Dessalines Is Rising!!
Ayisyen: You Are Not Alone!

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Black Indians - An American story
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Native American Films
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Black Is the Color of Liberty
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Going Back to Source
- Lasous O M Pwale
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The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass
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Ezili Danto's Note: We of Ayiti, living abroad and at home, along with our friends and supporters at Ezili's HLLN, stand in solidarity, support and in struggle for equity and justice, as Jean Jacques Dessalines would wish us to stand in solidarity, support and struggle, with the original peoples of North America, the Black Indians, especially the Black Indians of Oklahoma, USA. (Black Indians - An HLLN Appeal for Justice and Equity ; See also Blacks were the original peoples in the Americas)
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The 2008 Historic Mission to Enid, Oklahoma to Gather with the Black Indians (Flyer)

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Black were the indigenous peoples of the WORLD, including the Americas. In Paul Alfred Barton's book, A History of the African-Olmecs and Black Civilizations of America From Prehistoric Times to the Present Era, where we learn that:

"... humans originated in Africa and migrated to other regions. Those who went to the cold northern lands adapted to the cold climate... the very first humans to inhabit the Americas and the entire world came out of Africa between 200,000 to 100,000 years ago. According to The Gladwin Thesis (1947), Blacks were in the Americas as early as 70,000 B.C. These first Blacks may have been the Australoid type as well as diminutive Blacks such as the Pygmies, Agta, Bushmen and others.

It is unlikely that the prehistoric Blacks whose remains have been discovered in the Americas, evolved from Mongoloids and developed in situ in the Americas, into Negritic racial types. This idea can be refuted due to the fact that if humans entered the Americas between 30,000 years B.C. to 150,000 years B.C., they would have had to have been Negroid. Prehistoric Blacks were moving worldwide. Consequently, the prehistoric migrants to the Americas during that period would have had to have been Negroid and Black. It seems more possible that people who were Negritic changed into the Mongoloid type in the Americas in order to adapt to the cold climate in the north."

Black Indians -
An HLLN Appeal for Justice and Equity

Ezili Danto's Note: We of Ayiti, living abroad and at home, along with our friends and supporters connected to Ezili's vast network herein today declare that we stand in solidarity and in support, as Jean Jacques Dessalines would wish us to stand in solidarity, support and in struggle, with the original ancient peoples of North America - the Black Indians and herein focus our life force and power to witness to the legitimacy and existence of the Black Indians' aboriginal claims in North America. (See, Background Information below and some of the oldest skeletal remains found so far in the Americas).

"We who were mis-educated within the United States and throughout the Diaspora were always led to believe that “Black Indians” were primarily freed slaves who intermarried and intertwined themselves into the culture and the traditions of the Native Americans who were people of a red hue."

However, through the work and activism of Black woman warrior, Angela Molette, a lineal descendant of Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation Citizens on her paternal and maternal families and a Native American Advocate and Ethnic Indian Tribal Historian we are pointed towards historical information, treaties and narratives to the contrary in that those groups/individuals/clans who refer to themselves as Black Indians "are historically the first and only indigenous group of Indians in North America and that those more Asiatic or red skinned individuals/groups/clans whom we currently identify as Native Americans are people who were mixed with whites as a result of rape, pillage and the enslavement of the Black Indians with forced migrations to reservations and internment camps. Some of these Asiatic looking Native Americans were actually half breeds, warring invaders and not the first indigenous people as they would have us believe and not Black Indians in the sense of being indigenous to the land or the original Black people." (Excerpted from a personal letter of invitation to Ezili Danto, dated Jan. 18, 2008 to Ezili Dantò and selected members of Ezili's HLLNetwork to attend the next gathering of the 5 Civilized Tribes).

The trail of tears continues for these, our Black brothers and sisters, especially the Black Indians in Oklahoma, USA, who are living under horrific conditions of deprivations - conditions of containment-in-poverty very similar to that of the people of Site Soley, Haiti.

This year, as part of our global campaign to raise up the truth about Ayiti, where the Ayisyens are known by the generic appellation "Black" and to raise up the ways of the captive Africans who became Haitian/Ayisyen in the land of the Taino/Arawaks, we also are reclaiming the living history of these Black Indians in North America and plan to continue exposing not only the lies, stereotypes and fabrication that have been told about Black people in Haiti/Ayiti, but intend to use the power of the Network to shine a light and bury the untruth that the most ancient of original peoples to North America, were only Native Americans of red skin and not the Black Indians. It's way, way past time that the issue of Black women in the Americas stop suffering pain and unspeakable deprivations, even ethnic reclassification, simply for being the issue of an African or Black woman's womb.

Thus, Ezili Danto's Network commits to use its power to help connect our issues, our peoples, one to another to learn more about the plight we each face, seemingly alone, and, in this case, to use our best efforts to be a resource for these Black brothers and sisters, especially in an effort to assist the Black Indians - descendants of the original peoples of North America - to right the wrongs committed and still being committed upon Black Indians of the 5 Civilized Tribes.

To that end, we herein invite Ezili's HLLNetwork to learn more about the aboriginal claims of the Black Indians in the United States; the racist, facist, social and massive economic reasons for their ethnic reclassification.

We conclude this note by herein quoting, our sister in struggle, Angela Finley Molette (Tuscaloosa Ohoyo), Black Warrior Woman , who writes:

"...Because of Americas penchant for avoiding the truth, deceit and selective amnesia, many of our people believe they are solely African American. America has a vested interest (to the tune of Billions of dollars in Land, Mineral Rights, Oil, Natural Gas, Coal and other revenues) in keeping you blind and unknowing of your true Ancestral Past, and wants you to think that you are a transient people having no claim to the aboriginal soil of America. They have treated us and Continental Africans like our African Blood makes us ineligible for anything, especially aboriginal claims. Not even eligible for life itself. We have survived purposeful ethnic reclassification, our ancestor’s histories have been whitewashed, obliterated in many cases and we have been alienated from the truth of our Ancestral Origins and we have been lied to about our true Nationality. There are not many people who know that Black Indians-specifically those hailing from Oklahoma Indian Territory, have no other Nationality than Native American. ..." (Go to: Black Indians United Legal Defense Fund - Thanksgiving Day Message; Biography of Angela Molette, and Background Information below and some of the oldest skeletal remains found so far in the Americas).

