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Trail of Broken Promises 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
UN Speech
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples Consultation
May 3, 2012 at the University of Tulsa’s Native
American Law Center
Ya’ah teh. Shey ya Millicent Pepion
enshiiye. Todikoshi inslev’. Blackfeet
bushachiingi. Tachiini a da shi chey. Billagana a da shi noli. Hos do da’ na
sha. A he’ hee onoosltso.
Greetings,
everything is good. Who I am called is Millicent Pepion that is my name. The
Bitter Water People from Whipper Well are my maternal and first clan. The
Blackfeet People are my paternal and second clan. My great grandmothers are
Their Forehead is Red People. My great grandfathers are White people. I’m from the really hot area of the world (Phoenix,
AZ). Thank you, all of you who came through this doorway and will leave out the
same doorway.
I
am a student at a tribal university originally founded in 1884 as the United
States Indian Industrial Training School, an off reservation Indian boarding
school. The Haskell Indian Nations University community has introduced me to
the practice of showing higher levels of respect for all of my relations. This
summer I -with other Haskell students and supporters from Lawrence, Kansas-
will journey from the Wakarusa Wetlands, a sacred, endangered place located
directly behind our campus, to Washington D.C. on what we are calling the Trail of Broken Promises.
This
is a spiritual issue. We believe that Congress needs to address specific
legislation to protect sacred places in an inclusive manner for all people whom
those places affect. To make this point known we will carry the Protection of Native
American Sacred Places Act. By walking the Trail of Broken Promises we call
attention to the spiritual interconnectedness that we as human beings have with
our environment and all elements within it.
We
declare that a mutual respect and dignity be given to Native American people in
concerns that affect our home communities. We respectfully request that the
U.S. government adhere to our cultural, social, medical, environmental, and spiritual
interests that the Trail of Broken Promises members seek to protect.
Article three of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples supports self-determination for
indigenous communities. Certain policies have granted us the right to exercise
self-determination in our education system’s design and curriculum. We yearn
for the opportunity to teach the next generation how to build positive
relationships with the environment through language revitalization, traditional
storytelling, ceremonial and traditional cultural practices that enrich traditional
ecological knowledge essential to surviving collectively in harmony with all
life. We insist the U.S. government acknowledge and adhere to treaty and trust
obligations that exist, legally binding contracts that safeguard our right to
education.
In
addition, we contend that respect is given to the children. Seventh generation
teachings are applicable to all life and explain that the future is directly
proportional to its history. Our children need guidance, support, and love as
they grow in the education environments that we have created. We need to
protect the ecological and social habitats of these special places. Our
foundation of learning must include lessons specific to the stories and
histories of Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas and all over the world.
The
Trail of Broken Promises seeks to educate the general public about a history of
human beings who once thrived in this beautiful country abundantly and with social
cultural practices more peaceful than our present situation. We seek to foster
positive life-enhancement systems for plants, animals, and all our relations.
Collective human action is needed to provide adequate consideration for future
generations of all cultures.
A
balance between Native science and Western science can be achieved for the
betterment of all life. As a Native American woman I have been told I must walk
honorably on a middle ground centered between two paths: the red road and the
black road. I must respect both worlds equally and simultaneously. This means
in order to stabilize my existence I must incorporate my traditional teachings
into a modern society.
Since
I have attended Haskell University I have learned that the Wakarusa Wetlands
were formed 700,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age when the last Kansas
glaciers melted. The White Plume People once inhabited the wetlands and were
named after the Snowy Egret. My
instructors have also showed me the Wakarusa Wetlands are a place where I can
talk with Mother Earth and realign the balance between myself and my
environment through prayer and meditation. The Wakarusa Wetlands are a sacred
place.
In
Kansas, most of the wetlands have been drained or lost at a rate that parallels
the decline in population of Native peoples indigenous to Kansas. The Trail of
Broken Promises is asking for help from local, state, tribal, and federal agencies
in the hope that they will endorse policies that protect our land and cultures.
Our children are counting on us.
I
forgive the U.S. government for what they did to my people. I forgive those who
deliberately inflicted inter-generational trauma to my family. I offer
forgiveness to all walks of life in hopes better relationships can be attained.
I hope my offering is received in the spirit that it is given as we enter an
era when it is most crucial to alert ourselves about the respect and understanding
of adopting these standards for the benefit of all of our relations. It is the
Trail of Broken Promises responsibility to educate all peoples of Mother Earth
about this issue.
The
Trail of Broken Promises leaves Sunday, May 13th and will arrive in Washington
D.C. on Monday, July 9th.
A he’ hee shi ma nahvstav bilasthlini. I want
to thank Mother Earth’s children meaning all of everything that Mother Earth
has made: the mountains, tree people, plant people, winged people, four-legged
people, insect people, human beings, all water, rocks, fire, clouds, air; everything
that was given to us by Mother Earth thank you for listening. A he’ hee. Thank
you.
By: Millicent Pepion
Sunday, April 29, 2012
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