Showing posts with label Native American rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Native American rights. Show all posts
The Myth of "America"
By Dahr Jamail and Jason Coppola, truthout, Oct. 12, 2009
But does it?
***
"They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells," Christopher Columbus wrote in his logbook in 1495. "They willingly traded everything they owned.... They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane.... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."
Catholic priest Bartolome de las Casas, in the multi-volume "History of the Indies" published in 1875, wrote, "... Slaves were the primary source of income for the Admiral (Columbus) with that income he intended to repay the money the Kings were spending in support of Spaniards on the Island. They provide profit and income to the Kings. (The Spaniards were driven by) insatiable greed ... killing, terrorizing, afflicting, and torturing the native peoples ... with the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty."
This systematic violence was aimed at preventing "Indians from daring to think of themselves as human beings. (The Spaniards) thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.... My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write."
Father Fray Antonio de Montesino, a Dominican preacher, in December 1511 said this in a sermon that implicated Christopher Columbus and the colonists in the genocide of the native peoples:
"Tell me by what right of justice do you hold these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? On what authority have you waged such detestable wars against these people who dealt quietly and peacefully on their own lands? Wars in which you have destroyed such an infinite number of them by homicides and slaughters never heard of before ..."
In 1892, the National Council of Churches, the largest ecumenical body in the United States, is known to have exhorted Christians to refrain from celebrating the Columbus quincentennial, saying, "What represented newness of freedom, hope, and opportunity for some was the occasion for oppression, degradation and genocide for others."
Yet America continues to celebrate "Columbus Day."
That Americans do so in the face of all evidence that there is little in the Columbian legacy that merits applause makes it easier for them to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions, or the actions of their government. Perhaps there is good reason.
***
In "Columbus Day: A Clash of Myth and History," journalist and media critic Norman Solomon discusses how historians who deal with recorded evidence are frequently depicted as "politically correct" revisionists while the general populace is manipulated into holding onto myths that brazenly applaud inconceivable acts of violence of men against fellow humans.
For those of us who are willing to ask how it becomes possible to manipulate the population of a country into accepting atrocity, the answer is not hard to find. It requires normalizing the inconceivable and drumming it in via the socio-cultural environment until it is internalized and embedded in the individual and collective consciousness. The combined or singular deployment of the media, the entertainment industry, mainstream education or any other agency, can achieve the desired result of convincing people that wars can be just, and strikes can be surgical, as long as it is the US that is doing it.
Never has this process been as blatant and overt as in recent years when the time has come for America to legitimize the idea of global domination. A Department of Defense report titled Joint Vision 2020 calls for the US military to be capable of "full spectrum dominance" of the entire planet. That means total domination and control of all land, sea, air, space and information.
That's a lot of control.
How might this become accepted as "Policy" and remain unquestioned by almost an entire population?
The one word key to that is: Myths. The explanation is that the myths the United States is built upon have paved the way for the perpetuation of all manner of violations.
Among the first of these is that of Christopher Columbus. In school we were taught of his bravery, courage and perseverance. In a speech in 1989, George H.W. Bush proclaimed: "Christopher Columbus not only opened the door to a New World, but also set an example for us all by showing what monumental feats can be accomplished through perseverance and faith."
Never mind that the monumental feats mainly comprised part butchery, part exploitation and the largest part betrayal of host populations of the "New World."
***
On their second arrival in Hispaniola, Haiti, Columbus's crew took captive roughly two thousand local villagers who had arrived to greet them. Miguel Cuneo, a literate crew member, wrote, "When our caravels ... were to leave for Spain, we gathered ... one thousand six hundred male and female persons of those Indians, and these we embarked in our caravels on February 17, 1495.... For those who remained, we let it be known (to the Spaniards who manned the island's fort) in the vicinity that anyone who wanted to take some of them could do so, to the amount desired, which was done."
In 1500, Columbus wrote to a friend, "A hundred castellanoes (a Spanish coin) are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten (years old) are now in demand."
Such original "monumental feats" as were accomplished by our nation's heroes and role models were somewhat primitive. Local inhabitants who resisted Columbus and his crew had their ears or nose cut off, were attacked by dogs, skewered with pikes and shot. Reprisals were so severe that many of the natives committed mass suicide and women began practicing abortions in order not to leave children enslaved. The population of Haiti at the time of Columbus's arrival was between 1.5 million and 3 million. Sixty years later, every single native had been murdered.
Today, "perseverance and faith" allow us to accomplish much more and with far greater impunity. The US continues to liberate Iraq and Afghanistan with 2,000-pound bombs in civilian areas and purge Pakistan via drone attacks on weddings.
Neither case is of isolated whimsy. It was and remains policy.
In "A People's History of the United States," celebrated historian Howard Zinn describes how Arawak men and women emerged from their villages to greet their guests with food, water and gifts when Columbus landed at the Bahamas. But Columbus wanted something else. "Gold is most excellent; gold constitutes treasure; and he who has it does all he wants in the world, and can even lift souls up to Paradise," he wrote to the king and queen of Spain in 1503.
Rather than gold, however, Columbus only found slaves when he arrived on his second visit with seventeen ships and over 1,200 men. Ravaging various Caribbean islands, Columbus took natives as captives as he sailed. Of these he picked 500 of the best specimens and shipped them back to Spain. Two hundred of these died en route, while the survivors were put up for sale by the archdeacon of the town where they landed.
Columbus needed more than mere slaves to sell, and Zinn's account informs us, "... desperate to pay back dividends to those who had invested, (he) had to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the province of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death.
"The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold around was bits of dust garnered from the streams. So they fled, were hunted down with dogs, and were killed."
As a younger priest, the aforementioned De las Casas had participated in the conquest of Cuba and owned a plantation where natives worked as slaves before he found his conscience and gave it up. His first-person accounts reveal that the Spaniards "thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades. They forced their way into native settlements, slaughtering everyone they found there, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth. They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords as though they were sheep herded into a pen. They even laid wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two at a stroke, or cut an individual's head from his body, or disembowel him with a single blow of their axes. They grabbed suckling infants by the feet and, ripping them from their mothers' breasts, dashed them headlong against the rocks. Others, laughing and joking all the while, threw them over their shoulders into a river, shouting: 'Wriggle, you litle perisher.' They slaughtered anyone on their path ..."
***
Full Spectrum Dominance
In a letter to the Spanish court dated February 15, 1492, Columbus presented his version of full spectrum dominance: "to conquer the world, spread the Christian faith and regain the Holy Land and the Temple Mount."
With this radical ideology, Las Casas records, "They spared no one, erecting especially wide gibbets on which they could string their victims up with their feet just off the ground and then burned them alive thirteen at a time, in honour of our Saviour and the twelve Apostles."
About incorporating these accounts in his book, Zinn explained to Truthout, "My point is not to grieve for the victims and denounce the executioners. Those tears, that anger, cast into the past, deplete our moral energy for the present ... but I do remember a statement I once read: The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don't listen to it, you will never know what justice is."