In solidarity. Kenbe fem, pa lage,

Marguerite "Ezili Dantò" Laurent, Esq.
Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
January 22, 2008

See also:A message from the Choctaw- Black Indians, original indigenous peoples of the Americas on July 4, 2008 (Who Are We?), and The 2008 Historic Mission to Enid, Oklahoma to Gather with the Black Indians (Flyer)
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RBM Video Reel - Between Falling and Hitting the Ground
Marguerite 'Ezili Dantò' Laurent, Lawyer, Performance Poet, Founder and Chair of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (Photo Gallery/ Carnegie Hall)

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
1. Black Indians United Legal Defense Fund - Thanksgiving Day Message

2. Video: WAY Before Columbus or the Egypt Pyramids Washitaw 1 of 4

3. Blacks were the original peoples in the Americas

Some of the oldest remains found so far in the Americas:

4 . The Penon Woman III - is 12,700 to 15,000 years old and is the oldest human remains found in the Americas so far and definitely older than any known ancestor of modern Native Americans (Red hue/or Asiatic Indians). The Penon Woman has features more alike to the Australian oboriginals or the Ainu people of Japan. She is not of a Siberian/or Native American lineage and is believed to be an ancestor of the Pericue; 2.) The Pericue - Migrated to the Americas 13,500 years ago and is believed to be a descendant of the Southeast Asians who occupied Australia 60,000 years ago and were themselves descended from the first humans who originated from Africa; 2) Luzia is the 11,500 years old skeleton remains of a black woman found in Brazil, believed to have been part of a migration to the Americas long before the Mongoloid peoples, ancestors of the modern (Asiatic) Native Amerindians ("Red" Indians). The standard scholarship hypothesizes that Luzia arrived from Northeast Asia, where her ancestors had lived for tens of thousands of years since human migrations from Africa. However, the location of Luzia's remains, near the Atlantic coast of Brazil, along with her African features gives support to the idea that Luzia may have arrived by sea voyage across the South Atlantic from Africa to South America.

Who is Luzia?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luzia_Woman

The First Americans Were Black! - Very similar to Australian Aborigines
By: Stefan Anitei, Science Editor
http://news.softpedia.com/news /
The-First-Inhabi tants-of-the-Americans- Were-Black-64307.shtml

Who Were The Earliest Americans?
http://www.redicecreations.com/specia
lreports/2006/05may/earliestamericans.html

The original Americans
Scientists still unsure when human feet first stepped into the New World
http://www.courier-journal.com/foryourinfo/112403/112403.html

Skulls in SouthAmerica Tell New Migration Tale
http://www.livescience.com/history/051212_american_settlers.html

Blood Quantum: A Relic Of Racism And Termination
http://www.weyanoke.org/jdf-BloodQuantum.html

Who is a Real Native American? (interesting blog)
http://bintalshamsa.blogspot.com/2007/06/who-is-real-native-american.html

Who Black Indians - Who are We? by Angella Molette, July 4, 2008 (Excerpted from - A message from the Choctaw- Black Indians, original indigenous peoples of the Americas on July 4, 2008 );

Black were the indigenous peoples of the WORLD, including the Americas. In Paul Alfred Barton's book, A History of the African-Olmecs and Black Civilizations of America From Prehistoric Times to the Present Era, where we learn that:

"... humans originated in Africa and migrated to other regions. Those who went to the cold northern lands adapted to the cold climate... the very first humans to inhabit the Americas and the entire world came out of Africa between 200,000 to 100,000 years ago. According to The Gladwin Thesis (1947), Blacks were in the Americas as early as 70,000 B.C. These first Blacks may have been the Australoid type as well as diminutive Blacks such as the Pygmies, Agta, Bushmen and others.

It is unlikely that the prehistoric Blacks whose remains have been discovered in the Americas, evolved from Mongoloids and developed in situ in the Americas, into Negritic racial types. This idea can be refuted due to the fact that if humans entered the Americas between 30,000 years B.C. to 150,000 years B.C., they would have had to have been Negroid. Prehistoric Blacks were moving worldwide. Consequently, the prehistoric migrants to the Americas during that period would have had to have been Negroid and Black. It seems more possible that people who were Negritic changed into the Mongoloid type in the Americas in order to adapt to the cold climate in the north."
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Related topics of Interest:

- Praise for the Red and Black Connection

-Native American Films

-Video: WAY Before Columbus or the Egypt Pyramids Washitaw 1 of 4

- Black Pharaohs, Feb. 2008 - Egyptians were black Africans, and not necessarily mixed with Northern Europeans who descended after the thawing
Ice Age

- Gerald Massey - Book of The Beginnings; Ancient Egypt the Light of the World

Albert Churchward - The Origin of Black Masonry; Sign and Symbols of Primordial Man

Kieth Seele - When Egypt Ruled the East

Bruce Williams - The Lost Pharaohs of Nubia

Martin Bernal - Black Athena

Paul Alfred Barton - A History of the African-Olmecs: Black Civilizations of America from Prehistoric Times to the Present Era

Ivan Van Sertima - Video: They Came Before Columbus

George G.M. James - Stolen Legacy

Video - The Olmecs: Voyagers From the Nile (Part 1/4) and (Part 2/4) and (PT.3/4) and (Part 4/4).

Video: Black Genesis

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Black Indians United Legal Defense and Education Fund
Thanksgiving Day Message (21 Nov 2007)

This may be the most important message to so-called African Americans and Black Indians in 2007

Halito Family and Friends!

I am Angela Finley Molette (Tuscaloosa Ohoyo) Black Warrior Woman

Little doubt remains that people will be gathering together on the date that Euro-Americans call “Thanksgiving”, in remembrance of all they are thankful for.

I ask that you dedicate at least a portion of this day to being thankful for all that we have learned in recent years about our Ancestors, and to learning, acknowledging, discussing, conversating and making peace with the fact that a rather large percentage of the Aboriginal First People of the Americas were Ethnic Black Indians affected by Foreign Invasion, the Trail of Tears, Indian Removal, as well as impacted by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Black Holocaust.

I am thankful for what I have been able to uncover of the Black Indian Holocaust and First Terrorist Acts committed in the Americas upon its Aboriginals, our Ancestors.

In the West the Ancient Ones, Autochthonic Indigenous Black Natives (Austronesian or Australo-African in Ancestry) resided historically from Lagoa Santa, Brazil (10,000+ miles south of the Bering Strait and produced older bones than Bering Strait arrivals), the Mexican Mainland, Loreto, Mexico, Baja, California, to La Jolla, San Diego, Imperial Valley, up to the Northernmost tip of California, Oregon, Washington State, and Alaska . They also filled the interior Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico areas and resided as the Anasazi, Pima Mandinka, Folsoms, Pericu, San Diegitos, Yacquis and others. Their bones and Archaeological Science confirms their presence. Notes found from the Mission Priests and the Director of the Museum of Man in 1958, referred to the Ancient Natives as, “like Australian Blackfellows.”

In the Eastern Aboriginal Indian Country, Ethnic Natives emigrated from the Canary Islands, Africa and Spain (Moors), Canada, Maine, Rhode Island, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland down to the tip of Florida. This is not to say that Ethnic Autochthons did not also reside in these areas. Indeed Owsley an Archaeologist associated with the Smithsonian Institution reclassified bones dredged up from a Native American Burial as having been phenotypically African upon review (despite the Native American Clothing and Burial Ways).

