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Greetings from Lakota Student Alliance

Here is our first posting to the new blog created by the Lakota Student Alliance .

Declaration of Purpose
December 2, 1995
The Lakota Student Alliance is an alliance of grassroots Indigenous peoples and Students of the Lakota Nation whose mission is to advocate, sponsor, promote and encourage public awareness education among grassroots Indigenous people in the struggle toward Sovereignty and Independence.

The fundamental purposes of the LSA are:

* To extend our support to grassroots peoples movements by assisting our communities in their goals toward Sovereignty and Independence.
* To provide continuing education for the grassroots people and the Lakota populations.
* To increase awareness of cultural, tribal and academic objectives of Lakota Colleges and universities..
* To assist local organizations and peoples in achieving their goals.
* To advocate, educate and promote the fundamental rights and duties of students of Lakota Universities, colleges, and secondary institutions.

In accordance with the objectives of several Indian organizations, the LaStAlli decided to adopt its own statement to promote sovereignty of the people. Founding members heard the frustrations by people about common hardships on the reservation: Poverty, Alcoholism, Apathy, Racial Discrimination, Police Brutality, Exploitation of Earth's Resources, of Spirituality and Culture and Tribal Abuse of Power.

Other students complained of loss of governmental funding, mistreatment by public servants, and the frustrations of an apathetic student body. So a few members of the Kyle Student Organization decided that in order to motivate other students, we needed to establish the Lakota Student Alliance.
Our first actions:
*
Launching Awareness Effort of Lakota Land Claim at Mt. Rushmore
* Campaigning against the racial insinuations of a
border town homecoming coronation ceremony.

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