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Eleven Walkers - Two Weeks: L.A. to San Francisco So Far... The walkers have walked about ten miles a day for almost two weeks. From Santa Barbara, they joined the monthly vigil at Vandenberg Air Force Base (Global Command Center for flying weapons of mass destruction), and then supported work for a civil-liberties safe zone in San Luis Obispo. After car troubles, they went up the coast, through Morro Bay and Big Sur, and on to Santa Cruz. They were in Half Moon Bay on Tuesday, then went on to the Bay Area for a busy few days of peace marches. A huge thank you for everyone who has supported the walkers along the way so far. Every little bit helps - food, enthusiastic sharing, monetary donations, phone calls and emails for logistics help, media contacts, eveything. We hope that your efforts have been returned by encouragement for the work you are doing in your community. There will be details filled in from the walkers when they have time to get the information back. Anyone with news reports, photos, or your own experiences, please send them to us in an email, and we will put those on the site. |
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A Few of the Walkers:
Get Informed!
Native American Veteran:
Durwin WhiteLightning
Nepalese Buddhist:
Monk Krishnaman
Rights Activist:
Eddie Sankovich
Earth First! Activist:
Four Winds
High School Student:
Joshwa WhiteLightning
Peacewalker:
Judah
A lover of life:
Faith
Another woman for:
Peace
Learn about the
U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act (and more)
through these links:
Honoring Treaties
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On this page:
- How honoring treaties ties in to everyone's civil liberties
- Personal statement from Durwin WhiteLightning,
facilitator of the Peace and Freedom Walk - 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
How honoring treaties with Native Americans relates to everyone's civil liberties:
We are focusing on bringing back our civil liberties, taken away by the U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act, various Executive Orders, Agency Interim Regulations, and the Homeland Security Act, all written since 9/11. We will be sharing information up the west coast about the degradation of the Bill of Rights, as well as information about the status of all of the treaties made and then broken with sovereign native nations. These agreements are all part of the basis of what this country was founded on.We feel that these old documents, i.e., the Consititution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence, are all threads of truth, which were woven from the tapestries of the lives of free indigenous peoples of this continent. The Europeans, who were searching for freedom, encountered native communities on this continent. They then took threads from the fabric of indigenous philosophies and wove them into the ideas that became this country's founding documents.
We believe that if we can have people acknowledge and stand up for the value of the Bill of Rights as a crucial foundation for the principles of this country, they could then also see that the treaties are similarly part of the foundation of this country, and that they need to be honored as well.
We will be carrying medicines on this walk, to emphasize that the indigenous peoples' ways of asking the Creator for help are crucial in these difficult times. Additionally, by practicing our right to pray, we are asserting our First Amendment Rights to freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the freedom to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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My name is Durwin WhiteLightning. I am full-blood Dakota Sioux. I was born on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, in Cannonball, North Dakota. I speak for the treaties that my family signed.
I remember my grandmother carrying around copies of the 1868 treaties, passed down to her from her grandfathers Standing Elk and Irontail. The 1868 Treaty was signed by both of my great-great-grandfathers on my mother's side. That treaty stated that our land is just for Indians. Six years later, much of that land was taken, and the 1868 treaty was broken.
On my father's side, the 1816 treaty was signed by two more of my great-great-grandfathers, Walking Bird and White Face.
The 1816 Treaty was a treaty of peace and friendship, signed with William Clark (of Lewis and Clark), among others. That treaty helped to open the westward expansion of the settlers coming through Sioux territory. The Treaty of 1816 confirmed the earlier "cessions" of lands from the tribes to the Europeans. In other words, it legalized all previous lands that the Europeans had gotten. How did they come by those earlier "cessions"? They had convinced a few alleged representatives of native nations to give those lands up, under questionable circumstances.
Therefore, just as much as I am honoring the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I want to honor my mom and dad, whose great grandparents signed documents with the US Government over a hundred years before the U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act. They pledged to "honor and maintain" the peace, and I have therefore been passed an obligation by my family to pledge my honor to maintain it. The US Government pledged their honor to maintain peace as well. In order to maintain peace, the Bill of Rights needs to be there, as it was in 1816, when my family "agreed" to be "under the protection of the United States".
I also spent five years in the military, volunteering to defend the Constitution of the United States.
The ideas of freedom and human rights evident in the founding documents of this country are the reasons why people came here, and the reason we became a super-nation. These ideas in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are also partially taken from native philosophies.
My family agreed to sign treaties with this country and honor them. Therefore, I am obligated by my family to pledge my honor to maintain peace, maintain these treaties, and maintain the principles of this country that were in place when those treaties were signed.
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Personal statement from Durwin WhiteLightning, facilitator of the Peace and Freedom Walk:
Some people may ask how it is that I say I can speak for treaties. Therefore, let me introduce myself and tell you some of my family history.The 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(From http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html)
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
