Splitting the Sky
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Splitting the Sky (born January 7, 1952) is an activist, struggling for justice for the indigenous peoples of the Americas. His Mohawk name, Dacajeweiah, translated into English is "Splitting the Sky". He was born in Buffalo, New York, colonized as "John Boncore", and also became known as "John Hill". From the age of seven, Splitting the Sky survived many years in New York foster homes and youth detention centers in which he was ill-treated. Eventually he would become the only man convicted as a ringleader of the infamous 1971 Attica State Prison rebellion in upstate New York, in the course of which 43 inmates were killed. This event has inspired several movies -- "Against the Wall" (1994) starring Samuel L. Jackson, and "Attica" (1980) starring Morgan Freeman -- and documentaries including "Attica" (1974), and "The Ghosts of Attica" (2001). He was listed by former UN Ambassador Andrew Young of the Carter administration as the number one political prisoner in the USA in 1975.
Splitting the Sky founded an organization to unite all Indigenous Peoples into a great confederation called the League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations of the Western Hemisphere (LISN). In 1995 he was the Sun Dance Chief at Gustafsen Lake, British Columbia, during the Gustafsen Lake Standoff, which was precipitated by a rancher who attempted to evict the Sun Dancers from what he claimed was his property. The incident turned into a major protest against the occupation of unceded native land. Splitting the Sky was an outspoken critic of the government's handling of the incident and was among those who raised the question of so-called Aboriginal Title under international law. Specifically, aboriginal title is enshrined under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which is validated as an aboriginal right in section (35) of the Canadian constitution. With his wife Sandra Bruderer, whose Cree name translates to "She Keeps the Door", he co-wrote a 653 page book titled "The Autobiography of Dacajeweiah Splitting the Sky John Boncore Hill; From Attica Lake to Gustafsen Lake: Unmasking the Secrets of the Psycho-sexual Energy and the Struggle for Original People's Title". Splitting the Sky currently resides in British Columbia, Canada.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from [1] released under the GFDL License
[edit] External links
- A review of Splitting the Sky's autobiography
- A review of Splitting the Sky's autobiography (a copy of the review above)
- Splitting the Sky's "Remembering 9-11" speech (September 10th, 2005)
- Against the Wall (1994) at the Internet Movie Database
- Attica (1980) at the Internet Movie Database
- Attica (1974) at the Internet Movie Database
- Ghosts of Attica (2001) at the Internet Movie Database