****
Author journalist Chris Hedges believes that glorification of (the atrocities of) Columbus is one of several myths that sustain the illusions that justify the imperial visions of the United States.
In conversation with Truthout, he said, "It's really easy to build a holocaust museum that condemns Germans. It's another issue to build a museum that confronts our own genocide, the genocide that was perpetrated by our own ancestors towards Native Americans or towards African-Americans. I am all for documenting and remembering the [World War II] Holocaust, but the disparity between the reality of the [World War II] Holocaust or the reality of the genocide as illustrated in the [World War II] Holocaust museum and the utter historical amnesia in the Native American museum in Washington is really frightening and shows a complete inability in a public arena for us to examine who we are and what we've done."
Noam Chomsky holds a similar view. "We have [World War II] Holocaust museums all over the place about what the Germans did," Chomsky told Truthout. "Do we have one about what we did? I mean about slavery, about the Native American population? It's not that the people involved didn't know about it. John Quincy Adams, a great grand strategist, who had a major role in these atrocities, in his later years when he reflected on them, referred to that hapless race of North Americans, which we are exterminating with such insidious cruelty. They knew exactly what they were doing. But it doesn't matter. It's us."
Explaining how the mythology of a country becomes its historic reality, Chomsky stated, "If you are well-educated, you can internalize that and it. That's part of what a good education is about, enabling people to live with those contradictions. And you see it very consistently. In the case of, say, the Iraq war, try to find somebody who had a principled objection. Actually you can, occasionally, but it's suppressed."
Historical revisionism and amnesia are critical for nation-building, opines Paul Woodward, the writer and author of the blog "War In Context". He elaborates, "Every nation is subject to its own particular form of historical amnesia. Likewise, imperial powers have their own grandiose revisionist tendencies. Yet there is another form of historical denial particular to recently invented nations whose myth-making efforts are inextricably bound together with the process of the nation's birth ...
"Whereas older nations are by and large populated by people whose ancestral roots penetrated that land well before it took on the clear definition of a nation state, the majority of the people in an invented nation - such as the United States or Israel - have ancestry that inevitably leads elsewhere. This exposes the ephemeral link between the peoples' history and the nation's history. Add to that the fact that such nations came into being through grotesque acts of dispossession and it is clear that a psychological drive to hold aloft an atemporal exceptionalism becomes an existential necessity. National security requires that the past be erased."
Robert Jensen is an author and teaches media law, ethics and politics at the University of Texas. In an essay where he justifies his decision to not celebrate Thanksgiving as a holiday, he says, "Imagine that Germany won World War II and that a Nazi regime endured for some decades, eventually giving way to a more liberal state with a softer version of German-supremacist ideology. Imagine that a century later Germans celebrated a holiday offering a whitewashed version of German/Jewish history that ignored that holocaust and the deep anti-Semitism of the culture. Imagine that the holiday provided a welcomed time for families and friends to gather and enjoy food and conversation. Imagine that businesses, schools and government offices closed on this day. What would we say about such a holiday? Would we not question the distortions woven into such a celebration? Would we not demand a more accurate historical account? Would we not, in fact, denounce such a holiday as grotesque?"
Of course we would.
But our story is different, and once again this year, on October 12, we will once again "Hail Columbus."
---------
Bhaswati Sengupta contributed to this report.
*****************
Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist, is the author of "The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan," (Haymarket Books, 2009), and "Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq," (Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from occupied Iraq for nine months as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last five years.
Jason Coppola is the director and producer of the documentary film "Justify My War," which explores the rationalization of war in American culture, comparing the siege of Fallujah with the massacre at Wounded Knee. Coppola has worked in Iraq as well as on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Happy Columbus DayTo mark Columbus Day In 2004, the Medieval and Renaissance Center in UCLA published the final volume of a compendium of Columbus-era documents. Its general editor, Geoffrey Symcox, leaves little room for ambivalence when he says, "This is not your grandfather's Columbus.... While giving the brilliant mariner his due, the collection portrays Columbus as an unrelenting social climber and self-promoter who stopped at nothing - not even exploitation, slavery, or twisting biblical scripture - to advance his ambitions.... Many of the unflattering documents have been known for the last century or more, but nobody paid much attention to them until recently. The fact that Columbus brought slavery, enormous exploitation or devastating diseases to the Americas used to be seen as a minor detail - if it was recognized at all - in light of his role as the great bringer of white man's civilization to the benighted idolatrous American continent. But to historians today this information is very important. It changes our whole view of the enterprise."
Columbus sailed the ocean blue in Fourteen Hundred and Ninety Two ...
May the spirit of adventure and discovery always be with you.
Wishing you a great Columbus Day
- Columbus Day greeting card
But does it?
***
"They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells," Christopher Columbus wrote in his logbook in 1495. "They willingly traded everything they owned.... They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane.... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."
Catholic priest Bartolome de las Casas, in the multi-volume "History of the Indies" published in 1875, wrote, "... Slaves were the primary source of income for the Admiral (Columbus) with that income he intended to repay the money the Kings were spending in support of Spaniards on the Island. They provide profit and income to the Kings. (The Spaniards were driven by) insatiable greed ... killing, terrorizing, afflicting, and torturing the native peoples ... with the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty."
This systematic violence was aimed at preventing "Indians from daring to think of themselves as human beings. (The Spaniards) thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.... My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write."
Father Fray Antonio de Montesino, a Dominican preacher, in December 1511 said this in a sermon that implicated Christopher Columbus and the colonists in the genocide of the native peoples:
"Tell me by what right of justice do you hold these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? On what authority have you waged such detestable wars against these people who dealt quietly and peacefully on their own lands? Wars in which you have destroyed such an infinite number of them by homicides and slaughters never heard of before ..."
In 1892, the National Council of Churches, the largest ecumenical body in the United States, is known to have exhorted Christians to refrain from celebrating the Columbus quincentennial, saying, "What represented newness of freedom, hope, and opportunity for some was the occasion for oppression, degradation and genocide for others."
Yet America continues to celebrate "Columbus Day."
That Americans do so in the face of all evidence that there is little in the Columbian legacy that merits applause makes it easier for them to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions, or the actions of their government. Perhaps there is good reason.
***
In "Columbus Day: A Clash of Myth and History," journalist and media critic Norman Solomon discusses how historians who deal with recorded evidence are frequently depicted as "politically correct" revisionists while the general populace is manipulated into holding onto myths that brazenly applaud inconceivable acts of violence of men against fellow humans.
For those of us who are willing to ask how it becomes possible to manipulate the population of a country into accepting atrocity, the answer is not hard to find. It requires normalizing the inconceivable and drumming it in via the socio-cultural environment until it is internalized and embedded in the individual and collective consciousness. The combined or singular deployment of the media, the entertainment industry, mainstream education or any other agency, can achieve the desired result of convincing people that wars can be just, and strikes can be surgical, as long as it is the US that is doing it.
