Roberta Blackgoat, from Thin Rock Mesa, Big Mountain Sovereign Nation.

May 11, 2001

After the New York City rally at the Lehman Brothers shareholders meeting, I stayed behind in New York for a while. Soon after the rally, I was summoned to a meeting with some concerned people and supporters, all from different parts of the country. The discussion of that meeting turned out to be a discussion that I've heard over and over, but it was still important. At the end of our meeting, a question that is repeated every so often came up, again, and that was, "How can we help or give you all direct support on the land?"

My answer was, "That is a question that has been asked to us for a long time, and we, of course, have answered it so many times."

Then, I explained that I have sat through these same kinds of discussion before, and that I have heard all the similar stories from concerned people and supporters. They are willing to help but they are usually involved in several other issues. Let me mention some of the issues that always comes up:

Fighting hunger, fighting poverty, various kinds of injustice, hundreds of ways that our environment is being polluted or destroyed, ways to stop the U.S. military aggressions worldwide, homelessness, diseases caused by modern-corrupt ways of living, problems with education, racism, police brutality, and desecration of sacred and burial sites belonging to indigenous peoples.

After this, I figured that our supporters and those concerned for our situation are in struggle and are in suffering, too, whether they live in the cities or in the countryside.

So, I told everyone at this discussion that, perhaps, it is time that we all Help-Each-Other. Everyone in this country and in the international communities has been confronted with these kinds of issues or one similar to those. I explained that no matter how diverse we are as a society we are oppressed by inhumane policies designed by major corporations and leading governments or "world powers."

It should be announced, also, in this petition that we are demonstrating our Global Solidarity by signing such a petition, and asked for world governments including the U.S. to put a stop to these kinds of infringement upon our well-being as a global society.

Finally, this petition can add a note that the U.S. and other "world powers" to begin recognizing the indigenous peoples, like at Big Mountain, for answers as to how we can all live in balance with the natural environment, and how there can be no more suffering among human society. I explained further that, beneath this statement it shall be included, besides ones legal name and address, each signature's ethnic background or nationality.

This is how I answered that most familiar question. My answer was this because I do care for all those that come to support us, and that we really need to start working together. So, basically my answer at that meeting is, "You can help us by helping yourselves, too. Seek your freedom and peace."