Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnewsd!kja
From: kja@cbnewsd.ATT.COM (krista.j.anderson)
Newsgroups: alt.great-lakes
Subject: Re: Chippewa Spearfishing Update
Keywords: Treaty Rights, Racisism, Native Americans
Message-ID: <12685@cbnewsd.ATT.COM>
Date: 16 Jan 90 16:37:28 GMT
References: <1586@clmqt.marquette.Mi.US>
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 73

<>
Thanks for the information, Carl.  A number of anti-treaty groups
have organized to fight the Indian's rights.  The groups have used
a variety of propaganda techniques to gain support.  They have
claimed that in the interest of "Equal Rights for Everyone", no
group should have "extra rights".  They have claimed that the
Indians' fishing will cause a decline in the number of fish,
specifically walleye, that exist in the streams, and used this
claim to insinuate that conservationists should oppose the Indians
and that sports fishers should oppose the Indians and that people
in the resort business should oppose the Indians.

The facts are that less than 2% of the fish caught in Wisconsin
were taken by Indians in 1988 and 1989.  The remaining 98% are
taken by sports fishers.  If anyone wants to complain about the
number of fish taken, the sports fishers are the major component
to address. 

The "equal rights" claim shows an ignorance of both history and
law.  American Indians are *not* legally just like any other
citizen.  Indians have a special legal status as tribes and as
individuals.  This status is the result of an invasion of
immigrants upon their lands and the subsequent treaties that,
unfair as they might be, are the only attempt to insure that the
indigenous people of America are treated justly. 

Treaties are the supreme law of the land, having precedence
over the constitution.  To suggest that non-Indians have the same
rights to lands protected by Indian treaties is to suggest that
it's ok to renege on an agreement.

To encourage the state and federal governments to try to break
treaties or buy out treaty rights is to encourage them to engage
in illegal activity, compromise their credibility and deny their
integrity.  Denying Indian treaties is as bad as denying treaties
with the Soviet Union or any other sovereign nation.  It is
unethical to fail to honor a treaty with another nation just
because that nation has a smaller population.  Otherwise, one is 
subscribing to a code of ethics that "might makes right" and is
therefore denying the possibility of ever living in peace.

Although anti-treaty groups have appealed to such noble concepts
as equal rights and conservation, their actions throughout their
campaigns have been marked by violence, including pipe-bombs, and
racial hatred.

The true nature of anti-treaty groups such as Equal Rights for
Everyone, Protect American's Rights and Resources (PARR) and Stop
Treaty Abuse (STA) became apparent in 1989 when they were joined
in their movement by the Aryan Nation.

If anyone is concerned about this and other racist movements
against Indians, please write to Congress and also please
subscribe to NativeNet by sending email to:
gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
because maybe we can help get something organized for April 1990.

From _News from Indian Country: The Journal_, December, 1989:

    Minocqua, Wisconsin - Anti-Treaty groups plan to hold their
national convention in Washington D.C. during February of 1990.
The action is part of a stepped-up campaign of visability [sic] to
push Congress on several major treaty abrogation bills that have
been recently introduced.  The convention will be hosted by
Citizens for Equal Rights Alliance (CERA) a Montana based
anti-treaty group in cooperation with PARR, other groups across
the country.  James Klauser, Wisconsin Govonors [sic] office
treaty negotiator has been invited to attend.
     The groups are also planning to hold a spring rally in 
Minocqua, Wisconsin Saturday, April 14th.
-- 
Krista A.
HONOR Our Neighbors' Original Rights!