| U.S. Uncut
Irony lost.
The armed right-wing insurrectionists who have taken over a federal building in Oregon are claiming to protest “tyranny” by the federal government in how the Bureau of Land Management treats ranchers on federal property. This particular group of armed white men seizing land and claiming “oppression” is clearly lacking in knowledge of American history, and what actually defines “tyranny.”
As Indian Country Today Media Network previously reported, the land the occupiers are claiming as “theirs” is actually land that the federal government previously stole from the Northern Paiute tribe. The Paiutes used to own 1.5 million acres of land, but have now been relegated to a reservation amounting to just 750 acres in Burns, Oregon, where the Bundy militia is currently engaged in an armed standoff.
“President U.S. Grant established the Maiheur Indian Reservation for the Northern Paiute in 1872. It is no coincidence that the historical reservation shares a name with the Maiheur National Wildlife Refuge, site of the current armed standoff.”
The above map shows the progression of how much land Native Americans had taken from them by armed white men from the beginning of colonization to the present day.
Also See: Response to Oregon Militia Standoff Reveals Stark Double Standards
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RED POWER MEDIA 
AMANDA!!!!????? What are you doing ??? deliberately using your position and this feed, and mass media to “misinform”?! that is what one does to enemies. do you consider your readers as enemies?
“As a member of the Potawatomi tribe, as someone who grew up a mile from a reservation, and has attended traditional Native education courses (http://miec.org/) this article disgusts me for several reasons.
1st: The Bundy Militia’s have already been proven the first time around to not be a unanimously white group nor male. During the showdown at the ranch several Hispanic, Female, Native Blooded and African members spoke out on camera trying to dismiss all the bogus racist claims leveled at them. Most notably the Black Militia leader who was invited in and slept in BUNDY’S HOUSE.
2nd: Us Natives have no access to that land due to it being under control of the same corrupt government these men oppose.
3rd: Why the hell does it matter if they are white in the first place? They are standing up to the same government that puts down the reservations, murders and imprisons thousands of blacks, bombs Muslim countries, extorts Hispanic nations and strips Africa of resources.
Remind me again why we aren’t all on the same fuckin team here?”
-Zakkari Clark
correct yourself plese!
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if this is Indian land, do the Indians want the US government to have this building on their land or didn’t they get an opinion. Furthermore if it is Indian land they are their own nation and the US government has no right to do anything without their consent. I’m pretty sure the Indians would tell the US government to go to hell after the way the government has treated therm since their guns were confinscated then they were murdered by them
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it reminds me of a famous quote from Thomas Jefferson “”When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” People in Burns have been scared of the feds ……
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Please note backstory (quoted from the article linked to below):
“The latest scene involved two ranchers being sentenced to five years in federal prison for inadvertantly burning about 140 acres of BLM rangeland in two separate fires, years ago. That is an area big enough to feed about three cow-calf pairs for a year in that neck of the woods.
“Dwight, 73 and son Steven, 46, admitted in a 2012 court case, to lighting two different fires. Both fires started on Hammonds’ private property. An August lightening storm started numerous fires and a burn ban was in effect while BLM firefighters fought those fires. Despite the ban, without permission or notification to BLM, Steven Hammond started several “back fires” in an attempt to save the ranch’s winter feed. The “back burn” fire break worked and protected the Hammond’s ranch. BLM firefighters saw the back-burn and called it into their headquarters as an “arson.”
“Sadly, wind drove the back-burn onto federal land, on which the Hammonds paid for grazing rights. Despite this, the US Attorney for Oregon prosecuted the two men, saying they committed arson against federal property along with nine other charges. The jury convicted the men of only two charges, starting the fires they readily admitted to starting.”
https://www.superstation95.com/index.php/world/723
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So a bunch of hot headed red necks got together and took over a Bird Sanctuary to protest what? I say do nothing, they will end up drinking Jack all night , piss each off and end up shooting each other. Just my two cents.
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Dammit, stop calling them militia’s, they are terrorists. It’s like calling Al Qaeda freedom fighters….geez!!!
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So the federal government occupying the land is also wrong, right? So what is justice? Allowing the federal government to whipe these folks out? Celebrating it? Calling for it? Just because they are white?