The Eastern and Western Ethnic Aboriginals converged in a myriad of ways in America’s Interior and they resided in the Carolinas (now known as North and South Carolina) and what has become known as the American Black Belt-Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. They outflowed into Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Of course everyone of us remembers the stand taken by the Free Black Seminoles who signed a Treaty in Florida, which brought them to Oklahoma in the 1830s and 1840s to make new settlements at Wewoka, Deep Fork and other places. The treachery of the U.S. Solicitor reached an all time high, when he rendered a decision that the Free Black Seminoles would be reduced to a condition of Slavery to the Creeks in Oklahoma (they had been free from Slavery to the Creeks for 100 years prior to traveling to Oklahoma). Upon hearing this news, the Black Seminoles felt they would rather die than be Slaves to any man, so they self-emigrated to Mexico in the winter of 1849, where they were allowed to live in Freedom upon a reservation granted to the Black Seminoles by the Mexican Central Government in 1850. The remaining Seminoles in Oklahoma were quarantined (placed in a concentration camp) to prevent them from joining the Black Seminoles of Texas and Mexico. The two Bands of Black Indians remaining in Oklahoma are still tenuously attached to the Seminole Nation today, despite attempts to exile them in recent years also. However, they are not eligible for the same benefits, Treaty Rights and entitlements available to Red Indians because of unequal rules of Federal Access to Loans, along with other programs available to Indians, accessed through the Indian Reorganization Act.

All attempts to compel the United States Government to correct the equal and racially discriminatory disparities have been met with disinterest and half-hearted attempts to feign fleeting interest that dies with our outcries that have been drowned out by wag the dog incidents and the continuing faux war on terror.

Black Indians are caught between a massive “rock” and a “hard place.”

Native America is afraid that Black Indians will awaken African Americans, who likely have Native American Ancestry and the same valid a claim as Black Indians to what has been stolen from them.

The other problem is the failure of Black Indians in defeating the media traps that will not allow us to let African Americans know how big a stake they have in righting the wrongs committed upon Black Indians of the 5 Civilized Tribes.

Because of the Media disconnect, African Americans have not expressed solidarity with Black Indians in demanding redress for Governmental ineptitude, neither have the majority of the Native American populace who seem to believe that all Black Indians want is what little bit the Indians have. In reality, Native Americans should be joining Black Indians in forcing the U.S. Government to deal fairly with Black Indians who have legitimate Treaty Rights, to fund their own Sovereign Nations, which takes the stress off of the parent Tribal Nations in having to deal with the throngs of Black Indians who are truly eligible as lineal descendants and heirs of their Native American Ancestors. Black Indian Tribal Governments can deal with dispensing Tribal Programs and Funds to their own people. This is the answer to the ills facing Black Indians and African Americans in general.

Upon the continuance of forced Exile of Black Indians from the former Indian Territory, (from 1924 to the 1960s) our Indian Ancestors continued their great Western migration into the Central Valley of California and points South (San Diego, Compton, Los Angeles, Inglewood) and points North (Sacramento Valley, Fresno, Oakland and San Francisco).

I don’t ask that you simply take my word for it. Use your good sense, open mind and newly aroused visual senses to take in the truth behind the truth on this day. Black Indians have an Aboriginal Claim to the lands of the Americas and as such have as much right and entitlement as Red People (our relatives) and Mixed Breeds, to part and parcel of the lands of our Ancient Fathers.

Our people were decimated by Illegal European Aliens in Aboriginal Indian Country and their manifest destiny and foreign diseases nearly destroyed the majority of Aboriginal America, including the Creator’s favored Ethnic Aboriginals.

However, we live to tell the story of our beginnings and our present plight, which includes waging an epic struggle to reclaim our stolen lands, treaty rights and to rebuild our aborted Economic Infrastructure.

Because of Americas penchant for avoiding the truth, deceit and selective amnesia, many of our people believe they are solely African American. America has a vested interest (to the tune of Billions of dollars in Land, Mineral Rights, Oil, Natural Gas, Coal and other revenues) in keeping you blind and unknowing of your true Ancestral Past, and wants you to think that you are a transient people having no claim to the aboriginal soil of America. They have treated us and Continental Africans like our African Blood makes us ineligible for anything, especially aboriginal claims. Not even eligible for life itself. We have survived purposeful ethnic reclassification, our ancestor’s histories have been whitewashed, obliterated in many cases and we have been alienated from the truth of our Ancestral Origins and we have been lied to about our true Nationality. There are not many people who know that Black Indians-specifically those hailing from Oklahoma Indian Territory, have no other Nationality than Native American.

We have been covered by Treaties (exclusively) and as residents of Indian Country, were not the beneficiaries of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation intended to benefit those in U.S. held States. Since Oklahoma never adopted or ratified the 14th Amendment (because it was Indian Territory), our people were not covered by the Citizenship granted persons in the States in 1865. The lineal descendants of Americas Ethnic Black Indians are each invited to come and learn about your true history at Leona Mitchell Southern Heights Heritage Center and Museum in Enid, Oklahoma.

I invite you to take this day to learn about the groups that are fighting to restore our Treaty Rights, Citizenship Rights, Land Rights and more. Learn about the Class Action Claim of Black Indians and Freedmen, a legal fight taken on by Harvest Institute Freedmen Federation of Washington, D.C., Black Indians United Legal Defense and Education Fund of Enid, Oklahoma and Chief William Warrior of the United Warrior Band of the Seminole Nation (the lineal descendants of John Horse’s Seminole Negro Scouts). Learn about the numerous Freedmen Bands of Black Indian Tribal Nations arising from the parent tribes;

Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole Nations. Learn about the United Ishtehotopih Band of the Chickasaw Nation; the United Tuscaloosa Band of the Choctaw Nation; the United Warrior Band of the Seminole Nation; the Chunchula Alabama Band of the Mississippi Choctaw Nation; the Kelly-Carolina Cherokee-Blackfeet Band of the Cherokee Nation; the United Loyal Muscogee Creek Band of the Creek Nation and others as they fight for Independent Sovereign rule of their people, free from the tyranny and oppression of their parent tribes who have each abdicated their 1866 Treaty mandated Fiscal and Legal Responsibilities for Native American Citizens having African Blood.

Learn about the illegal application of Blood Quantum in the 20th Century as a tool of exclusion. Learn about the revised exclusionary Tribal Constitutions of the parent Tribal Nations of the 5 Civilized Tribes. Learn about how the United States Federal Government dropped the ball in their 1866 Federal Treaty Mandate to provide for the Ethnic Protectorate of the Tribes in equity and fairness.

