So Much for Bi-Partisanship

James Inhofe: asshole. I met his opponent, Andrew Rice, in Tahlequah over Labor Day Weekend. Donate to him if this kind of crap (not to mention Grand Theft Flag) pisses you the hell off.

Toll Booth Ahead (Beads & Mirrors Not Accepted)

The Seneca Nation of New York, in response to the state's demand that they collect and fork over cigarette taxes, are now prepared to slap a toll-booth on the New York Thruway as it passes across tribal land. Wampum hit this issue first, via Indianz.com. I think this is an excellent political move on the part of Seneca President Maurice John, Sr. and it makes me wonder just what the agreements were for all those toll-roads that crisscross Oklahoma...

The Company You Keep

Oklahoma elected officials, including Governor Brad Henry and Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins are scrambling to distance themselves from Cherokee Principal Chief Chad Smith after the NAACP expressed outrage that they were planning to attend a Smith fundraiser. Smith, meanwhile, is scrambling to distance himself from the anti-Freedmen vote. In the immortal words of Senator Barbara Boxer, "Elections have consequences."

"Sooner" Is A Nicer Word Than "Thief"

Principal Chief Chad Smith discusses the mixed feelings Indians have over the upcoming centennial celebration of the "great" Oklahoma Land Rush, the wholesale theft of Indian-owned land by white settlers.

WELCOME!

Oklahoma State Senator Nancy Riley, the Republican Minority Whip, switches parties and joins the Democrats. Same thing is happening in Kansas. It's too bad Bernard Erickson didn't get this kind of support...

Alert the Rhetoric Police!

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) compared those who support the overwhelming scientific evidence that global warming is real and is caused in large part by human activity to Nazis. Yes, that's right. Because, you know, Hitler was totally Green. Hermann Goring was a fanatic for recycling.
Once again, I urge Congress to pass a comprehensive ban on the use of overblown Nazi references in contemporary political speech.

One Hundred Years Later...

On April 26, 1906, the US Congress passed the "Five Civillized Tribes Act," which unilaterally and in violation of numerous treaties dissolved the tribal governments of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole Nations. Under the Dawes Act, tribal lands were broken up and "allotted," supposedly to individual Indians. The "surplus" was opened up to white settlement, to pave the way for Oklahoma statehood. Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts and others through these actions sought to destroy the tribes, robbing Native Americans of their land and identity and forcing them to "assimilate," in order words, "become white." In this, ultimately, they failed. Yes, they caused suffering and hardship. And yes, through the pernicious racism of the Dawes Act and other federal legislation caused divisions that still persist among members of the targeted tribes. But the so-called "civillized" tribes survived civillization and still exist today, still proud, determined and resolute. A-yv-wi-ya ne-ho.