Never has this process been as blatant and overt as in recent years when the time has come for America to legitimize the idea of global domination. A Department of Defense report titled Joint Vision 2020 calls for the US military to be capable of "full spectrum dominance" of the entire planet. That means total domination and control of all land, sea, air, space and information.
That's a lot of control.
How might this become accepted as "Policy" and remain unquestioned by almost an entire population?
The one word key to that is: Myths. The explanation is that the myths the United States is built upon have paved the way for the perpetuation of all manner of violations.
Among the first of these is that of Christopher Columbus. In school we were taught of his bravery, courage and perseverance. In a speech in 1989, George H.W. Bush proclaimed: "Christopher Columbus not only opened the door to a New World, but also set an example for us all by showing what monumental feats can be accomplished through perseverance and faith."
Never mind that the monumental feats mainly comprised part butchery, part exploitation and the largest part betrayal of host populations of the "New World."
***
On their second arrival in Hispaniola, Haiti, Columbus's crew took captive roughly two thousand local villagers who had arrived to greet them. Miguel Cuneo, a literate crew member, wrote, "When our caravels ... were to leave for Spain, we gathered ... one thousand six hundred male and female persons of those Indians, and these we embarked in our caravels on February 17, 1495.... For those who remained, we let it be known (to the Spaniards who manned the island's fort) in the vicinity that anyone who wanted to take some of them could do so, to the amount desired, which was done."
In 1500, Columbus wrote to a friend, "A hundred castellanoes (a Spanish coin) are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten (years old) are now in demand."
Such original "monumental feats" as were accomplished by our nation's heroes and role models were somewhat primitive. Local inhabitants who resisted Columbus and his crew had their ears or nose cut off, were attacked by dogs, skewered with pikes and shot. Reprisals were so severe that many of the natives committed mass suicide and women began practicing abortions in order not to leave children enslaved. The population of Haiti at the time of Columbus's arrival was between 1.5 million and 3 million. Sixty years later, every single native had been murdered.
Today, "perseverance and faith" allow us to accomplish much more and with far greater impunity. The US continues to liberate Iraq and Afghanistan with 2,000-pound bombs in civilian areas and purge Pakistan via drone attacks on weddings.
Neither case is of isolated whimsy. It was and remains policy.
In "A People's History of the United States," celebrated historian Howard Zinn describes how Arawak men and women emerged from their villages to greet their guests with food, water and gifts when Columbus landed at the Bahamas. But Columbus wanted something else. "Gold is most excellent; gold constitutes treasure; and he who has it does all he wants in the world, and can even lift souls up to Paradise," he wrote to the king and queen of Spain in 1503.
Rather than gold, however, Columbus only found slaves when he arrived on his second visit with seventeen ships and over 1,200 men. Ravaging various Caribbean islands, Columbus took natives as captives as he sailed. Of these he picked 500 of the best specimens and shipped them back to Spain. Two hundred of these died en route, while the survivors were put up for sale by the archdeacon of the town where they landed.
Columbus needed more than mere slaves to sell, and Zinn's account informs us, "... desperate to pay back dividends to those who had invested, (he) had to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the province of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death.
"The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold around was bits of dust garnered from the streams. So they fled, were hunted down with dogs, and were killed."
As a younger priest, the aforementioned De las Casas had participated in the conquest of Cuba and owned a plantation where natives worked as slaves before he found his conscience and gave it up. His first-person accounts reveal that the Spaniards "thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades. They forced their way into native settlements, slaughtering everyone they found there, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth. They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords as though they were sheep herded into a pen. They even laid wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two at a stroke, or cut an individual's head from his body, or disembowel him with a single blow of their axes. They grabbed suckling infants by the feet and, ripping them from their mothers' breasts, dashed them headlong against the rocks. Others, laughing and joking all the while, threw them over their shoulders into a river, shouting: 'Wriggle, you litle perisher.' They slaughtered anyone on their path ..."
***
Full Spectrum Dominance
In a letter to the Spanish court dated February 15, 1492, Columbus presented his version of full spectrum dominance: "to conquer the world, spread the Christian faith and regain the Holy Land and the Temple Mount."
With this radical ideology, Las Casas records, "They spared no one, erecting especially wide gibbets on which they could string their victims up with their feet just off the ground and then burned them alive thirteen at a time, in honour of our Saviour and the twelve Apostles."
About incorporating these accounts in his book, Zinn explained to Truthout, "My point is not to grieve for the victims and denounce the executioners. Those tears, that anger, cast into the past, deplete our moral energy for the present ... but I do remember a statement I once read: The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don't listen to it, you will never know what justice is."
****
Author journalist Chris Hedges believes that glorification of (the atrocities of) Columbus is one of several myths that sustain the illusions that justify the imperial visions of the United States.
In conversation with Truthout, he said, "It's really easy to build a holocaust museum that condemns Germans. It's another issue to build a museum that confronts our own genocide, the genocide that was perpetrated by our own ancestors towards Native Americans or towards African-Americans. I am all for documenting and remembering the [World War II] Holocaust, but the disparity between the reality of the [World War II] Holocaust or the reality of the genocide as illustrated in the [World War II] Holocaust museum and the utter historical amnesia in the Native American museum in Washington is really frightening and shows a complete inability in a public arena for us to examine who we are and what we've done."
Noam Chomsky holds a similar view. "We have [World War II] Holocaust museums all over the place about what the Germans did," Chomsky told Truthout. "Do we have one about what we did? I mean about slavery, about the Native American population? It's not that the people involved didn't know about it. John Quincy Adams, a great grand strategist, who had a major role in these atrocities, in his later years when he reflected on them, referred to that hapless race of North Americans, which we are exterminating with such insidious cruelty. They knew exactly what they were doing. But it doesn't matter. It's us."
Explaining how the mythology of a country becomes its historic reality, Chomsky stated, "If you are well-educated, you can internalize that and it. That's part of what a good education is about, enabling people to live with those contradictions. And you see it very consistently. In the case of, say, the Iraq war, try to find somebody who had a principled objection. Actually you can, occasionally, but it's suppressed."
Historical revisionism and amnesia are critical for nation-building, opines Paul Woodward, the writer and author of the blog "War In Context". He elaborates, "Every nation is subject to its own particular form of historical amnesia. Likewise, imperial powers have their own grandiose revisionist tendencies. Yet there is another form of historical denial particular to recently invented nations whose myth-making efforts are inextricably bound together with the process of the nation's birth ...
"Whereas older nations are by and large populated by people whose ancestral roots penetrated that land well before it took on the clear definition of a nation state, the majority of the people in an invented nation - such as the United States or Israel - have ancestry that inevitably leads elsewhere. This exposes the ephemeral link between the peoples' history and the nation's history. Add to that the fact that such nations came into being through grotesque acts of dispossession and it is clear that a psychological drive to hold aloft an atemporal exceptionalism becomes an existential necessity. National security requires that the past be erased."