There are double standards in our racist colonialist society, that goes without saying, but if the only problem with this action is that the folks are white, then lets get all out black and brown and red comrades to go join them, and hijack the action and ground it in real struggle, against racism, against colonization, against capitalism, exploitation of the land and our people, by the feds as well as by ranchers.
We should demand the ranchers co-operativize the ranch in exchange for movement support, and then move in with that support to bring a more radical dialogue to the front of the action.
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Technically ALL land used to belong to the Native Americans and for those of you who don’t realize this, I feel exceptionally sorry for your la k of separation education. But the facts are that Native Americans were not living on this land once the Government seized it and did horrible disastrous things to the second landowners who were the Ranchers. They did things illegal, constitutionally and then in their constant redress the ‘court way’ prosecutors did even more tyrannical things to the Ranchers.
Read the true facts here: and it’s a given it was Native Land in the first place, but governmental officials from Fish and Wildlife and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) whose stupid reporters and journalists thought and referred to as Black Lives Matter (the other, newer BLM) don’t have the facts straight as far as this case in a Federal Court of Law. So check out the whole story, READ EVERY DARN WORD and then when you say OH, I GET IT NOW, you can thank me.
#2ManySOS (StuckOnStupid)
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At the end of the day; we live in a society by rules and laws; a group of armed gunmen threatening the rule of law cannot be allowed to stand. If they disagree there are other avenues to address their grievances not armed insurrection. If armed insurrection is what they want; then the government is capable of terrible and overwhelming aggression as American history has demonstrated and two hundred gunmen with the best of arms available to them are not a match; only a mear bump in the road if that. So if this gunmen really want to matyr themselves then just start shooting and see how it ends.
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They tried every possible legal way to help the Hammonds first – all to no avail. But it’s not just the Hammonds. Ranchers in this county have been abused, harassed, persecuted, and driven out of business and off their lands. They are not looking for a fight. They plan to occupy the HQ of the wildlife preserve (that the intended wildlife actually appears to AVOID) that has been the cause of the people of the county being abused, until such time as the feds stop abusing the citizens of the county.
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what kinda crack pot racist website is this, ive read this article and they say its natie amercan land? why havnt they stood up tp the federal government and took it back then? if your gonna be key board warriors then you obviously deserve what you get. this isnt about race, but all you peeople do is bring race into it. its sad. white men this white men that? are you kidding me? you cant be that ignorant.
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Bit you can and you are.
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I’m not sure what your point is. However, it is a fact that Native Americans had their land stolen from them and that the responsible parties were “white men.” This is a historical fact, not some “racist” comment!
I don’t know what you were taught in school regatding American History, but the truth is the truth and it shouldn’t be ignored, denied, or somehow changed because it is offensive to some.
As far as any armed group occupying anything that is not their own property, let alone a public or government building, it is illegal in every way and should be dealt with accordingly!
It shouldn’t matter the ethnicity, gender, race, political affiliation, or whatever else is at issue here, everyone should be treated the same when it comes to breaking the law, and these people are clearly BREAKING THE LAW!
If they are treated differently than anyone else would be, it’s pretty clear that there is special consideration given to this group and it’s pretty fair to question if RACE could be at play!! Why is that so difficult to understand? I’m “white” and it makes me wonder! If not race, then what? Maybe someone can enlighten me and tell the rest of the people what is really going on? Maybe then we, the doubters, would be educated and not so ignorant!!
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You see Collin, sure you have the right to assembly as a citizen, but things are different for us…
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Seems you have a lock on ignorance!
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We have been fighting governments for decades in the courts, so just because your shitty media doesn’t cover it doesn’t mean it’s not happening! Do some real research before you open your mouth, or you probably believe that Columbus still discovered this land!
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Are you kidding me, you can’t be that ignorant, but apparently you are! The Indians should just take back their land. Why haven’t they stood up to the federal govt? Are you really young? Did you sleep through history class? Have you never watched an old western? This article isn’t even about race, you mental midget! Its merely pointing out the hypocrisy and or irony in the Bundy’s stand to retake their stolen land by hijacking all that remains of someone else’s stolen land, i.e., the Bundy’s are stealing Indian land, not federal land. Are you following any of this Collin???
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Not really sure why these guys think they are protecting ranchers…..the land the ranchers have is NOT their land….they only lease it from the BLM. So, by law they have to do what the BLM says not what they want. I’m really tired of ranchers claiming they own the land they actually lease. Now if they have lands that have a mortgage with a lending institution…different story.