You also need to learn who is supporting Indian Freedmen and Ethnic Black Indians of the Five Civilized Tribes in our monumental struggle and the surprising list of those who are not supporting Ethnic Black Indians of the Five Civilized Tribes in the fight to reclaim, maintain and sustain our indefeasible Treaty Rights as heirs, beneficiaries and assigns of our Ethnic Black Indian Ancestors.

Above all, learn how and why you should support all of the following Indian Freedmen and Black Indians Entities, Organizations, Tribal Bands and Attorneys;

Harvest Institute Freedmen Federation of Washington, D.C.

Black Indians United Legal Defense and Education Fund of Enid, Oklahoma
Senator Diane Watson’s HR. 2824

J.C. Watt’s Native American Reconciliation Campaign

Attorney Percy Squire

Attorney Jon Velie

United Ishtehotopih Band of the Chickasaw Nation

United Tuscaloosa Band of the Choctaw Nation

United Warrior Band of the Seminole Nation

Chunchula Alabama Band of the Mississippi Choctaw Nation

Kelly-Carolina Cherokee-Blackfeet Band of the Cherokee Nation

United Loyal Muscogee Creek Band of the Creek Nation

The Cherokee Freedmen Nation of Oklahoma

The Indigenous Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Nations

Use the day called Thanksgiving wisely by discussing the following:

1. Black Indian Signatories and Representatives in the Treaties of 1865.

2. Indian Freedmen specifically mentioned in the Treaties of 1866.

3. Continuing Treaty Rights for Red Indians, but Discontinued Treaty Rights for Black Indians (stemming from the Same Treaty).

4. Black Indian Nationality (Covered by Historic Indian Jurisdiction, Geographical Boundaries, Residence, Adoption and Treaty Guarantees beginning with 1785 Treaty of Hopewell (South Carolina).

6. Indian Nation Sovereignty vs. Citizenship and Nationality Guarantees by Treaty and Adoption.

7. Black Indians did not live in U.S. States (Indian Country, Territory, Reservations, Districts).

8. Legality of being Stripped of Nationality without having committed Treason, Sedition, or Overthrow of Government.

9. Should Black Indians be timed barred or restricted from reclaiming their Treaty
Rights if their was malice involved, preventing their gaining access to information about their rights?

10. Is the U.S. Government justified in denying Black Indians access to Lands and Tribal Trust Funds set-aside for their exclusive use and benefit, simply because their claim was not made within some arbitrary 20th Century (6 year statute of limitations)?

11. Should the Cherokee Nation support the Treaty Rights of Their Black Indians or help the U.S. Government deny Treaty Rights to a rightfully entitled group just because they also have African Ancestry or were formerly enslaved?

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Brief Biography For,
Angela Molette
Tuscaloosa Ohoyo (Black Warrior Woman)

Born in Enid, Oklahoma in 1958, Angela Molette is a lineal descendant of Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation Citizens on her paternal and maternal families. Molette is a Native American Advocate and Ethnic Indian Tribal Historian. Mrs. Molette is currently the Representative and Spokesperson for Black Indians United Legal Defense and Education Fund. She has also served as Curator and Coordinator of Educational Projects at Southern Heights Heritage Center and Museum in Enid, Oklahoma since 2001.

Molette is also the Resident Instructor for Southern Heights Heritage Center and Museum’s Aboriginal, Indigenous and Ethnic Indians of the Americas Workshop Series.

She served as the Conference Chairperson for the First Conference called by lineal descendants of the Black Indians of the 5 Civilized Tribes since 1898, held in May 2003 in Norman, Oklahoma. Angela has also been a featured panelist and participant in the collaborative Native American Studies program with Kansas University and Haskell Indian Nations University’s Shifting Borders Workshop and Oral History Project in Lawrence, Kansas. Recently, Angela gave a combined lecture with a featured Traveling Museum Exhibit on Black Indian Ethno-history at Connecticut University and Cornell College in Iowa.

She is a Charter Member of Freedmen Descendants of the 5 Civilized Tribes, Incorporated. A past member of the Garfield County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission, the writer of her City’s Diversity Program and current President of the Garfield County, Oklahoma NAACP, Chapter #6126.

Angela has been featured in the past on Black Soul Power Radio in her own Satellite Show entitled Tuscaloosa Ohoyo’s Red Feather Showcase, a Black Indian Talk/Variety Radio show dedicated to Education, History, Culture, Empowerment and Support of African Ancestored Indian Tribes, their Heritage and Sovereignty.

Presently, Angela Molette (Tuscaloosa Ohoyo) is a litigant in an historic Class Action Claim to Preserve the Treaty Rights of the lineal descendants and heirs of the original Ethnic Indian Citizens of the 5 Civilized Tribes.

Organizations:
Black Indians United Legal Defense and Education Fund
2023 E. Randolph Avenue
Enid, Oklahoma 73701
(580) 237-1381

Southern Heights Heritage Center and Museum
616 Leona Mitchell Blvd.
Enid, Oklahoma 73701
(580) 237-6989
(580) 237-6587
Email: achoctaw1866@aol.com

Harvest Institute Freedmen Federation
Washington, D.C.
(301) 564-1997
CAnder4272@aol.com
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Americas Program Commentary
UN Troops Accused of Human Rights Violations in Haiti
Maria Luisa Mendonça | January 21, 2008

Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)
americas.irc-online.org
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4905

The UN Security Council decided in October 2007 to extend the mandate of the MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) through Oct. 15, 2008. The Brazilian Government is responsible for coordinating the MINUSTAH forces that include approximately 9,000 troops. Yet there is very little discussion in Brazil about the country's role in the occupation of Haiti, and especially, about the accusations leveled against the UN troops for their participation in human rights violations.

One of the cases documented by Haitian human rights organizations was that of the massacre that took place on Dec. 22, 2006 in the Cite Soleil area of Port-au-Prince, following a protest by some 10,000 people who demanded the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the withdrawal of foreign military forces.
According to reports by local residents and video footage recorded by the Haiti Information Project, the UN forces attacked the community and killed about 30 people, including women and children.

In response to the criticism by human rights organizations that denounced those killings, MINUSTAH justified its actions by claiming that it was combating gangs in Cite Soleil. However, the images shot by Haiti Information Project show that UN troops shot unarmed civilians from helicopters. Inter Press Service, which covered the conditions in the area immediately following the attack, reported finding high-caliber bullet holes in many homes. HIP director Kevin Pina accused MINUSTAH of participating together with the Haitian National Police in summary executions and arbitrary arrests. He concluded, "In this context, it is hard to continue seeing the UN mission as an independent and neutral force in the country."

Camille Chalmers, a Haiti University professor and member of the Haitian Platform for Social Movement Integration, explained in an interview with journalist Claudia Korol of the Adital Agency: "MINUSTAH tried to build legitimacy by saying that it is fighting criminals. But many people realize that the only things that can truly reduce the lack of safety are public policies and social services. Unfortunately, what we have is a violent military apparatus."