Robert Jensen is an author and teaches media law, ethics and politics at the University of Texas. In an essay where he justifies his decision to not celebrate Thanksgiving as a holiday, he says, "Imagine that Germany won World War II and that a Nazi regime endured for some decades, eventually giving way to a more liberal state with a softer version of German-supremacist ideology. Imagine that a century later Germans celebrated a holiday offering a whitewashed version of German/Jewish history that ignored that holocaust and the deep anti-Semitism of the culture. Imagine that the holiday provided a welcomed time for families and friends to gather and enjoy food and conversation. Imagine that businesses, schools and government offices closed on this day. What would we say about such a holiday? Would we not question the distortions woven into such a celebration? Would we not demand a more accurate historical account? Would we not, in fact, denounce such a holiday as grotesque?"
Of course we would.
But our story is different, and once again this year, on October 12, we will once again "Hail Columbus."
---------
Bhaswati Sengupta contributed to this report.
*****************
Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist, is the author of "The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan," (Haymarket Books, 2009), and "Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq," (Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from occupied Iraq for nine months as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last five years.
Jason Coppola is the director and producer of the documentary film "Justify My War," which explores the rationalization of war in American culture, comparing the siege of Fallujah with the massacre at Wounded Knee. Coppola has worked in Iraq as well as on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Sun Dance Chief Seeks Meeting with President Obama
Sun Dance Chief Fasts at White House For Leonard Peltier: seeks meeting with President Obama
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee, Aug. 28, 2009
As a result of Peltier’s recent parole denial, Ben Carnes, Choctaw Nation, and a Sun Dance Chief, states he will go to Washington, D.C. to stand and fast in front of the White House between September 5th – 12th, in hopes of securing a meeting with President Obama.
Earlier this year, the LP-DOC sent a letter to President Obama to discuss the case of Leonard Peltier, but the reply from the White House declined to invite members of the committee for a meeting.
Leonard Peltier has been an international cause celeb based upon critical questions surrounding his conviction in 1977 in the deaths of two FBI agents. Amnesty International has designated Peltier as a political prisoner and a U.S. prosecutor has admitted in court during an appeal hearing that he did not know who killed the agents and cannot prove who did. A federal judge who heard this statement but was unable to afford any relief wrote a letter to Sen. Inouye to ask the president to grant clemency.
Carnes is a recipient of the 1987 Oklahoma Human Rights Award for his stand against forced hair cutting of Native prisoners. He has been asked to speak before congressional committees and has served with numerous human rights, interfaith and Native organizations. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of Peltier for over 28 years, and first became a national spokesperson in 1991. He is also national support group coordinator and advisory board member for the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee.
“The basis of Peltier’s denial by the parole commission is one of hypocrisy. It is also beyond belief that the chair of the US Parole Commission, Issac Fullwood, who lectures on ethics in law enforcement, would turn a blind eye to the FBI’s abuse of the investigative process. And Ms. Patricia Cushwa, commission member, and Chair of the Maryland parole commission recently supported a pardon for a man who had been executed, because there were questions about the case,” said Carnes. He said that there are questions about Peltier's case that remain unanswered, and with this denial, the parole commission have made Peltier's life sentence a sentence of death as he won’t be eligible for parole for 15 years when he is 79 years old. Peltier will observe his next birthday on September 12 when he will turn 65. He has already served 33 years in prison.
Supporters are calling for world wide 24 hour vigils on September 11th – 12th to begin at 8:45 AM
We call upon all supporters to organize solidarity events and actions in conjunction with Ben's solitary prayer fast in DC on September 12th.
If you can, begin a 24 hour vigil on September 11 beginning at 8:45 AM and set up some means of a public address for the 12th to broadcast a live statement from Ben as he concludes his fast. This could very well be an important time in the history of the struggle to bring justice to free Peltier, and in the federal government's relations' with the Native people of this land.
Everyone is asked to work locally, we know not everyone can be in DC at that time, but your work in your area is vitally important.
"The president has made some promises to the First Nations people during his campaign," Carnes said, "and since the election we have been saying it starts with Leonard Peltier. He needs to prove to us he means this!
Otherwise, it is just another in a long running series of broken promises, treaties and broken lives. We will not accept this anymore!"
Leonard Peltier has long reached International celebrity status, based upon critical questions surrounding his conviction in 1977 in the deaths of two FBI agents. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for the 6th time, and has had the support of world political/spiritual leaders from around the world, including 55 members of Congress who have joined in the call for justice.
For more information, go to www.whoisleonardpeltier.info, the official website of the LP-DOC.
Information for contributions can be made through this site to help the committee and the action taking place in Washington, DC. You can also order litho’s of Peltier’s art or other products to help support the cause of Leonard Peltier.
This is not the time to be quiet, it is time to act – and right now.
CONTACT THE WHITE HOUSE:
Contact President Obama via EMAIL
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
The website is not the only way to reach the president.
You can also call or write to the President :
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-6213
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
********************
TUNE IN EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT WITH WANBLI
at 7:00 p.m. EST
www.TheRealPublicRadio.net
CALL IN TO TALK 712-432-8773, PIN 179441
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee, Aug. 28, 2009
As a result of Peltier’s recent parole denial, Ben Carnes, Choctaw Nation, and a Sun Dance Chief, states he will go to Washington, D.C. to stand and fast in front of the White House between September 5th – 12th, in hopes of securing a meeting with President Obama.
Earlier this year, the LP-DOC sent a letter to President Obama to discuss the case of Leonard Peltier, but the reply from the White House declined to invite members of the committee for a meeting.
Leonard Peltier has been an international cause celeb based upon critical questions surrounding his conviction in 1977 in the deaths of two FBI agents. Amnesty International has designated Peltier as a political prisoner and a U.S. prosecutor has admitted in court during an appeal hearing that he did not know who killed the agents and cannot prove who did. A federal judge who heard this statement but was unable to afford any relief wrote a letter to Sen. Inouye to ask the president to grant clemency.
Carnes is a recipient of the 1987 Oklahoma Human Rights Award for his stand against forced hair cutting of Native prisoners. He has been asked to speak before congressional committees and has served with numerous human rights, interfaith and Native organizations. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of Peltier for over 28 years, and first became a national spokesperson in 1991. He is also national support group coordinator and advisory board member for the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee.
“The basis of Peltier’s denial by the parole commission is one of hypocrisy. It is also beyond belief that the chair of the US Parole Commission, Issac Fullwood, who lectures on ethics in law enforcement, would turn a blind eye to the FBI’s abuse of the investigative process. And Ms. Patricia Cushwa, commission member, and Chair of the Maryland parole commission recently supported a pardon for a man who had been executed, because there were questions about the case,” said Carnes. He said that there are questions about Peltier's case that remain unanswered, and with this denial, the parole commission have made Peltier's life sentence a sentence of death as he won’t be eligible for parole for 15 years when he is 79 years old. Peltier will observe his next birthday on September 12 when he will turn 65. He has already served 33 years in prison.
