Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
This story notes the Asheville connection to the newly formed Republic of Lakotah:
Two months after announcing that the newly formed Republic of Lakotah had seceded from the United States, organizer Russell Means outlined plans for a wind-energy project for citizens of the new country.
At a meeting in Rapid City on Saturday, Means said he has been talking with representatives of a California company about plans to put windmills on land owned by both Native Americans and non-Natives willing to become citizens of the new Republic of Lakotah. He declined to name the company.
Means, a longtime activist, said he and other organizers have met with tribal members of the Standing Rock, Rosebud and Yankton Sioux tribes. Windmills could be sprouting on the Standing Rock, Rosebud and possibly Pine Ridge reservations this spring, he said.
Means said the new country’s formation is based on law, especially the U.S. Constitution, and he said the wind-energy project is based on economic reality. “Those who control the energy control the economics,” Means said in a brief interview after Saturday’s meeting, attended by about 25 people. Means said he was disappointed that besides news media, no white people attended.
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Means said he is in the process of transferring deeded land he owns in Shannon County to the new Republic of Lakotah, which would not be subject to property taxes. He expects to end up in court with Shannon County over the issue.
Means introduced Jerry Collette of Asheville, N.C., who he said is the interim attorney general for the new country.
Collette said the new country’s message isn’t “Yankee Go Home. It’s Yankee government go home,” Collette said.
Means said he would travel to Washington soon to represent the new republic to foreign embassies.
