Republic of Lakotah - Legal Basis For Independence

Legal Basis For Independence

Supporters of Lakotah argue that their assertion of sovereignty is entirely legal under "Natural, International and United States law". The group emphasizes that the Republic's establishment comes from a "withdrawal" from the United States, not a secession.

They argue that as an Indian tribe in the United States, the Lakota were already and always have been a sovereign nation as guaranteed under Article Six of the United States Constitution, bound to the United States Federal Government by treaty. As such, the legal basis of such a state's independence is argued to be the Lakota nation's withdrawal from the 1851 and 1868 Treaties of Fort Laramie, and the rejection of all United States federal laws, executive orders, and other government acts since then, in particular rejecting the Major Crimes Act, the General Allotment Act, the Citizenship Act of 1924, the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Indian Claims Commission Act, Public Law 280 and the Termination Act.

The group claims its authority to assert independence derives from a long period of discussion and preparation involving a number of traditional chiefs and tribal councils representing the following Indian reservations and communities:

• Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
• Porcupine, South Dakota
• Kyle, South Dakota
• Rosebud Indian Reservation
• Lower Brule Indian Reservation
• Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
• Standing Rock Indian Reservation
• Flandreau Indian Reservation

The group also claims the right to withdraw, on behalf of the Lakota people, from the Treaties of Fort Laramie as a consequence of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Members argue that the decision in the case of Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553 (1903) shows that the United States Government does not adequately protect Indian rights. Means also cites the Enabling Act of 1889, stating that clauses protecting Indian sovereignty on the lands comprising the states where the Lakota historically reside have been ignored.

In a 15 January 2008 news release, the Republic of Lakotah proposed that independence from the United States might follow a Compact of Free Association and suggested that the independence process could resemble that of the Philippines, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia or the Marshall Islands.

Russell Means has also stated that he intended to treat the result of the 2008 Pine Ridge Reservation Presidential election, in which he was a candidate, as a "plebiscite/referendum" on Lakota independence.