Supporters are calling for world wide 24 hour vigils on September 11th – 12th to begin at 8:45 AM
We call upon all supporters to organize solidarity events and actions in conjunction with Ben's solitary prayer fast in DC on September 12th.
If you can, begin a 24 hour vigil on September 11 beginning at 8:45 AM and set up some means of a public address for the 12th to broadcast a live statement from Ben as he concludes his fast. This could very well be an important time in the history of the struggle to bring justice to free Peltier, and in the federal government's relations' with the Native people of this land.
Everyone is asked to work locally, we know not everyone can be in DC at that time, but your work in your area is vitally important.
"The president has made some promises to the First Nations people during his campaign," Carnes said, "and since the election we have been saying it starts with Leonard Peltier. He needs to prove to us he means this!
Otherwise, it is just another in a long running series of broken promises, treaties and broken lives. We will not accept this anymore!"
Leonard Peltier has long reached International celebrity status, based upon critical questions surrounding his conviction in 1977 in the deaths of two FBI agents. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for the 6th time, and has had the support of world political/spiritual leaders from around the world, including 55 members of Congress who have joined in the call for justice.
For more information, go to www.whoisleonardpeltier.info, the official website of the LP-DOC.
Information for contributions can be made through this site to help the committee and the action taking place in Washington, DC. You can also order litho’s of Peltier’s art or other products to help support the cause of Leonard Peltier.
This is not the time to be quiet, it is time to act – and right now.
CONTACT THE WHITE HOUSE:
Contact President Obama via EMAIL
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
The website is not the only way to reach the president.
You can also call or write to the President :
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-6213
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
********************
TUNE IN EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT WITH WANBLI
at 7:00 p.m. EST
www.TheRealPublicRadio.net
CALL IN TO TALK 712-432-8773, PIN 179441
Injustice continues: Leonard Peltier denied parole
By Mahtowin, International Action Center, Aug. 27, 2009
A wave of outrage swept the progressive community worldwide at the news that Native political prisoner Leonard Peltier was denied parole on Aug. 21. The U.S. government said Peltier will not be eligible for another parole hearing until 2024, when he will be 79 years old.
Peltier, framed up by the FBI for the 1975 shooting of two FBI agents at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, has been unjustly imprisoned since 1976. He is an international symbol of the U.S. government’s refusal to respect Native nations and sovereignty and a symbol of the corruption of the U.S. criminal “justice” system.
But Peltier is not just a symbol. He is “ikce wicasa,” the Lakota phrase meaning “human being.” He has been held captive for more than 12,000 days–six years longer than South Africa’s Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.
The feds have tried to have Peltier assassinated in prison. He has been put in solitary confinement countless times. He is currently imprisoned in Lewisburg, Pa., far from his family and his reservation. Peltier, now 64, grows increasingly ill from diabetes, vision and prostate problems, and other medical issues. Like all prisoners, he receives inadequate medical care.
Peltier’s children have grown up without him, and he has never been able to hold his grandchildren. He longs to walk the land and see the night sky, to eat a meal of his own choosing, to gather with his family and friends, to live among his people once more. Peltier, a man whose only crime has been to fight for Native rights and sovereignty, languishes in prison solely because of the dishonesty and arrogance of the U.S. government and its Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Despite everything, Peltier’s spirit is not crushed. His supporters cannot allow themselves to be discouraged. Peltier depends upon his supporters to transmute our outrage into action and educate others about his case.
The Leonard Peltier Defense/Offense Committee is considering its next steps, and meanwhile it wishes “to thank our thousands of supporters for their tenacious efforts, in particular during the months leading to Leonard’s recent parole hearing. Currently we are in the process of finalizing plans for efforts around exercising our right to challenge this decision, advocating for intervention by President Barack Obama, and succeeding in getting both proper medical attention for Leonard and a transfer to a federal prison closer to home. We will be issuing directives within the near future.”
For more information on Peltier’s case and the struggle to free him, visit www.whoisleonardpeltier.info. Cards and letters may be sent to Leonard
Peltier, #89637-132, USP-Lewisburg, P.O. Box 1000, Lewisburg, PA 17837.
Mahtowin is co-leader of United American Indians of New England.
Statement of Peltier’s attorney
Following are excerpts from an Aug. 21 statement released by Eric Seitz, a defense attorney for Leonard Peltier:
Despite judicial determinations that the unrepentant FBI fabricated evidence and presented perjured testimony in Leonard Peltier’s prosecution; despite a jury’s acquittal on grounds of self-defense of two co-defendants who were found to have engaged in the same conduct of which Mr. Peltier was convicted; despite Mr. Peltier’s exemplary record during his incarceration for more than 33 years and his clearly demonstrated eligibility for parole; despite letters and petitions calling for his release submitted by millions of people in this country and around the world including one of the judges who ruled on his earlier appeals; and despite his advanced age and deteriorating health, the Parole Commission today informed Mr. Peltier that his “release on parole would depreciate the seriousness of your offenses and would promote disrespect for the law,” and set a reconsideration hearing in July 2024.
This is the extreme action of the same law enforcement community that brought us the indefinite imprisonment of suspected teenage terrorists; tortures and killings in CIA prisons around the world. ... These are the same institutions that have never treated Indigenous peoples with dignity or respect or accepted any responsibility for centuries of intolerance and abuse.
At his parole hearing on July 28, Leonard Peltier expressed regret and accepted responsibility for his role in the incident in which the two FBI agents and one Native American activist died as the result of a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Mr. Peltier emphasized that the shootout occurred in circumstances where there literally was a war going on between corrupt tribal leaders, supported by the government, on the one hand, and Native American traditionalists and young activists, on the other.
He again denied—as he has always denied—that he intended the deaths of anyone or that he fired the fatal shots that killed the two agents, and he reminded the hearing officer that one of his former co-defendants recently admitted to having fired the fatal shots himself.
Accordingly, it is not true that Leonard Peltier participated in “the execution style murders of two FBI agents,” as the Parole Commission asserts, and there never has been credible evidence of Mr. Peltier’s responsibility for the fatal shots, as the FBI continues to allege.
Moreover, given the corrupt practices of the FBI, ... it is entirely untrue that Leonard Peltier’s parole at this juncture will in any way “depreciate the seriousness” of his conduct and/or “promote disrespect for the law.”
We will continue to seek parole and clemency for Mr. Peltier and to eventually bring this prolonged injustice to a ... fair resolution.
*****************
Also see:
Leonard Peltier Parole Denied
A wave of outrage swept the progressive community worldwide at the news that Native political prisoner Leonard Peltier was denied parole on Aug. 21. The U.S. government said Peltier will not be eligible for another parole hearing until 2024, when he will be 79 years old.Peltier, framed up by the FBI for the 1975 shooting of two FBI agents at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, has been unjustly imprisoned since 1976. He is an international symbol of the U.S. government’s refusal to respect Native nations and sovereignty and a symbol of the corruption of the U.S. criminal “justice” system.
