The State Capital, Sacramento California, Friday 12-4-09.Speech by Quanah Parker Brightman
Religious Persecution has been a Harsh Reality for My People Since The Illegal Occupation Of Our Home Land Began Back In 1492, Resulting in the loss of Our language and Our Traditional practices. Fact, The Federal Government Outlawed Our Religion in 1884. . . lasted until 1904. Then, they enriched the laws, and it lasted until The 1930's. In 1890 at a Place Called Wounded Knee Creek In South Dakota. A Group of Native Americans Gathered Together to Practice a Then New Form of Religion Called The Ghost Dance. The Federal Government Did Not Want Them To Do This, So, They Sent In The 7th Cavalry. They Then Divided The Women And Children On One Side And The Men On The Other Disarmed Them And They Shoot Them Down. They Massacred Over 250 Native Americans For Worshiping There Own Religion And To Add Even Further Insult, The United States Rewarded These Brave Soldiers 26 Congressional Medals Of Honor. That is The Highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. I Ask Each of You. . .What's So Brave About Killing Unarmed Women And Children??? Every Tribe Across America Has Had a Similar Story To Share, Such As The Bloody Island Massacre For The Pomo Nation Here In California. And So On. . .And So On. . . Although the American Indian Religious freedom act of 1978 removed some restrictions on our traditional practices, We Need to further insure that Our Religion is Respected. Today We Are Here to Ask That All Our Political Prisoners Be allowed to participate in their ceremonies that our people have been Practicing since the Beginning of Time. We need more legal guaranties for the protection of our sacred sites and our burials sites. The Federal bureau of prisons and the United States prison system must develop tolerance of the many different belief systems and change their closed minded ways towards the treatment of our political prisoners. It would be nice to see the united states of American; land of the free…home of the brave… Honor the international religious freedom act of 1998. The act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 27, 1998.
The use of the sacred pipe must be allowed into the prison system. The California state prison system is mandated to provide diverse religious and spiritual needs of all inmates. They are called chaplains, these chaplains provide counseling services, and they organize or coordinate religious services and are supposed to deliver “Requested” Religious Materials.
We Ask That All Correctional Facilities Across America Hire more Native American chaplains to help heal our political prisoners, This must be done. Intervention Can and Must be done by a Native American spiritual advisor such as a Traditional medicine man or woman.
More funding must also be provided for the building And Maintaining Our sweat lodges in each institution. These Nation to Nation implementation guidelines should govern the development of these plans and be embraced by Every and All Correctional Facilities Across the World.
This is a human rights violation and is a direct violation of the constitution and the bill of rights!!!
We all pray to the same GOD CALLED by different NAME. WE CALL HIM "WAKATANKA" "TUNKASILA"
“CREATOR” “Jesus” etc!
We Also Ask, When Will President Obama Free Our Nelson Mandela?? Leonard Peltier has been in jail for over 33 years For a Crime He Did Not Commit. (Free Leonard Peltier)
FACT, America has more inmates than any other nation in the world. The land of the free. Free for only the political Elite.
Very rarely do You see the rich going to jail for long prison sentences, only the poor! It’s a double standard of justice.
We need more educational and rehabilitation centers to help heal our people.
In closing. . .
Chief LAME DEER once said
BEFORE OUR WHITE BROTHERS CAME TO CIVILIZE US WE HAD NO JAILS. THEREFORE WE HAD NO CRIMINALS. YOU CANT HAVE CRIMINALS WITHOUT A JAIL. WE HAD NO LOCKS OR KEYS, AND SO WE HAD NO THIEVES. IF A PERSON WAS SO POOR THAT HE HAD NO HORSE, TIPI OR BLANKET, SOMEONE GAVE HIM THESE THINGS. WE WERE TOO UNCIVILIZED TO SET MUCH VALUE ON PERSONAL BELONGINGS. WE WANTED TO HAVE THINGS ONLY IN ORDER TO GIVE AWAY. WE HAD NO MONEY, AND THEREFORE A MANS WORTH COULDN’T BE MEASURED BY IT. WE HAD NO WRITTEN LAW, NO ATTORNEYS OR POLITICIANS, THEREFORE WE COULDN’T CHEAT. BUT NOW VISIBLE PROGRESS IS EVERYWHERE—JAILS ALL OVER THE PLACE AND WE KNOW THESE JAILS ARE FOR US INDIANS. WHAT A PITY THAT SO MANY OF US DON’T APPRECIATE THEM.
Thank You.
All My Relations.
Quanah Parker Brightman
Vice President of
United Native Americans,Inc
(510)672-7187
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