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its not leased from the blm, they own the grazing rights outright
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They rent the grazing rights from the federal government, through the BLM. They do not own the land.
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nope
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Having grazing rights does not allow you to burn the land as the Hammond’s did. Also grazing rights come with obligations and fees the the Bundy clan has, for decades, refused to abide by even though they agreed to them to get the grazing rights. Theses clowns are teavangelical terrorists just like the elected clowns in D.C. who keep trying to shut down the government.
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They do not OWN grazing rights!!! BLM is supposed to determine how much the ranchers can graze, depending on other interest like wildlife and how much grass is available. Ranchers then pay $1.35 for a cow/calf per month. Again ranchers to NOT OWN GRAZING RIGHTS OUTRIGHT. BLM may determine that other interest override the ranchers allotment and the livestock must be removed in any given year.
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Wrong!
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Are you kidding me, you can’t be that ignorant, but apparently you are! The Indians should just take back their land. Why haven’t they stood up to the federal govt? Are you really young? Did you sleep through history class? Have you never watched an old western? This article isn’t even about race, you mental midget! Its merely pointing out the hypocrisy and or irony in the Bundy’s stand to retake their stolen land by hijacking all that remains of someone else’s stolen land, i.e., the Bundy’s are stealing Indian land, not federal land. Are you following any of this Collin???
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WRONG AGAIN, COLLIN. Grazing permits and leases issued by the BLM, the U.S. F.S allow the permit or lease holder the PRIVILEGE, not a right to use PUBLICLY owned forage on federal public lands. This distinction was intended by Congress in
#1- the Taylor Grazing Act of 19341 (BLM) and the Granger-Thye Act of 1950 (Forest Service),
#2- articulated in agency regulations,
#3 -restated in federal records,
#4 -affirmed by scholars
#5 and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as recently as 2000.
#6 Federal grazing permits and leases are revocable, amendable, non-assignable ten-year licenses to graze federal public lands that do not convey property rights to grazing permittees/lessees.
Any questions, Collin? Read again, s-l-o-w-l-y
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Reblogged this on inchoatecontemplation and commented:
On Facebook, the ever wise Terry Tempest Williams commented that “These issues, public land terrorists like the Bundy Bunch, gun violence, racism + the brutality + militarization of police are all related.” Indeed. The armed action being taken by the Bundy’s et. al. was motivated by what was perceived as an unfair sentencing of two Oregon Ranchers (father and son, Dwight and Steven Hammond for their arson conviction; they were given a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years for setting fires that burned public land). Reading through the materials released by supporters of the Hammonds and listening to Ammond Bundy’s videos, etc., they clearly feel victimized by the Federal government, especially the Federal government’s efforts to provide protection for wildlife in this case. The sense of privilege and victimization that drives all of these actions is stunning and stunningly ahistorical. Given the decades-long use of mass incarceration and vastly unfair use of mandatory minimum sentences imposed mostly on black and brown people, part of what is stunning in this situation, is the sense of entitlement to use armed force to challenge the criminal justice system, and to do so by setting up a militia in a publically owned Federal building. Not to mention, the sense of entitlement to land that was stolen from Northern Paiutes (http://usuncut.com/news/native-land-bundy-gang-irony-lost/). The land is not “theirs.” The place and its importance precede them. The Hammonds and other humans are not more important than the birds and other nonhuman animals that live in the place. And the sense that the sentencing is wrong, well, it probably is. I’d love to see Ammon Bundy relate this unfair sentencing to all those tens of thousands of unfair drug sentences….
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Where was all this moral outrage when the feds were occupying “sacred Native American ground”? This has nothing to do with race. This is about a federal government which seeks to usurp OUR Constitutional rights, and they’re using the age-old tactic of “divide & conquer” to accomplish this. You’re told it’s not politically correct to blame 1.2 billion Muslims for the beliefs of a mere 280 million fundamentalists, but they race-bait you into blaming all whites & white privilege for the actions of a dozen or so whack jobs. They’ve brought race relations to their worst state since the Civil Rights Movement so we won’t unite as they strip away OUR Constitutional rights, and Americans of color are playing right into their hands.
