Last year, when members of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation attempted to crow a hemp crop, the US government responded by sending out the cavalry. A heavily-armed convoy of state and federal law officers stormed the hemp field and destroyed the crop on the spot. (See DRCNet's coverage at http://www.drcnet.org/wol/151.html#southdakota and http://www.drcnet.org/wol/151.html#editorial from September of last year.) This year, the Lakota tried a new tack. It didn't do them any good.
Last Monday, federal agents raided and destroyed hemp fields cultivated by tribal member Albert White Plume, on tribal land, the second consecutive year they have done so. Despite earlier threats of arrests and long prison sentences from US Attorney for South Dakota Michelle Tapken, no one was arrested, according to South Dakota NORML head Bob Newland.
The raid came less than two weeks after the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation formally told the US government that any hemp growing on the Pine Ridge Reservation was a tribal matter, not a federal one. On July 18, Oglala Lakota President John Yellow Bird Steele officially put the US government on notice that the tribe is asserting its right to grow hemp for industrial purposes under provisions of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. That treaty, which remains in effect, gave the Lakota control over their own agricultural production.
The assertion of tribal sovereignty on the hemp issue is a direct challenge to the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, under whose provisions federal authorities executed last year's hemp field raid.
In a letter sent to US Attorney Tapken, Oglala President Steele wrote: "The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 did not divest the Lakota People of our reserved right to plant and harvest whatever crop we deem beneficial to our reservation. Therefore we regard the enforcement of our hemp ordinance and prosecution of our marijuana laws as tribal matters to be handled by our Oglala Sioux Tribal Public Safety Law Enforcement Services."
The Oglala Lakota in 1998 passed an ordinance distinguishing industrial hemp from marijuana and allowing for its cultivation. The ordinance defined industrial hemp as containing less than 1% THC by weight and retained marijuana's illegal status.
"The powers of local self-government enjoyed by the Lakota people existed prior to the United States Constitution. Our local governmental powers were not created by your Constitution," wrote Steele. "Our nation, our culture, and our laws precede your nation, your 'culture,' and your laws. We were and continue to be a sovereign nation.
"I respectfully request that you direct the law enforcement agencies under your authority to refrain from encroachment upon our reservation for the purpose of enforcing your Controlled Substances Act. That Act does not apply to our reservation or our People," Steele wrote.
The letter from the tribe to the US government comes in the context of heightened tension as US authorities prepare to destroy a hemp crop grown by Albert White Plume, the same man whose crop was destroyed last year. According to reports last week from Pine Ridge, agents were set to raid the site early this week, but as of press time, DRCNet could not confirm that the raid had actually taken place.
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