Lakota AID Registered Charity No: 1097444

CERD Appeal The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will be meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, from Feb. 18 to March 7, 2008. The Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council sent a complaint to CERD last spring. The complaint is based on the illegal trespass by the United States into the territory of the Teton Sioux Nation, guaranteed to them for their ’absolute and undisturbed use’ by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, and the subsequent destruction of the environment of the Treaty Territory particularly through uranium exploration and mining. As this final territory is the last homeland of the people of the Teton Sioux Nation, and as nuclear radiation is affecting the people in seven (7) different ways, the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council considers this an act of genocide and has asked CERD to intervene. CERD has scheduled the United States to appear before the Committee during their meeting commencing Feb. 18, 2008. At this writing, no specific date is scheduled for when the United States will appear to answer the complaint. The Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council would like to send four (4) representatives to Geneva to attend the sessions. They have accommodations with local Swiss families, but need four (4) roundtrip airline tickets from Rapid City, South Dakota, USA, to Geneva, Switzerland leaving on Feb. 14, 2008 and returning on March 8, 2008. They also need funds for expenses while in Geneva: local public transportation and meals. The representatives from the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council are all elders of the tribe and live either on small fixed incomes, or minimum wages so are unable to personally provide for these additional expenses. They are: Charmaine White Face, Spokesperson; Clifford White Eyes Sr., Janice Badhorse Larson, and Garvard Good Plume, Jr. Ms. White Face, Mr. White Eyes, and Mr. Good Plume previously attended sessions at the United Nations in Geneva. The Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council works in conjunction with Defenders of the Black Hills, a non-profit organization. More detailed information about the uranium and nuclear radiation situation in the Treaty Territory can be found on the Defenders website: www.defendblackhills.org.     [Home] [Why the Lakota need your Help] [Newsletter] [Ambulance Project]