PLEASE–I’m begging my Black fellow Americans to consider this very carefully: When guns are taken out of the hands of American citizens, who will be the only people left on the streets with guns? Right!–COPS, who are already gunning down young, Black males at an alarming rate. What will happen when they’re given free reign to “keep the peace”?
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Except that’s never going to happen – please refer to the story of the little boy who cried wolf for an analogy to the “Obama is going to take our guns away” thing.
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Why do these patriot groups side with the government when people of color are wronged? Then they want the support of black and brown people when they are clearly breaking the law.
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Since I heard about this situation I have been posting to a huge number of websites that are covering it (favouring news feeds that are local to the area, or have national or international news, and when possible to the conservative websites that are cheering for these people).
Most of the posts have been along the lines of this one:
It is inspiring to see these men taking a stand against a corrupt government at the risk of their own lives or freedom for what should rightly be expected in terms of justice and the respect due to the local inhabitants and their God given right to decide how their land and resources will be managed.
Although none of the coverage that I have seen has mentioned it yet, I look forward to the announcement of when they intend to sign their properties and controlling interest of the mines in the area back over to the Burns Paiute people.
I wonder if they plan to travel across the country liberating further territories from the tyranny of a government that has no true claim of title over them, or will seek to return to their own ancestral lands.
Despite the challenges of the current refugee crisis, it is certain that any member state of the EU would happily consider taking in a group of militant anti-government religiously fundamentalist “freedom fighters”, assuming that they can escape their tyrannical government and make their way overseas.
They might be best advised to avoid air flight (the oppressor that they are fleeing has satellites and advanced weapon systems in the area). Their best bet may be to sail over, possibly swimming the final distance to shore because even staggering up the beach with almost nothing except for their clothes and the occasional concealed carry item, surely they will be welcomed and cared for in their time of need.
That is what any decent folks would do without a second thought, right?
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Well, those ranchers they say they are protecting likely don’t own that land. They are leasing it from the BLM….leasing is just like renting and that means you don’t own it…at all.
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This is just more right-wing drama during a presidential election period. The conservative Republicans always scream about tyranny when there’s a Democrat in the White House. Question them and ask them to name the specifics and they tend to fall apart.
Remember when George W. Bush was ACTUALLY taking away constitutional rights with the Patriot Acts I and II and promoting torture without proper due process? Not a peep out of these silly little right-wing agitators then.
Their old and simple-minded tricks don’t seem to work these days. Conservative Republicans feel everything is slipping away from them, and you know something? Maybe this time, for once, they’re right!
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Did You Make Your Thermal Protective Gear ,There coming At Nite ,Watch Out Frm The Ground ,They Have Underground Tunnels All Over The U.S.A. & There’s A Dot On The Map Where You Guys Are At ,& It Leads To The Bundy’s Ranch As well “
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Why isn’t anyone calling the FBI on this or contacting the President. Someone do something. Don’t Let them get away with this! This is serious violation.
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This is natives doing what’s right.. F**k the government
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The government is and always has been, “we the people”. Our government has been subverted by the right-wing for 40 years now and we now have a wrecked economy and a society that is confused and full of anger and hate. These people are a white supremacist terrorist organization and nothing more. The good news is, people (all over the world) are finally figuring out who the real enemy is, and it’s the right-wing.
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Are there just government trolls commenting here?
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In addition, National Wildlife Refuges are purchased and funded almost totally by those of us, Native (I’m Creek) and otherwise, who hunt, shoot, etc., and therefore purchase Duck Stamps, ammunition, archery equipment, firearms, and other items . Originally, the NWR’s relied primarily on the stamps; now they also get (if memory serves me correctly) funds from the 11% Pittman/Robertson excise tax that is included in the retail price on all of the aforementioned items. Being from Florida Cracker cattle country, I can sympathize with the difficulties these ranchers face, BUT IT AIN’T THEIR LAND!
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
Irony lost indeed …. Here’s to info mainstream media isn’t covering. This land doesn’t belong to ranchers/militia … Do the right thing!!
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Had this militia been Natives, they’d be killed without hesitation. These men are on Indian land. They’re terrorists, not defenders. White privilege b!+(#€s!!
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Seriously who is running this fiasco Al Bundy .There is a serious threat to the USA from within.And the colour of their skin is white. I would take Syrian refugees over these abominations any day.The feds need to stomp the white terror out.The right to bear arms is not working.These maniacs should have no rights and be put away for the Safety of all
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