Another violent military operation occurred in July 2005, when an estimated 22,000 bullet holes were found after an operation by MINUSTAH in Cite Soleil. Reports by HIP cited accounts by residents that the wounded and dead were found inside their own homes. These accounts charge that soldiers shot at people indiscriminately, which had devastating effects in a neighborhood where housing conditions are extremely precarious.

These accounts also charged that MINUSTAH did not allow the Red Cross to enter the area—a violation of the Geneva Convention. U.S. Government confidential documents, obtained by human rights organizations through the Freedom of Information Act, show that the American Embassy knew that the UN troops planned an attack on Cite Soleil. Local community organizations believe that the goal of the military was to prevent a demonstration commemorating ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's birthday, which was on July 15.

A report by Project Censored estimates that more than 1,000 members of Lavalas, a loose organization that groups supporters of Aristide, were arrested and about 8,000 people killed during the "interim government" that ran the country from 2004 to 2006, following the coup against Aristide on Feb. 29, 2004.

Camille Chalmers characterizes this action as an "intervention led by the governments of the United States and France." He further explains that "solidarity with the people of Haiti means helping to rebuild the country and find answers to the most pressing social problems, and the military presence does not help. The goals of security and human rights have not been met. On the contrary, we believe that the presence of MINUSTAH constitutes a violation of the Haitian people's right to self determination."

On Feb. 2, 2007 UN troops conducted another operation in Cite Soleil that resulted in the deaths of two young women who were sleeping in their homes. On Feb. 7, various demonstrations took place in the country, and on Feb. 9 there was another military attack, which was denounced by local organizations such as the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

On Oct. 30, 2007, the kidnapping of Dr. Maryse Narcisse, who is a member of the national leadership of Lavalas and worked with health and education social programs in Haiti, was made public. Another member of Lavalas, the psychologist and human rights activist Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, disappeared on Aug. 12. Local organizations accuse the UN troops of generating public instability and attacking those who defend democracy and human rights.

The Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil, OAB) led an observation mission to Haiti in late June 2007 and concluded that MINUSTAH plays a "violent" and "repressive" role that cannot be characterized as a "humanitarian action." Anderson Bussinger Carvalho, the lawyer responsible for the report, called for the withdrawal of Brazilian troops from Haiti. "I have concluded that the presence of Brazilian troops is not humanitarian. It is a strictly military mission. Haiti has a history of military occupations and Brazil ends up playing a role in this history," said Carvalho in an interview with the newspaper A Folha de São Paulo (Sept. 4, 2007).

The role played by Latin American countries in Haiti today is similar to the one played by the multilateral forces that stayed in the Dominican Republic following the invasion by the United States in 1965. The Dominican Republic suffered under a long military dictatorship that lasted until 1961 when longtime dictator Rafael Trujillo died.

In 1962 Juan Bosch was elected president but was deposed by a military coup after seven months in power. In April 1965, a series of widespread demonstrations demanded the return of ex-president Juan Bosch.

It was during that time that U.S. President Lyndon Johnson ordered a military invasion of the Dominican Republic by 20,000 marines. A few weeks after the invasion, the Organization of American States sent in the Inter-American Peace Force of 1,129 soldiers. During that period, while Brazil was under a military dictatorship, the role of Brazilian troops in the Dominican Republic was similar to the one they play in Haiti today.

According to the North American writer Norman Solomon, writing in his book War Made Easy: "In retrospect, the 1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic foreshadowed a series of U.S. military actions in the Western hemisphere and beyond. Covert intervention by the CIA in Latin America was as constant as the seasons, the overwhelming arrival of so many U.S. troops in the small country was a kind of political and media prototype for a pair of lightning strike invasions in the 1980s—Grenada and Panama—as well as, in more complicated ways, the relatively limited military interventions in Haiti during the Clinton and George W.

Bush administrations. In each case, the man living in the White House found ways to set the media agenda for public approval to affirm the kind of desire expressed by Lyndon Johnson to Assistant Secretary of State Mann: 'We're going to have to really set up that government down there and run it and stabilize it some way or other.'"

The experience of Brazilian troops in Haiti was described by soldier Tailon Ruppenthal in his book A Brazilian Soldier in Haiti (Globo Publishing). He was 20 years old in 2004 when he took part in the UN mission for six months. "Even today, more than two years since I got back to Brazil and left the Army, I can't forget what I saw there. Once when I was on foot patrol, I saw something far away that looked like a pig that that had been completely burnt. As I got closer, I started to shake and almost lost control before a horrifying sight: it wasn't a pig, but a child around three years old," recounts Ruppenthal in his book.
"A soldier must have courage above all. But the collective depression starts to spread, and after a few months even getting out of bed is hard. You remember that you will cross paths with all those people who are starving but there's nothing you can do," writes Ruppental.

In another part of the book Ruppenthal describes what happened during a visit from then UN Secretary Koffi Annan: "The shooting was petrifying. There were bullets flying everywhere. You couldn't tell from where in the slum the bullets were coming and so the soldiers started to shoot blindly, setting off the biggest barrage of bullets that I experienced in the peace mission. The whole situation was out of control, and within one or two minutes bullets were flying from every direction."

When Ruppenthal returned to Brazil his behavior changed. "I was very aggressive and started to drink a lot. My mom noticed how much I had changed, and we found a doctor who diagnosed post-traumatic syndrome. I would need to receive psychological help. We approached the Army, but they refused to help me, claiming that they examined me upon my return and found nothing wrong with me." And he sums up, "And I just would like to remind everyone that we are losing the real war: against poverty ... Only the fight against poverty will bring peace. When will they see that?"

Unfortunately, Ruppenthal's opinion and the many criticisms of the negative role the UN troops play in Haiti are not taken into account by the Brazilian government. The Brazilian government's policy in relation to Haiti serves to legitimize a coup d'etat and strengthen U.S. interests in the region.



Maria Luisa Mendonça is a journalist and coordinates the Network on Social Justice and Human Rights in Brazil.

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Praise for The Red-Black Connection

http://www.satwiwa.org
http://dismukes.myexpose.com/

Culminating from over a decade of research, personal interviews and photographic essays, the newly released book The Red-Black Connection, Contemporary Urban African-Native Americans and Their Stories of Dual Identity by Valena Broussard Dismukes deserves high praise.

Fifty two images, and narratives written by the subjects of these photos, fill the pages with personal and powerful insights into the world of today's urban African-Native Americans. Their stories reveal the trials, tribulations and triumphs of their dual and sometimes multi-ethnic identities.

People from all walks of life, and representing tribes throughout the United States, share personal and sometimes painful stories. They remind us of the part of America's history that is often overlooked, misrepresented, and continues to be a source of challenge for contemporary people of African and Native American heritage.