But Peltier is not just a symbol. He is “ikce wicasa,” the Lakota phrase meaning “human being.” He has been held captive for more than 12,000 days–six years longer than South Africa’s Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.
The feds have tried to have Peltier assassinated in prison. He has been put in solitary confinement countless times. He is currently imprisoned in Lewisburg, Pa., far from his family and his reservation. Peltier, now 64, grows increasingly ill from diabetes, vision and prostate problems, and other medical issues. Like all prisoners, he receives inadequate medical care.
Peltier’s children have grown up without him, and he has never been able to hold his grandchildren. He longs to walk the land and see the night sky, to eat a meal of his own choosing, to gather with his family and friends, to live among his people once more. Peltier, a man whose only crime has been to fight for Native rights and sovereignty, languishes in prison solely because of the dishonesty and arrogance of the U.S. government and its Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Despite everything, Peltier’s spirit is not crushed. His supporters cannot allow themselves to be discouraged. Peltier depends upon his supporters to transmute our outrage into action and educate others about his case.
The Leonard Peltier Defense/Offense Committee is considering its next steps, and meanwhile it wishes “to thank our thousands of supporters for their tenacious efforts, in particular during the months leading to Leonard’s recent parole hearing. Currently we are in the process of finalizing plans for efforts around exercising our right to challenge this decision, advocating for intervention by President Barack Obama, and succeeding in getting both proper medical attention for Leonard and a transfer to a federal prison closer to home. We will be issuing directives within the near future.”
For more information on Peltier’s case and the struggle to free him, visit www.whoisleonardpeltier.info. Cards and letters may be sent to Leonard
Peltier, #89637-132, USP-Lewisburg, P.O. Box 1000, Lewisburg, PA 17837.
Mahtowin is co-leader of United American Indians of New England.
Statement of Peltier’s attorney
Following are excerpts from an Aug. 21 statement released by Eric Seitz, a defense attorney for Leonard Peltier:
Despite judicial determinations that the unrepentant FBI fabricated evidence and presented perjured testimony in Leonard Peltier’s prosecution; despite a jury’s acquittal on grounds of self-defense of two co-defendants who were found to have engaged in the same conduct of which Mr. Peltier was convicted; despite Mr. Peltier’s exemplary record during his incarceration for more than 33 years and his clearly demonstrated eligibility for parole; despite letters and petitions calling for his release submitted by millions of people in this country and around the world including one of the judges who ruled on his earlier appeals; and despite his advanced age and deteriorating health, the Parole Commission today informed Mr. Peltier that his “release on parole would depreciate the seriousness of your offenses and would promote disrespect for the law,” and set a reconsideration hearing in July 2024.
This is the extreme action of the same law enforcement community that brought us the indefinite imprisonment of suspected teenage terrorists; tortures and killings in CIA prisons around the world. ... These are the same institutions that have never treated Indigenous peoples with dignity or respect or accepted any responsibility for centuries of intolerance and abuse.
At his parole hearing on July 28, Leonard Peltier expressed regret and accepted responsibility for his role in the incident in which the two FBI agents and one Native American activist died as the result of a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Mr. Peltier emphasized that the shootout occurred in circumstances where there literally was a war going on between corrupt tribal leaders, supported by the government, on the one hand, and Native American traditionalists and young activists, on the other.
He again denied—as he has always denied—that he intended the deaths of anyone or that he fired the fatal shots that killed the two agents, and he reminded the hearing officer that one of his former co-defendants recently admitted to having fired the fatal shots himself.
Accordingly, it is not true that Leonard Peltier participated in “the execution style murders of two FBI agents,” as the Parole Commission asserts, and there never has been credible evidence of Mr. Peltier’s responsibility for the fatal shots, as the FBI continues to allege.
Moreover, given the corrupt practices of the FBI, ... it is entirely untrue that Leonard Peltier’s parole at this juncture will in any way “depreciate the seriousness” of his conduct and/or “promote disrespect for the law.”
We will continue to seek parole and clemency for Mr. Peltier and to eventually bring this prolonged injustice to a ... fair resolution.
*****************
Also see:
Leonard Peltier Parole Denied
Leonard Peltier Parole Denied
Friends Of Peltier email, Aug. 21, 2009
"When you begin a great work you can't expect to finish it all at once; therefore, you and your brothers [and sisters] press on and let nothing discourage you until you have entirely finished what you have begun."--Teedyuschung, Delaware
News from North Dakota, today, is that Leonard Peltier's parole has been denied. He won't receive another full parole hearing until 2024, at the age of 79 years.
As sad as we all are, we are steadfast, undefeated. We will not go away. We will not be quiet.
Take a moment to reflect. Just a moment. But then put your disappointment behind you. Gather your strength. There's much work to be done.
* Action Item 1: Contact the Attorney General *
On June 23, 1995, Amnesty International submitted a letter of concern about the Peltier case to the then U.S. Attorney General. There was no response. Write to Eric Holder, Attorney General. Ask him to conduct an executive review of the case and to finally right the wrongs of the past. Tell him it's never too late to find the truth. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Eric A. Holder, Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Or call the Office of the Attorney General at 202-353-1555.
And while you're at it, ask Mr. Holder why more than 140,000 documents from a 30+-year-old case are still being withheld by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Tell him America has a right to know what occurred over 30 years ago and demand the release of all documents related to the Peltier case.
* Action Item 2: Contact Members of Congress *
Use all the resources at your disposal to contact your Members of Congress and continue urging them to support freedom for Leonard Peltier. That support should be formally expressed in correspondence to President Obama.
Also demand a full congressional investigation into the Reign of Terror on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the '70s. It's long past time for the truth to be told. See:
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org/call.htm
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org/write.htm
Do you use Twitter? Try using this service to quickly and easily
reach your Members of Congress: http://tcxs.net/.
You also can sign the petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Pine_Ridge/.
Congress will not be in session for most of August. This is a good time to meet with your Members of Congress in their home offices. Make the appointment now. You can find locations, telephone numbers, etc., via our congressional directory:
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org/congressmaster.htm.
* Action Item 3: Call the White House *
Call the White House comment line to express your outrage at the outcome of the parole hearing. Demand that President Obama free Peltier now. Call:
(202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1112.
You also can send an e-mail to the White House. Go to
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.
If you prefer, mail or fax a letter:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Fax - (202) 456-2461
Better yet... Do all three.
-----
Time to set him free... Because it is the RIGHT thing to do.
Friends of Peltier
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org
****************
Also see:
Injustice continues: Leonard Peltier denied parole
"When you begin a great work you can't expect to finish it all at once; therefore, you and your brothers [and sisters] press on and let nothing discourage you until you have entirely finished what you have begun."--Teedyuschung, Delaware
News from North Dakota, today, is that Leonard Peltier's parole has been denied. He won't receive another full parole hearing until 2024, at the age of 79 years.
