the time, confessed to the
murder.
In January 2006, Paged waved his rights to appeal
the death sentence.
Like many on death row in the United States, Page
grew up in dire poverty. He had endured a history of
extreme abuse and neglect. At the age of two, Page’s
mother allowed him to be sexually molested in exchange
for drugs. He was in and out of foster homes and
juvenile detention centers his entire life.
A judge, not a jury, sentenced Page to death. There
are currently three other prisoners on death in row in
South Dakota, including Briley Piper, who was
convicted of the same crime as Page.
Thirty-eight states have passed laws legalizing the
death penalty since the Supreme Court reinstated it in
1976. Only four states have not executed anybody in
that time: Kansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New
York. Texas has executed 397 people since 1976.
The death penalty is promoted by ruling class
supporters as a so-called deterrent to crime, but in
reality it is a way for the capitalist class to kill
working-class people, especially African Americans.
Elijah Page was a victim of capitalism: a system of
greed, poverty and alienation.
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