Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US

The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States, leaders said Wednesday.

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us," long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means told a handful of reporters and a delegation from the Bolivian embassy, gathered in a church in a run-down neighborhood of Washington for a news conference.

A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.

It's unfortunate that they used the UN as a launching pad for this, but it is interesting.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free -- provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Means said.

Hmmm. I wonder if they need high-end IT talent.

My paternal grandmother was half Creek Indian. I don't remember how well the Creek and the Sioux got along, but some of my grandmother's family were victims of the Sand Creek Massacre, so they have that in common. Maybe I can claim natural citizenship.