Lakota AID Registered Charity No: 1097444 Volume 2 Issue7

Hi Everyone Well, once again Christmas is almost upon us all!! The shopping madness has set in with the usual crowded shops and all the pushing and shoving that goes with it! Personally, I hate shopping and avoid it like the plague if I can, but somehow you just cannot totally escape it at this time of year can you!! I want to thank everyone that has supported Lakota Aid throughout 2004, and the previous 2 years also. Without the support and generosity of all you lovely people, this would not be possible, so a BIG thank you to you all. I can give you a brief update on the progression of the documentary filmed on the reservation in Sept of this year, by the wonderful Bob Celecia and his brilliant team. He  (as he puts it), will be going flat out in Jan and Feb on editing this film, in readiness for it hitting the circuit sometime in 2005. I was told that there is around 22 hours of footage to be condensed down into a 20 minute documentary, which is a pretty mind boggling process. I would not know where to start, as all the interviews with the Lakota people were just fabulous, and personally I would make people sit and watch all 22 hours of it- haha!!!! Seriously though, I cannot wait to see the edited version and will let you have updates as I have them. I would also like to report on a successful hunger strike that took place in early Dec, in the United Nations building in Geneva. Taking part in this hunger strike were Adelard Blackman from the Buffalo River Dene Nation , Canada ; Andrea Carmen from the Yaqui Nation, Arizona, U.S.A ; Alexis Tiouka from French Guyana ; Danny Billie from the Traditional Independent Seminole Nation of Florida, U.S.A ; Saul Vicente from Zapoteca, Mexico; and Charmaine White Face, Oglala Tetuwan, Sioux Nation Territory, North America. These wonderful Indigenous people were pressing their case that they have a voice that should be heard, and that the Draft Declaration for Indigenous Rights , drawn up 10 years ago, should stand fast and unchanged! I had the honour of meeting Charmaine White Face, in sept, and also Clifford White Eyes and Garvard Good Plume, both of whom attended the United Nations conference also. I can honestly say ,with hand on heart, that I am very proud of Charmaine for standing firm with her collegues, and also of Clifford and Garvard for supporting them all also. I am truly honoured to know these people, and I feel sure that the late Tony Black Feather (Garvard’s Uncle), would have been smiling down on all of them. Once again, many, many thanks for caring. I am once again concentrating this winter on providing propane fuel for as many families as I have funds for. An ongoing process for sure, but a very vital one as we all know. Have a great Christmas and New Year. Lets hope that 2005 will be an even bigger and better one for Lakota Aid, and for the Lakota people of the Pine Ridge reservation. In the words of the late Tony Black Feather ‘Let the Spirit Lead’. Mitakuye Oyasin Brenda  [Home] [Why the Lakota need your Help] [Newsletter] [Ambulance Project]