Dismukes captures the essence of her subjects in images that are much more than portraits. They are windows into the lives and souls of human beings. They are both visually striking, and infinitely personal.

Equally striking for the reader is the challenges many of these people have faced in discovering their heritage. For some, their Native American ancestors were still alive and a part of their collective experience, but not all of them chose to reveal their cultural identity. We are reminded that being Indian (or Black) was a distinct disadvantage in mainstream society – and still can be.
Many stories tell of familial efforts to erase the memory of both red and black heritage in order to assimilate into the dominant society. Others embrace both backgrounds with pride and dignity.

These are stories told from the inside. They do not hide the fact that there is division, strife and racial prejudice between the races, as well as kinship. The Native American community is often divided from within, with full-bloods mistrusting half breeds and people of red-black heritage. The recent removal of the Freedmen from Cherokee tribal rolls is but one example of this.

What we learn from The Red-Black Connection is how and why this division takes place. We are given an understanding of the external forces that have pitted people against each other for centuries; an understanding that cannot be gleaned from history texts.

The Red-Black Connection also reveals the personal triumphs of those who have embraced their dual heritage, and have chosen to thrive. They have made their identity an opportunity to educate and motivate others, and to heal the past by embracing the present and contributing to the future. They are educators, healers, leaders, activists, and ordinary people, offering an extraordinary gift to anyone willing to accept it.

Among the pages of this book you will find descendants of Quanah Parker, Daniel Perry, and William August Bowlegs. You will also find narratives by people who have yet to discover the names of their ancestors. There are those who have been told they look too white to be black, too black to be Indian, and too Indian to be African. What one cannot escape is the knowledge that, in the words of Jack Forbes, Professor at UC Davis, "You can't tell who people are by merely looking at them."

In addition to award-winning photographs and moving narratives, Dismukes includes her own perspective on the issue of dual identity, and the responsibility and opportunity it presents to contemporary red-black people. The book also contains an honest overview of the history of Africans and Native Americans, an extensive list of additional resources, a selected list of famous red-black people, and one remarkable page of quotes.

This is not a book about Africans and Native Americans. It is a book by them. It is a work which anyone of multi-ethnic can immediately identify with. The Red-Black Connection joins powerful images and remarkable stories to create a work that is inspiring, illuminating, and important.

(Author, photographer and educator Valena Broussard Dismukes knows the meaning of multi-ethnic identity. African, Choctaw, Scottish, Irish and French, Dismukes brought an understanding of and sensitivity for cultural diversity to her career with the Los Angeles Unified School District. In her new book, she brings forth this gift with masterful imagery and compelling honesty.)

Jan. 6-March 30, 2008
Red-Black Connection at Satwiwa Indian Cultural Center
A show of photographic art by Valena Broussard Dismukes

For information on the book go to:
http://dismukes.myexpose.com/

For information on Satwiwa go to
http://www.satwiwa.org

Corina Roberts, Founder
Redbird
P.O. Box 702
Simi Valley, CA 93062
(805) 217-0364
http://www.redbirdsvision.org/

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Some of the oldest remains found so far in the Americas
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The 2008 Historic Mission to Enid, Oklahoma to Gather with the Black Indians (Flyer)

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What To Ethnic (Black) Indigenous People Is The Fourth of July? Independence Day For Whom?

The Fourth of July: A National Celebration Of Theft
Every year they celebrate the theft of the Chatuache of my ancient Fathers. Chatuache, America. With each passing decade, their heroism and their bravery in throwing off the yoke of British oppression, taxation without representation, their hostile takeover of the Aboriginal Indian Country and the enslavement of Aboriginal Indians and Imported Africans and their progeny who suffered uncompensated labor unto death, as the basis of their National U.S. Economy, while promoting the idea of liberty for their own Caucasoid kind…is celebrated Country Wide and thrown into the faces of the survivors of Aboriginal Genocide. Aboriginals and Africans in America that were never allowed to live under a state of Independence or Autonomy even though they fought valiantly (in the historic past) and presently (in the here and now) endowed by Treaty Rights to do so.

The Fourth of July: Promulgation Of The National Fear of Black
The illegal occupiers of the soil of Aboriginal Indian Country have been successful in the eyes of their God, in getting nearly every human being on the Planet to hate Black, the fourth color of the four directions. Perhaps they fear the truth in our speech. Whatever the reason, Sacred Black is no longer upheld and respected like Red, Yellow and White. We are out of balance. The Fourth of July celebrants have brought the majority of dwellers on the Great Turtle, to convert and become compliant enough to kneel before a Blue-eyed God who tolerates, encourages, continues to bless and absolve them of the guilt of their evil. They have created a people that hate their own Black, even their own ancient and historic Black Ancestors. A great many Bearers of the sacred color, Black, believe it to be a curse, rather than a Blessing given from the Grandfather of Ages. Instead they promote and idolize the RED, WHITE and BLUE-eyes of militaristic pilgrims.

The Fourth of July: Should Be Used To Learn Something New About The Original Proprietors Of The Soil

GODS=DOGS
LISTEN=SILENT
LIVE=EVIL

You will hear; CHAHTA’S People (In Their Original Choctaw Language) Speak About Sacred Black…

LUSA=Black
LUSTI=Possessive Black, Pertaining To Our Blacks
CALUSA=Fierce Black
TUSCALUSA=Warrior Black; Black Warrior
NALUSA=Spirit Black
MOCHALUSA=Dark Brown like ancient Arabian Coffee from Yemen; Chocolate Black

Black as power, powerful to dawn, a motivator, causing trepidation and apprehension in our historic enemies. Black Drink (A powerful Aboriginal elixir), Black Warrior, Black Hawk, Black Sachem, Black Kettle, Black Jim (Notable Aboriginals in North America). Black Fellows (a name given Australian Aboriginals, which was frequently used by early eyewitness of North American Aborigines, as a means of comparison for some Tribal Bands).

From The Beginning…
Luke Chapter 13, Verses 29:30

29. “And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.”
30. “And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”

Negative is an American apparition, not here from the beginning, not Greek, not Latin, not translated, pure 20th Century. Gaining strength from the hate of Black. Generally taken from Caucasian paranoia, apprehension, dread or fear of a Black Planet.

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love.” II Timothy 1:7. Find a way to use his words to your own advantage, lest you perish by fears that do not come from the Creator.

The Fourth of July: Used By Ethnic Natives To Learn About The Historic Use of The Word Black

Black is a word given to all people in their natural language and mother tongue by the Creator. There is nothing ominous or sinister about it that needs to be avoided. In fact it is one of the most beautiful colors given to aboriginal peoples throughout the world to be included in the artwork from the Tibetan Monks to the Olmec Mother Culture of Central America. The Great Spirit gave Natives; the 4 directions and the 4 colors (red, yellow, black and white). Native prophecies and legends say that each color is dependent upon the other and that failure to protect one leads to the weakening and destruction of all the others. Black is a Color, Choctaw is a Race, therefore Black Choctaw is one of the powerful combinations the Grandfather of Ages put together. What he hath put together let no man put asunder.

