Talk:Canupa Gluha Mani speaks about Lakota Oyate, Lakota freedom

Original research

I performed the interview myself by phone. Notes are below (parts not used in article exempt):

0100 GMT 8 January 2008 -- conversation with Canupa Gluha Mani

I identified myself as an independent researcher conducting the interview with the intention of helping prepare an article on Wikinews.

I clarified the question of identification. Canupa Gluha Mani prefers to be referred to as just that, "Canupa Gluha Mani" [note that C in Whytkota represents a "sh" sound and stress falls on first syllable] but "Duane Martin Sr" is also acceptable as is "Mr Martin". "Canupa Gluha Mani" means "He walks as he protects the pipe." ["Walk" in the sense of a ranger or patrolman; "Pipe" in the sense of the object one smokes, i.e. "peace pipe" in common parlance, but also note the semi-formal position of "pipe carrier" as a position of honor within the Lakota. This is a highly nuanced language.] Canupa Gluha Mani prefers to speak in the Lakota language but can use English fluently, his English accented by the rhythms and intonation of the Lakota language (this was later clarified; I misheard "fight" as "pipe")

Canupa Gluha Mani talked about the Cante Tenza, the Strong Heart Warrior Society, which he heads and which forms the paramilitary force of Lakota. The society, an okolakiciye in Lakota, originated in the Black Hills. He told the following story: Four warriors in the hills ran across a coyote and gave it chase. And as the coyote ran he turned into a Lakota man, and in his changing the man left four objects: a rattle, a drum, a lance, and a tomohawk with which the Lakota people could be defended. Canupa Gluha Mani is a warrior leader, and his position with relation to the treaty council which traditionally governs the Lakota is "whip-man", loosely "sergeant at arms" -- that is, he enforces order and decorum when passions grow heated during tribal discussions.

The authority of the Lakota Freedom Delegation, he says, comes not from the BIA-recognized governments but rather from the "people who understand treaties" [i.e. the treaty council] from among the Seven Sister Bands of the Lakota. This traditional government is based on the idea of "staying quiet and listening to the people who have answers", the "itacans" or expert headmen [this is a difficult idea to get across. To my understanding, it works something like this: There is no specific leader or even a real council but people gain transient authority through the recognition of their expertise as applied to the problem at hand. If problem the Lakota face involves trees, then they listen to the best woodsman in the Lakota. If the problem involves hunting, they listen to the best hunter. If the problem involves basketball, they listen to the best basketball player.]

Canupa Gluha Mani also endorsed Naomi Archer, who has acted as Lakota Oyate's liaison; indeed, he called Naomi Archer, though of non-native extraction his adopted sister and fellow Cante Tenza member, to handle media support. "I support the understandings of what she's saying", he said, referring to a previous interview with Archer which revealed an apparent split between Russell Means and other members of the Lakota Freedom Delegation. "She as an individual has integrity." However, the previous interview missed nuances and the perceived division between the groups is not so great. "There's no division here....it's communication, that's all. We can always get past this."

With regard to Russell Means, who has declared himself Chief Facilitator of the Republic of Lakotah, he said, "I've worked with my uncle Russell Means in positive venues. And I'm still behind him, I have love for him;" He emphasized the familial bond between himelf and Means, noting that Means had adopted him as a nephew. However, "the Lakota have to be recognized." It was "genocide", he said, that of all the races of humanity, American Indians are not represented at the United Nations.

On the subject of Lakota activist Alfred Bone Shirt, who organized the Lakota Oyate's first freedom celebration and information meeting this weekend [Saturday, 5 January] but has since publically made comments attacking the legitimacy of Canupa Gluha Mani and Lakota Oyate, Canupa Gluha Mani had this to say. "I have nothing to do with Mr Bone Shirt, nothing against him". He also noted that Lakota Oyate had respected Bone Shirt's call to take down invitations for donations, but expressed a wish that Mr Bone Shirt would make the same call to any other website inviting donations to Lakotah.

The traditional decision making process within the Lakota, he said, was informal discussions among the women of the Lakota rather than pronouncements and declarations. Ideas like western forms of government and the use of the English language were part of the reason for both the misunderstanding of the dispute between Russell Means and Canupa Gluha Mani and the Lakota's problems: "It's hard for Indian people to adapt to this modern lifestyle....It's white teaching that cause Indian problem....leave us alone....This country has not learned a thing about its own First Nations people."

US governing of Lakota has led directly to the economic and social decline of the Lakotah people, he argues. Canupa Gluha Mani noted that the life expectancy for Lakota men is only 44, and that alcohol and drug use are epidemic, as are infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. [The stats on disease and life expectancy are talking points and frequently repeated by Russell Means as well, and available on both the republicoflakotah and lakotaoyate websites] But revival of the Lakota has to be not just economic and improve the circumstances of the people, but cultural too: "Our language is at stake right now" but the US government-backed instutions like the Tribal Police are just "the second coming of the white man's cavalry".

Canupa Gluha Mani is on record as saying that "we'll probably get killed for" withdrawing from the United States. Now, he is tight-lipped on the future, and when asked about the possibility of a confrontation with the US will only say that "anything's plausible."

And if the United States government leaves the Lakota alone? "Then we can take our practices forward in good will." Canupa Gluha Mani, who is married to a woman of European descent, says that the traditional American Indian lifestyle can coexist with the western lifestyle, but "every wound has to heal". "We can be self-sufficient. We can govern ourselves." Having withdrawn from the outstanding treaties with the United States, will Lakota Oyate make a new arrangement with Washington? "That has yet to be exonerated." [sic] Lakotah continues to seek international recognition; although no country has declared recognition for Lakotah, he is "confident with the Bolivians" and also noted a positive response from the "Bulgarian freedom fighters" pressuring the US to recognize Lakota independence.

Canupa Gluha Mani then addressed the Lakota people directly. "What needs to get out there is, I love my people....This is your dream come true. That's what the symbolic meaning of Lakotah is. It's called freedom. Hoka hay."

Missing word

First paragraph has this sentence: "The have remained silent." It is clearly missing a word, but I didn't know what to put in there. --SVTCobra 22:57, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Opps...my fault. Fixed :) DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 22:59, 8 January 2008 (UTC)