Post by tamara on Apr 3, 2006 18:49:51 GMT -5
I have thought a great deal about something Santee posted and here it is:
Post by santee1961 on Mar 7, 2006, 5:31pm
Hello,
It's getting interesting. I am certainly not an expert but there have been several points of the Judge's decision that the attorney's are deliberatly ignoring. One point in particular should be of considerable importance to all the Santee people. In his decision there is mention of the lineal descendants of the 1862 census. I have talked with several atty's about this particular point of Judge Lettow's decision and every one of them has told me that this point that WILL NEVER be considered and thenthey have proceeded to put an entirely different spin on this point of the Judge's decision. I have also been told (repeatedly) that only the LD's of the 1886 census are the only Santee who will be considered for any judgement or payment that will be made at the outcome of the Wolfchild case. Obviously my interest in this is I would like to qualify. My family is in the same boat as several others with Santee heritage out there. We are trying to chase down family trees, mainly on the womens side as we do not know as much about their history and are busy translating names, looking through archives, etc. Through my dialogue with numerous attys., doing research. exchanging information through forums ssuch as this and attending mtgs. I can't help forming an opinion. I feel there are two sides out there. One side does not want the possiblity of any more people qualifying than what was predetermined at the beginning of this case. At the onset of any case all attorneys compile a risk analysis to present to their clients to let them know a best and a worst scenario. They do their homework and I can't help but feel that the plaintiffs were told at the very least an approximate amount regarding how many lineal decendants there would be so they would have an idea how big or little their slice of the pie was going to be. The other side does not want to stop their lucrative lifestyle and they don't want their slice of the pie disturbed at all and want to keep things as status quo. I don't think anybody in their right mind would want to disrupt the lifestyle that the members at Shakopee have come to expect presently or in the future. The Judge still has the final say but what if he decides that the descendants of the 1862 census were eligible? If there is not an atty willing to explore Judge Lettow's statement then we will never know if the 1862 descendants could be eligible. There are two additional families who have filed independantly of the Wolfchild plaintiff's but I don't know on what basis they filed or the atty's involved. The last two atty's I talked with wouldn't even discuss these other filings.
**************************************
The above hits on somethings of interest to me. I have ancestors who are considered hostile in 1862 and I have been taught not to judge the actions of anyone much less the ancestors/elders and so I am saying the following with a humble and respectful heart. The perspective of the government in regards to the events of 1862 and the appropriation acts following. It would seem to me that there were provisions in 1863 along with the removal act that were made for those "loyal" to remain in their homelands. Because of white hostility they were not allowed to stay. After much transpired, it was the goal of people like Whipple and Hinman to find those that had been living on Fairbaults lands a means to survive. The government was asked to provide such in a the appropriation acts of 1889 etc. I find it very had to believe that the governement would give land and monies to people that that they had earlier found not loyal to the point of inprisonment years earlier. It would all sit better in my heart and mind if the goal were to return identity and homelands to all that had made the areas in question their homes. to return identity to those who are lineal descendants of the mdewakanton, not just those that happened to be there at the time of the census. There are many families that know that they descend from mdewakanton families but were forced by the governement to survive elsewhere. Many of them were actually loyal by the governements standards. I fully support the idea that if the lands were given to familes in 1886 they should be able to regain rights to them, but to put this under the umbrella of loyalty and true mdewakanton is possibly hurtful to others whose families were there well before the uprising, are of mdewakanton blood and acted in a "loyal" manner and they see no acknowledgement of them. To me it is purely an issue of identity and not money and I feel these things for families that I have no blood connection to. I cant see anything coming from the language of this lawsuit that that says "Mitakuye Oyasin".
Tamara
Post by santee1961 on Mar 7, 2006, 5:31pm
Hello,
It's getting interesting. I am certainly not an expert but there have been several points of the Judge's decision that the attorney's are deliberatly ignoring. One point in particular should be of considerable importance to all the Santee people. In his decision there is mention of the lineal descendants of the 1862 census. I have talked with several atty's about this particular point of Judge Lettow's decision and every one of them has told me that this point that WILL NEVER be considered and thenthey have proceeded to put an entirely different spin on this point of the Judge's decision. I have also been told (repeatedly) that only the LD's of the 1886 census are the only Santee who will be considered for any judgement or payment that will be made at the outcome of the Wolfchild case. Obviously my interest in this is I would like to qualify. My family is in the same boat as several others with Santee heritage out there. We are trying to chase down family trees, mainly on the womens side as we do not know as much about their history and are busy translating names, looking through archives, etc. Through my dialogue with numerous attys., doing research. exchanging information through forums ssuch as this and attending mtgs. I can't help forming an opinion. I feel there are two sides out there. One side does not want the possiblity of any more people qualifying than what was predetermined at the beginning of this case. At the onset of any case all attorneys compile a risk analysis to present to their clients to let them know a best and a worst scenario. They do their homework and I can't help but feel that the plaintiffs were told at the very least an approximate amount regarding how many lineal decendants there would be so they would have an idea how big or little their slice of the pie was going to be. The other side does not want to stop their lucrative lifestyle and they don't want their slice of the pie disturbed at all and want to keep things as status quo. I don't think anybody in their right mind would want to disrupt the lifestyle that the members at Shakopee have come to expect presently or in the future. The Judge still has the final say but what if he decides that the descendants of the 1862 census were eligible? If there is not an atty willing to explore Judge Lettow's statement then we will never know if the 1862 descendants could be eligible. There are two additional families who have filed independantly of the Wolfchild plaintiff's but I don't know on what basis they filed or the atty's involved. The last two atty's I talked with wouldn't even discuss these other filings.
**************************************
The above hits on somethings of interest to me. I have ancestors who are considered hostile in 1862 and I have been taught not to judge the actions of anyone much less the ancestors/elders and so I am saying the following with a humble and respectful heart. The perspective of the government in regards to the events of 1862 and the appropriation acts following. It would seem to me that there were provisions in 1863 along with the removal act that were made for those "loyal" to remain in their homelands. Because of white hostility they were not allowed to stay. After much transpired, it was the goal of people like Whipple and Hinman to find those that had been living on Fairbaults lands a means to survive. The government was asked to provide such in a the appropriation acts of 1889 etc. I find it very had to believe that the governement would give land and monies to people that that they had earlier found not loyal to the point of inprisonment years earlier. It would all sit better in my heart and mind if the goal were to return identity and homelands to all that had made the areas in question their homes. to return identity to those who are lineal descendants of the mdewakanton, not just those that happened to be there at the time of the census. There are many families that know that they descend from mdewakanton families but were forced by the governement to survive elsewhere. Many of them were actually loyal by the governements standards. I fully support the idea that if the lands were given to familes in 1886 they should be able to regain rights to them, but to put this under the umbrella of loyalty and true mdewakanton is possibly hurtful to others whose families were there well before the uprising, are of mdewakanton blood and acted in a "loyal" manner and they see no acknowledgement of them. To me it is purely an issue of identity and not money and I feel these things for families that I have no blood connection to. I cant see anything coming from the language of this lawsuit that that says "Mitakuye Oyasin".
Tamara