My personal belief is that Black is one of the Great Spirit’s favorite colors and because of the near complete hate, avoidance and unreasonable extreme distancing of so many millions of people from his creation (the wonderful color Black), as being the reason it has taken prophecies about Black Indians so long to be revealed and completed.

Ancient Use of Black In The Old World
Ancient uses of the word Black can be traced back to the African Continent and the Old World where the word Ethiopia or Ethiopian was tantamount and equivalent to the word Black. This is also found in the Holy Bible. It is also featured in One of the oldest Greek literary works “The Book of Pliny” The Elder, translated from the Greek to English by C. Plinivus Philemon, which uses both the words Blacke and Ethiopian interchangeably. Melanesian also means Black Islands.

The first European credited with traversing into the North American Aboriginal Interior (Beyond the Mississippi River-The Grand Espiritu Santo) was Hernando DeSoto and his band of murderous Conquistadors. They each drafted Narratives of their journey through Aboriginal Indian Country. One Narrative speaks of encountering Natives “So Black along the Coast” and “one as Big as a Philastine, Black as an Ethiopian.” (original spelling preserved). This unmistakable use of the word Black in the identification of pre-contact Aboriginals in North America is astounding. DeSoto’s men also entered information about the Dark people of Aymay and wrote about checking for remnants among the Tribes of the Moors that abandoned them, including those sick Moors they left in the care of Chiefs (particularly among the Coosa or Creek Nation).

There were Black Aboriginals noted on nearly every continent on the planet, including in the Philippines and Malaysia. Why would anyone believe that Aboriginal Indian Country in what is now North America would be excepted? The most generally accepted etymology of the name Aborigine is that of original inhabitants (from the Greek Autochthones). The Aboriginal Negritos (little Blacks, small Blacks) were found to inhabit the world. The Malay term for Negro was Orang Asli or “Original People“.

It has only been since the advent of the European to America did the word Black become endowed with negative uses and connotations. It is one of my creators favorite, strong and vibrant colors and I intend to love it, even if I am the only person left standing on planet earth to do so.

In short, what the Fourth of July should be to the lineal descendants of Ethnic (Black) Aboriginals is a time to remember that it is not our Independence Day. Rather, it is a time to be used to reflect upon the devastating impact that Caucasian independence has had upon Ethnic (Black) Aboriginals.

Embrace Black Indian Sovereignty.
The alternative is to perish as a permanent underclass, victim of faux African American monoculturalism and a ceaseless subject of oppression.

Angela Molette, Representative and Spokesperson
Black Indians United Legal Defense and Education Fund of Enid, Oklahoma
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*********Who We Are
A Brief Overview on the heritage of an Identity Group that is now and has historically been a minority or subordinated group in the United States who are currently suffering from Violations of Treaty Rights and Protections inscribed particularly for them;

“Ethnic Natives, Black Indians and Indian Freedmen are a unique little known group of Tribal persons comprising the Micro-Ethnic Protectorate of the 5 Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole Nations).
Their “minority” status is based upon their Race, which is Native American. Although their ancestral parentage is a mixture of both ancient Autochthonic and of Allochthonous foundations. However, what makes them patently unique is their Ethnicity as Indigenous North American Natives having African Admixture of remote origin that precedes European arrival on the Continent, which lends another crucial element of cultural heritage to this group and separates or sets them apart from all other Ethnic Groups living in the United States. Another characteristic which distinguishes them as a “minority” is their historical socioeconomic status, which was reduced to that as “Slave” among the Indians, as a result of influence occurring at the point of European contact.

A large body of evidence confirms that this particular group of Indigenous Persons once reigned as Tribal Monarchs, Ruling Families, Prophets, Shamans, Trusted Counsel and Warriors. They had a tradition of living within the Geographical Jurisdiction and Protection of Indian Country from the most ancient of times and retained Native Title to lands, even after Indian Removal in the 1830s, to settlement within Oklahoma Indian Territory. Their legal heirs and lineal descendants continue facing enormous challenges and difficulties forcing the United States to uphold Treaty Rights specific to them.

Within the Oklahoma Indian Territory (for a time 1830-1945) they retained absolute power and authority of their own government and controlled all their own people, activities, territory, and resources within the geographical borders of their own Regions, Districts, Communities and Tribal Towns, living under their own Tribal Leadership, their own laws and policies, functioning as independent Sovereign Nations within the Jurisdiction of their Parent Nation’s Country. Their Parent Tribal Nations cemented this relationship for all posterity with their Micro-Ethnic Protectorate, as they ceded lands (by the Treaties of 1866) for their settlement, which was taken in “Trust” for their exclusive use by the United States. More importantly, they maintained autonomous Political Representation and Influence until denied access by discriminatory U.S. Policies.

Their initial socioeconomic and group dynamics changed with the interjection of European manipulation and anti-Black bias practiced against persons having African Ancestry in the Tribes. European thought and race bias concepts prevailed upon the continent and negatively affected the Ethnic Natives, Black Indians and Indian Freedmen of the 5 Civilized Tribes in North America.
They faced near extinction as Europeans began forcing their Doctrine of Discovery, spread of Catholicism, and Manifest Destiny, upon North American Aboriginals using Papal Bulls, Charters, the introduction of Advanced Weaponry, Proxy Wars, Genocidal Wars of Extinction and Enslavement, they started claiming the pristine Aboriginal Country and fostered the Extinguishment of Native Title to Lands, including Titles held by Ethnic Natives, Black Indians and Indian Freedmen.

Despite their eventual “Slave” status within the Tribes, the Micro-Ethnic Protectorate (and their descendants) were elaborately included with purpose and certain specificity in the Treaties of 1865 and 1866 by the insistence of their Full Blood and Freedmen Indian Ancestors and Signatories of the Treaties. In fact Indigenous Ethnic Natives, Black Indians and Indian Freedmen were included in the aforementioned Treaty documents as Signatories, Representatives, Translators, Witnesses and Beneficiaries (Citizens-by Birth, En Masse Adoption and Naturalization, as Lineal Descendants, Heirs and Assigns).

Ethnic (Black) Indians of the 5 Civilized Tribes were entered as a Micro-Ethnic Protectorate into each of the treaties of 1866. Ethnic Natives were expressly included within the:

Cherokee Nation
“freed persons who were formerly slaves in the Cherokee Nation”; all free negroes not having been such slaves who resided in the Cherokee Nation prior to June first, eighteen hundred and sixty one.”; “persons never having been such slaves”; “free persons of color”;

Creek Nation
“there are among the Creeks many persons of African descent“, “and all others, of whatsoever race or color, who may be adopted as citizens or members of said tribe.” “Indians and freedmen”, “loyal refugee Indians and freedmen”; persons of whatsoever race or color as may be permitted by said nation to reside as citizens therein”.

