By Frank Erickson
The definition of trespassing is ”“ “an unlawful act causing injury to the person, property, or rights of another, committed with force or violence, actual or implied”¦a wrongful entry upon the lands of another..an encroachment or intrusion.”
Now this more amply defines what whites did to the Dakota, than what Native Elder Clyde Bellecourt did to whites at the Crystal Court in the IDS Center on Christmas Eve. For whites to even have trespassing laws to lock up Clyde Bellecourt, they had to first have an encroachment, an intrusion, a wrongful entry upon Dakota lands, land that the Crystal Court now sits upon. Who”'s Crystal Court is it, who really has the right to be there?
It was said that “none of the Christmas Eve shoppers were inconvenienced or prevented from doing anything they wanted to do”', by the Native protestors””and if they were inconvenienced, what creates a Crystal Court world where the rights of the shoppers, the predominantly white shoppers comes first? That their movement freedom is of utmost importance, above the rights of the Native protestors?
There are deeper truths and justices going on here besides the white man”'s trespassing laws, but most of us refuse to look at them since they are not backed up with powerful weaponry. We are still primitive barbaric creatures, that will only listen to violence. We accept a society that is not based on truth and justice, but that is set up based on who is best at “war”. The “winners of wars” get to decide who owns what and who is trespassing. Based on how things are set up around here, we are still primates.
Bellecourt challenges this primitive pecking order when he tells the police officers, “I”'m not colonized yet and don”'t do your work for you”, when the police told him he was the “chief” and to shut down the protest. Bellecourt will answer to the truth, not to who is best at violence and intimidation.
Those that control Minnesota land know that there is still a fight going on, 150 years ago is yesterday, the fight over the prairie, known as Minnesota, has always been on. But now it is not a fight with classic “war” violence, it is a fight for the truth, which violence can never find. The white man knows he has nothing beyond the threat of violence and intimidation to hold onto his wealth. He understands it is still necessary to try and render Natives powerless, this explains his foot soldiers in the Crystal Court harassing Bellecourt . And employees at the City jail mocking him and calling him “homesick”, since he hadn”'t been there for a while. Instead of using a gun upon Bellecourt to render him powerless, as the white man did 150 years ago, today he uses verbal degradation.
The USGS is mapping out mineral wealth in Afghanistan for some reason, the white man can go anywhere and he is not trespassing. Once U.S. multinational corporations set up shop on Afghan soil to get rich from the mineral wealth, Afghans will go into these U.S. run buildings to protest, and like Clyde Bellecourt, they will be arrested for “trespassing”. Exact same process!
