I would like to state my sincerest apologies for being so long quiet. My understanding of political ethics has been on rocky ground lately. I’m currently involved in a process of integrating things into my political worldview and reconstructing some of the axioms by which I view politics and economics; it has made it difficult to write confidently about some matters. As one might guess by the title of this blog (Economic Libertarian!), those things are also the ones which relate most closely to the topic at hand.
I have accumulated a number of half-written posts which I simply didn’t feel adequate. I may try to rework those and use them as fodder for further postings. For now, and mainly for the sake of having some content on this post, I’ll revisit a news affair: The Lakota Secessionists.
As we might recall, the Republic of Lakotah website can be found here. There are a few changes since the last time we looked at it, though. The most prominent and noticable is at the top of the page. There is now a warning against a solicitor! The warning reads as follows, “Caution: Duane Martin, Sr. aka “Canupa Gluha Mani” represents ONLY himself and is known for soliciting funds for himself. He is not affiliated with Republic of Lakotah.”
A bit of digging reveals that Canupa Gluha Mani is a Lakotah secessionist himself. In fact, some sources claim that he’s central to the secessionist movement. Another item I found revealed claims that Russel Means “hijacked” the secessionist movement! Props to the Wikinews project for their journalism, by the way. Since these pages are archived (check under link for wikinews policy page regarding archives), they should remain static and unaltered.
My opinion of the Lakotah Secession gambit is that it’s a publicity stunt which was broadly misinterpretted. The tactics being used by the people involved are classic nonviolent resistance. A showy press conference, a website full of information, efforts to organize outside of the state, provision of services to those associated with the group, hand-delivery of letters to important officials. From the point of view of a movement it’s actually rather exciting. It’s important that people realize that Russel Means isn’t the movement though. He’s only a member of it. Although an effective member, he also seems to be a rogue member.
The above, mind you, is conjecture based on limited information. I would particularly like to know what Mr. Mahi did which prompted the warning on the web page. I couldn’t find any information. Means may not be the only rogue member, in which case the real deal of what’s going on is that the movement is alive but splintered.
I think it would take someone closer to the Lakotah Secession movement to unravel all that’s happening. In the meanwhile, I’ll be checking back occasionally. It fascinates me.
Nice article. Thanks.
Eugene