Seminole Nation
“among the Seminoles persons of African descent and blood”;

Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations
“persons of African descent”; “persons of whatever race or color, who may be adopted as citizens or members of said tribe“, “all persons of African descent, resident in said nation at the date of the Treaty of Fort Smith, and their descendants”, to have all the rights of Native Citizens.”

In spite of the fact that by the very same Treaties today’s non-Ethnic Tribal Citizens are fully covered by Treaty of 1866 guarantees, Ethnic Black Indians have been/or continue to be illegally exiled, disenfranchised and alienated from their Treaty Rights.

The poverty stricken Tribal people have been forced to wage very expensive legal battles to regain their inherited rights, benefits and entitlements, including Trust Lands and Trust Funds.”

The lineal descendants of the Original Indian Nation inhabitants have already been historically defined and identified by Treaty, Blood, Adoption, Residence, Geography, Law and Cultural Affiliation. We can’t simply drop the Official Indian Citizenship Rolls of Persons having African Ancestry because they don’t fit the modern idea of what Citizens should look like. Otherwise it’s Ethnic Cleansing and a violation of the Human Rights of the Entitled.

If this is your time to Barbecue, be certain to include time to drop knowledge upon all your guests about all the issues surrounding the Fourth of July! Let the Fireworks spark dynamic thoughts of your own about Liberation, Independence and Autonomy!

"Remember The Tinman always had what he thought he lacked."
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See also: The 2008 Historic Mission to Enid, Oklahoma to Gather with the Black Indians (Flyer)
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Black Indian Mission '2008 for Enid, Oklahoma
June 17, 2008, (Flyer)

Dear Collective:Shortly after the holiday celebrated as “Thanksgiving” by most of the United States the Village Square Collective, Inc. under the stewardship of Junior-Jawara Blake invited Angela Molette, Resident Instructor for the Southern Heights Heritage Center & Museum as a guest on the radio program “Health Is Here” heard on New York’s radio station WVIP 93.5 FM on Saturday mornings from 6-8 a.m.

The purpose of the show was to offer further exposure to conflicting information and clarification regarding the “Thanksgiving” holiday. Angela Molette is a lineal descendant of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation Citizens whose group is composed of all Black Indians who came here directly from Africa and other parts of the Diaspora before the advent of any European voyage.

Ms. Molette stated that as opposed to being re-named African Americans her community has always referred to themselves as “Black Indians” and revealed to our audience that most of the names of the states and their counties had Black in the names so that Black not only referred to the people, but also to the land, traditions and the lifestyle of the people. We who were mis-educated within the United States and throughout the Diaspora were always led to believe that “Black Indians” were primarily freed slaves who intermarried and intertwined themselves into the culture and the traditions of the Native Americans who were people of a red hue.

The audience members were literally shocked to hear and be presented with historical information, treaties and narratives to the contrary in that those groups/individuals/clans who refer to themselves in this manner are historically the first and only indigenous group of Indians in North America and that those more Asiatic or red skinned individuals/groups/clans whom we currently identify as Native Americans are people who were mixed with whites as a result of rape, pillage and the enslavement of the Black Indians with forced migrations to reservations and internment camps. Some of these Asiatic looking Native Americans were actually half breeds, warring invaders and not the first indigenous people as they would have us believe and not Black Indians in the sense of being indigenous to the land or the original Black people. After we were able to wrap our minds around these and other concepts we arrived at the topic of health and the current state of the Black Indians not only in Oklahoma where Mrs. Molette hails from but also bands of Black Indians who are almost extinct throughout the Southern and Western parts of the United States. When we heard of the horrific conditions under which the Black Indians were living we wondered if we could be of more service to them than a radio program and undertake a mission on their behalf.

They are in dire need of medical help and assistance. They are suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, poor nutrition, cancer, (prostate cancer, lymphomas, leukemia, breast cancer etc.) poor to no obstetric and gynecological services, poor pre-natal services, arthritis, osteoporosis, lack of dental hygiene, gout, and these are just a few.

We decided at that moment to enlist the services of Dr. Roy Streete and the Organization for International Development (OID) www.oidinc.org since they have the extensive experience, expertise and wherewithal to assist us in this undertaking. Our approach would be two-fold so that instead of burdening the OID singularly with this mission we would also do significant outreach to other medical organizations and alternative healthcare practitioners and providers throughout the community to participate in this endeavor. However, we would ask the OID to take the lead in helping us to organize and structure the mission.

We have been in touch with Angela Molette, the Elders and Clan Mothers and they have suggested that we journey to Enid, Oklahoma during the first week-end of October when all of the Indian nations of the Five Civilized Tribes come together in a large POW WOW weekend, and the access to the different bands which need medical assistance would be optimal. Therefore, we have confirmed traveling to Oklahoma the weekend of Thursday, October 2 through Monday, October 6, 2008 for this mission.This is our first mission to Enid and we plan to undertake this on an annual basis. Therefore, we are asking all prospective participants to register with the Village Square Collective at 347-210-6464.

We are also asking all participants to pay their own airfare and accommodations for this historic journey. We can provide through a travel agent the group reservations for air, hotel and meal accommodations, but we are not as yet in a position to financially offset these amenities for the participants and we trust in subsequent years we will we be able to offer these services. We are not requesting any monies or financial support from any governmental agency this is completely a “self-reliance” mission and therefore if you are unable to travel at this time please consider making a donation so that other members of the community may be able to attend. Any amount that you are able to give will be appreciated. Please make all checks payable to the Organization for International Development and in the memo section indicate that it is for the Black Indian Mission.

Angela Molette’s previous occupation was that of a nurse, she is now a historian, documentarian and primary spokesperson for the Black Indians. I will attach her extensive bio for those who request it. In order to benefit from the lowest airfares and accommodations to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma we would have to book by or before July 30th 2008.

We of the Village Square Collective, Inc. trust that you will give this request for assistance your highest priority.

Nuff love & respect,

Dr. Roy Streete
Gloria Stephenson
Karyn G. Binns
Junior-Jawara Blake

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Sponsors: The Organization for International Development, Inc. (OID) Pan Afrikan Promotions, Inc. Healthee Endeavors, Inc. Vegan's Delight, LLC, Bellydancers of Color (BOCA), International Preparedness Network (IPN) Vital Health Food Store Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN) Call for additional information ASAP 347 210 6464 718 652 3978 800 775 8999

"When you make a choice, you mobilize vast human energies and resources which otherwise go untapped...........If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want and all that is left is a compromise." Robert Fritz