In April of 1996, a legal, legitimate Powwow was being held in Gulfport, Mississippi.
State and local officials carried out an armed raid WITH NO WARRANTS OR CHARGES!
They said they suspected drugs and guns were being bought and sold at the event. Powwows always forbid drugs, alcohol and guns! They arrested some kids, took away priceless sacred objects, physically harassed the women, stole from small children, pushed the elderly around pretty hard, and held the men at gun-point.
The case was suppose to have gone to court, but we do not know the outcome. What is scary is that if any federal, state, or local office can stop the Indians from having a powwow, they can stop ANYONE from doing ANYTHING!
How would you feel if your church picnic got raided?
So you can see that the fight for Indian rights and lives is not just to save Indians. It is to save ALL Americans.
Please help by attending any powwows or Indian events you can. And by spreading the word of this event to as many people throughout the world as you can. The press can be a powerful weapon.
"Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pokanoket, and many other once powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and the oppression of the White Man, as snow before a summer sun.
Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn without a struggle, give up our homes, our country bequeathed to us by the Great Spirit, the graves of our dead and everything that is dear and sacred to us?
I know you will cry with me, 'Never! Never!'"
-Tecumseh of the Shawnees
The Indians gathered peacefully to trade their crafts and art
A celebration of heritage- an experience of the heart
But in their midst a serpent slithered; lower than foul swamp slime
He pretended to be a friend; but, tried to lure them into crime.
He was working for the fascist city, county, and state
To orchestrate a trumped up raid and vent their evil hate
They came on Sunday morning with guns and foul words spoken
And invaded the sanctuary of prayer, no warrants and no law broken
They brutalized the elders and stole from the little ones
While helplessly, the men stood by- no match for all their guns
They physically abused the women- they pushed, they raved, they swore
Hitleršs Gestapo had been revived- as brutal as before
They arrested kids, they stole legal goods- and called it contraband
Once again the American Indian was struck by the white manšs hand
No! This is not the first time they have suffered the white dogšs tricks
But, this was Gulfport Mississippi- in April- nineteen ninety-six!
copyright 1996, Paul M. Allen
-Anonymous