As sad as we all are, we are steadfast, undefeated. We will not go away. We will not be quiet.
Take a moment to reflect. Just a moment. But then put your disappointment behind you. Gather your strength. There's much work to be done.
* Action Item 1: Contact the Attorney General *
On June 23, 1995, Amnesty International submitted a letter of concern about the Peltier case to the then U.S. Attorney General. There was no response. Write to Eric Holder, Attorney General. Ask him to conduct an executive review of the case and to finally right the wrongs of the past. Tell him it's never too late to find the truth. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Eric A. Holder, Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Or call the Office of the Attorney General at 202-353-1555.
And while you're at it, ask Mr. Holder why more than 140,000 documents from a 30+-year-old case are still being withheld by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Tell him America has a right to know what occurred over 30 years ago and demand the release of all documents related to the Peltier case.
* Action Item 2: Contact Members of Congress *
Use all the resources at your disposal to contact your Members of Congress and continue urging them to support freedom for Leonard Peltier. That support should be formally expressed in correspondence to President Obama.
Also demand a full congressional investigation into the Reign of Terror on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the '70s. It's long past time for the truth to be told. See:
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org/call.htm
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org/write.htm
Do you use Twitter? Try using this service to quickly and easily
reach your Members of Congress: http://tcxs.net/.
You also can sign the petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Pine_Ridge/.
Congress will not be in session for most of August. This is a good time to meet with your Members of Congress in their home offices. Make the appointment now. You can find locations, telephone numbers, etc., via our congressional directory:
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org/congressmaster.htm.
* Action Item 3: Call the White House *
Call the White House comment line to express your outrage at the outcome of the parole hearing. Demand that President Obama free Peltier now. Call:
(202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1112.
You also can send an e-mail to the White House. Go to
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.
If you prefer, mail or fax a letter:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Fax - (202) 456-2461
Better yet... Do all three.
-----
Time to set him free... Because it is the RIGHT thing to do.
Friends of Peltier
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org
****************
Also see:
Injustice continues: Leonard Peltier denied parole
Update On Leonard Peltier's July 28 Parole Hearing
Friends of Peltier, July 28, 2009
Greetings from Lewisburg, PA. As you know, Leonard's parole hearing was today. The attorney Eric Seitz is very hopeful about the outcome of the hearing. The government brought nothing new to the table and made it clear that their position is that LP should never be released despite his being eligible for parole. That, of course, is about nothing but revenge. Peter Matthiessen ("In the Spirit of Crazy Horse") was a witness today. He's attended many of the hearings, appeals, etc., over the years. He felt the examiner was attentive and open to what was being said on LP's behalf. He's also feeling positive. We're also told Leonard handled the Q&A (for about 45 minutes) very well. Unfortunately, there's nothing further to report. The examiner said he'd like some time before making a recommendation. We expect that Leonard will be notified of the recommendation within the next 24-48 hours. This is progress, folks. Normally a denial is made and immediately, sometimes even before LP's lawyers have even finished their presentation. Overall, the feeling is that Leonard received a fair hearing. Keep up those prayers for a positive outcome. Ultimately, of course, the full Parole Commission will make the final decision. We'll keep you posted.
-----
Time to set him free... Because it is the RIGHT thing to do.
Friends of Peltier
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org
Type the rest of your post here.
Greetings from Lewisburg, PA. As you know, Leonard's parole hearing was today. The attorney Eric Seitz is very hopeful about the outcome of the hearing. The government brought nothing new to the table and made it clear that their position is that LP should never be released despite his being eligible for parole. That, of course, is about nothing but revenge. Peter Matthiessen ("In the Spirit of Crazy Horse") was a witness today. He's attended many of the hearings, appeals, etc., over the years. He felt the examiner was attentive and open to what was being said on LP's behalf. He's also feeling positive. We're also told Leonard handled the Q&A (for about 45 minutes) very well. Unfortunately, there's nothing further to report. The examiner said he'd like some time before making a recommendation. We expect that Leonard will be notified of the recommendation within the next 24-48 hours. This is progress, folks. Normally a denial is made and immediately, sometimes even before LP's lawyers have even finished their presentation. Overall, the feeling is that Leonard received a fair hearing. Keep up those prayers for a positive outcome. Ultimately, of course, the full Parole Commission will make the final decision. We'll keep you posted.-----
Time to set him free... Because it is the RIGHT thing to do.
Friends of Peltier
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org
Type the rest of your post here.
Uranium Contamination Haunts Navajo Country
By DAN FROSCH, NYTimes.com, July 26, 2009
TEEC NOS POS, Ariz. — It was one year ago that the environmental scientist showed up at Fred Slowman’s door, deep in the heart of Navajo country, and warned that it was unsafe for him to stay there.
The Slowman home, the same one-level cinderblock structure his family had lived in for nearly a half-century, was contaminated with potentially dangerous levels of uranium from the days of the cold war, when hundreds of uranium mines dotted the vast tribal land known as the Navajo Nation. The scientist advised Mr. Slowman, his wife and their two sons to move out until their home could be rebuilt.
“I was angry,” Mr. Slowman said. “I guess it was here all this time, and we never knew.”
The legacy wrought from decades of uranium mining is long and painful here on the expansive reservation. Over the years, Navajo miners extracted some four million tons of uranium ore from the ground, much of it used by the United States government to make weapons.
Many miners died from radiation-related illnesses; some, unaware of harmful health effects, hauled contaminated rocks and tailings from local mines and mills to build homes for their families.
Now, those homes are being demolished and rebuilt under a new government program that seeks to identify what are very likely dozens of uranium-contaminated structures still standing on Navajo land and to temporarily relocate people living in them until the homes can be torn down and rebuilt.
Stephen B. Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, and other tribal officials have been grappling for years with the environmental fallout from uranium mining.
“There were a lot of things people weren’t told about the plight of Navajos and uranium mining,” Mr. Etsitty said. “These legacy issues are impacting generations. At some point people are saying, ‘It’s got to end.’ ”
After a Congressional hearing in 2007, a cross-section of federal agencies committed to addressing the environmental and health impacts of uranium mining on the reservation. As part of that commitment, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation began working together to assess uranium levels in 500 structures through a five-year plan set to end in 2012.
Using old lists of potentially contaminated structures, federal and Navajo scientists have fanned out to rural reaches of the 27,000 square mile reservation — which includes swaths of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — to measure levels of radium, a decay product of uranium that can cause lung cancer. Of 113 structures assessed so far, 27 contained radiation levels that were above normal.
“In these situations, you have contamination in somebody’s yard or in their house,” said Harry Allen, the E.P.A.’s section chief for emergency response in San Francisco who is helping lead the government’s efforts. “To us, that is somewhat urgent.”
Many structures that showed high levels of radiation were vacant; some families had already moved out after hearing stories of contamination in their homes. But eight homes still had people living in them, and the E.P.A. and Navajo officials have worked to convince residents that it would be unsafe to stay.
