The Occupy Movement Needs Reinforcements – The American Indians!

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Up until this point, Occupy Wall Street has been lacking its greatest natural ally – the Native American. If Activist William Underbaggage from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has anything to say about it, that is about to change.

William is an unlikely friend of the Europeans now identified several generations on as “Americans.” He is an Oglala Lakota, and a descendent of one of the survivors of the Massacre at Wounded Knee. He and his people have known largely only abuse and worse at the hands of the white man – as have most indigenous populations around the world.

William is a major change-agent in Indian Country, having founded the Indigenous Nations Network – an information sharing network amongst natives.

But, that was then and this is now. As a cultural activist, it is his work to save endangered species…and this how he sees the population involved in the Occupy Movement.

Willie is now teaching survival skills to the “99%.” In particular, to the people he has found and talked to in his visits to Occupy sites in NY, DC, Cincinnati, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Marin, Oakland, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and most recently, Rhode Island.

A fair question is – Why?

In a “15 Minutes of Fact” interview on WGRNradio.com, he describes his work with Occupy and why they are experiencing the “demonization” from which the Native has suffered over the centuries. He cites the case of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian activist serving two consecutive life terms of imprisonment for the self defense shooting of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation which many argue to be the government’s use of courts to create “political prisoners.”

Even without such extreme circumstances, could Occupy people someday find themselves behind bars and without access to fair treatment? Not even concerns shown by Amnesty International over the fairness of the legal proceedings could help Peltier’s case. That does not bode well for Activists who find themselves drawn into physical confrontations.

Given the similarities and the value in joining forces, what will be the effect of the 99% fully engaging with the native? Might it be that the 1% will get a premonition of what it must have been like to have been Custer? Listen, and draw your own conclusions.

Oh yes, and financial contributions to keep his work going are needed and appreciated, and can be directed to William Underbaggage at willychili@hotmail.com.