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COAIM BLOG CO AIM LATEST NEWS MEDIA
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Red Thunder Dear Joe and Nadine, 29 August 1991 On behalf of the American lndian Movement of Colorado, and especially the five of us who had the privilege of visiting you and your community August 22-25, we would like to thank you for your generosity and hospitality. You, the people of Lodgepole, and the other people of Fort Belknap, showed us nothing but kindness and friendship. We hope that we can return the hospitality in the future. We were very troubled to hear of the events that occurred after we left, and we would like to provide some clarification regarding our position in this chain of events. First, since we were not present, we are relying on a recounting of events from Warren Matte, Nadine, Santos Suarez and Mauricio Medina. Second, most accounts of what happened seem to be essentially the same, with some details highlighted in some accounts, and other details in other accounts. Nonetheless, our position is that Colorado AIM attended the event at the invitation of Red Thunder. As such, we were visitors in your community, and we should respect your wishes and your ways of doing things. We believe that when we are visiting another lndian community, we should be on our best behavior, and not create problems for our guests either while we are there, or after we depart. We hope that our behavior was consistent with our philosophy. When we arrived at Lodgepole, one thing seemed clear to us. Although the people of the area were sincerely and deeply concerned with the operation of the mine, they did not seem particularly interested in three or four days of meetings and marches and media. That idea seemed to have been invented somewhere else. We believe that resistance to an operation such as the Pegasus mines must grow naturally from the communities damaged, it cannot be imposed by outside forces. It appeared to us that, to some degree, you and the people of the area had been pressured by others (perhaps Santos) to hold the march and gathering before you were prepared to. If our observation is incorrect, please let us know. Please do not misunderstand our meaning. We were glad and honored to be able to travel to your community in support of Red Thunder, and we would gladly do so again, it simply seemed to us that both you and we may have been led to the rally through less than candid representations. It seemed that the people of Fort Belknap had been told that the rally must go forward because hundreds of people from across the nation were converging on Fort Belknap, and we were induced to drive from Denver on the impression that hundreds of people from Fort Belknap and elsewhere were expecting and waiting for us. Of course, neither proved to be true, and we learned a valuable lesson from that. Part of the lesson also unfolded from the events after we left. We hope that everyone there understands that AIM is comprised of a number of autonomous and independent chapters. The decisions and actions of Colorado AIM are not binding on, or necessarily reflective of, Minnesota or Dakota AIM. We like to bring our chapters together in alliances on issues of importance, but we do so with the understanding that outside of some essential principles, we operate independently of one another. Consequently, although we have worked with Santos and Texas AIM in the past, we must now take the time to re-evaluate our relationship with him. We are inclined to sever our relations with him, based on this and past actions, but we must discuss it fully at our membership meeting during the new moon of September. We will keep you informed on that matter. Regarding the others there, some of whom declared themselves AIM, and some who didn't, we must report that we have not worked with them in the past. We have not worked with the Mohawks very closely, although we do support their struggle for land rights and Sovereignty. Regarding the non-lndian women who were in attendance, we neither knew, nor were we affiliated with any of them. Our preference would have been for them not to attend the conference, but, again, they did not attend as part of the Colorado AIM delegation. The bottom line in all of this is that the behavior of some of the group, that led to the summoning of the tribal police, was inexcusable. Our hope is that the events will not harm the relationship between Red Thunder and Colorado AIM. For us, the issue is the closure of the Pegasus Mine and the defense of the health and safety of the people of Fort Belknap. Our commitment to assist you in that regard remains strong, if you remain interested in our support. Another axiom of ours is that we do not provide support where it is neither wanted nor welcomed. In that regard we are not concerned or interested in any internal debates that you may be engaged in. That is not our business or interest. We assume that Red Thunder and Loud Thunder, like any organizations go through growing pains and changes. We do not appreciate outsiders meddling in the internal matters of Colorado AIM, and we do not meddle in the internal affairs of other groups. We simply hope that if you decide that you would like our continued support, you will know that it is available. We hope that this letter clarifies some issues in this matter. We hope also to continue working with you for the successful closure of the mine, and the remediation of the environmental destruction of your lands and water. We look forward to hearing from you soon. For all our relations, Colorado AIM |
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© 2004-2005
Colorado AIM Contact us at
denveraim@coloradoaim.org or
303-832-2544 |