“People had been told they were living in contaminated structures, but nobody ever did anything about it,” said Will Duncan, an environmental scientist who has been the E.P.A.’s main representative on the reservation. “They would tell us, ‘We don’t believe you are going to follow through.’ ”
But with a budget of nearly $8 million, the E.P.A. has demolished all 27 contaminated structures and has begun building ones to replace those that had been occupied. Typically, the agency pays a Navajo contracting company to construct a log cabin or a traditional hogan in the structure’s stead, depending on the wishes of the occupants. Mr. Allen said the cost, including temporarily relocating residents, ran approximately $260,000 per dwelling and took about eight months.
The agency also offers $50,000 to those who choose not to have an old home rebuilt.
Lillie Lane, a public information officer with the Navajo Nation E.P.A. who has acted as a liaison between the federal government and tribal members, said the program held practical and symbolic importance given the history of uranium mining here.
Ms. Lane described the difficulty of watching families, particularly elders, leaving homes they had lived in for years. She told of coming upon two old miners who died before their contaminated homes could be rebuilt. “In Navajo, a home is considered sacred,” she said. “But if the foundation or the rocks are not safe, we have to do this work.”
Some families, Ms. Lane said, complained that their children were suffering from health problems and had wondered if radiation were to blame.
The E.P.A. has started sifting through records and interviewing family members to figure out whether mining companies that once operated on the reservation are liable for any damages, Mr. Allen said.
On a recent summer day, Fred and Clara Slowman proudly surveyed their new home, a one-level log cabin that sits in the quiet shadows of Black Rock Point, miles away from the bustle of Farmington, N.M., where the family has been living in a hotel.
Mr. Slowman said he suspected that waste materials from a nearby abandoned mine seeped into his house. The family plans on having a traditional Navajo medicine man bless their dwelling before they move in.
“In our traditional way, a house is like your mom,” he said. “It’s where you eat, sleep, where you’re taken care of. And when you come back from the city, you come back to your mom. It makes you feel real good.”
TEEC NOS POS, Ariz. — It was one year ago that the environmental scientist showed up at Fred Slowman’s door, deep in the heart of Navajo country, and warned that it was unsafe for him to stay there.
The Slowman home, the same one-level cinderblock structure his family had lived in for nearly a half-century, was contaminated with potentially dangerous levels of uranium from the days of the cold war, when hundreds of uranium mines dotted the vast tribal land known as the Navajo Nation. The scientist advised Mr. Slowman, his wife and their two sons to move out until their home could be rebuilt.
“I was angry,” Mr. Slowman said. “I guess it was here all this time, and we never knew.”
The legacy wrought from decades of uranium mining is long and painful here on the expansive reservation. Over the years, Navajo miners extracted some four million tons of uranium ore from the ground, much of it used by the United States government to make weapons.
Many miners died from radiation-related illnesses; some, unaware of harmful health effects, hauled contaminated rocks and tailings from local mines and mills to build homes for their families.
Now, those homes are being demolished and rebuilt under a new government program that seeks to identify what are very likely dozens of uranium-contaminated structures still standing on Navajo land and to temporarily relocate people living in them until the homes can be torn down and rebuilt.
Stephen B. Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, and other tribal officials have been grappling for years with the environmental fallout from uranium mining.
“There were a lot of things people weren’t told about the plight of Navajos and uranium mining,” Mr. Etsitty said. “These legacy issues are impacting generations. At some point people are saying, ‘It’s got to end.’ ”
After a Congressional hearing in 2007, a cross-section of federal agencies committed to addressing the environmental and health impacts of uranium mining on the reservation. As part of that commitment, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation began working together to assess uranium levels in 500 structures through a five-year plan set to end in 2012.
Using old lists of potentially contaminated structures, federal and Navajo scientists have fanned out to rural reaches of the 27,000 square mile reservation — which includes swaths of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — to measure levels of radium, a decay product of uranium that can cause lung cancer. Of 113 structures assessed so far, 27 contained radiation levels that were above normal.
“In these situations, you have contamination in somebody’s yard or in their house,” said Harry Allen, the E.P.A.’s section chief for emergency response in San Francisco who is helping lead the government’s efforts. “To us, that is somewhat urgent.”
Many structures that showed high levels of radiation were vacant; some families had already moved out after hearing stories of contamination in their homes. But eight homes still had people living in them, and the E.P.A. and Navajo officials have worked to convince residents that it would be unsafe to stay.
“People had been told they were living in contaminated structures, but nobody ever did anything about it,” said Will Duncan, an environmental scientist who has been the E.P.A.’s main representative on the reservation. “They would tell us, ‘We don’t believe you are going to follow through.’ ”
But with a budget of nearly $8 million, the E.P.A. has demolished all 27 contaminated structures and has begun building ones to replace those that had been occupied. Typically, the agency pays a Navajo contracting company to construct a log cabin or a traditional hogan in the structure’s stead, depending on the wishes of the occupants. Mr. Allen said the cost, including temporarily relocating residents, ran approximately $260,000 per dwelling and took about eight months.
The agency also offers $50,000 to those who choose not to have an old home rebuilt.
Lillie Lane, a public information officer with the Navajo Nation E.P.A. who has acted as a liaison between the federal government and tribal members, said the program held practical and symbolic importance given the history of uranium mining here.
Ms. Lane described the difficulty of watching families, particularly elders, leaving homes they had lived in for years. She told of coming upon two old miners who died before their contaminated homes could be rebuilt. “In Navajo, a home is considered sacred,” she said. “But if the foundation or the rocks are not safe, we have to do this work.”
Some families, Ms. Lane said, complained that their children were suffering from health problems and had wondered if radiation were to blame.
The E.P.A. has started sifting through records and interviewing family members to figure out whether mining companies that once operated on the reservation are liable for any damages, Mr. Allen said.
On a recent summer day, Fred and Clara Slowman proudly surveyed their new home, a one-level log cabin that sits in the quiet shadows of Black Rock Point, miles away from the bustle of Farmington, N.M., where the family has been living in a hotel.
Mr. Slowman said he suspected that waste materials from a nearby abandoned mine seeped into his house. The family plans on having a traditional Navajo medicine man bless their dwelling before they move in.
“In our traditional way, a house is like your mom,” he said. “It’s where you eat, sleep, where you’re taken care of. And when you come back from the city, you come back to your mom. It makes you feel real good.”
Warriors are taking up arms against abuse
WELLNESS: Storytelling techniques help bring old trauma into the light.
By LISA DEMER, Anchorage Daily News, May 31, 2009
In a small room in a converted apartment building in East Anchorage, it's story time.
Only, these tales aren't for kids.
The grown-ups in this grim circle survived childhoods filled with sexual abuse and violence and shame.
Silent for so long, here they unleash.
One by one, they tell near-strangers some of the worst things that ever happened to them. They talk about being molested, sodomized and beaten, their pleas ignored.
"The first story I remember being told was my mother didn't want me. But a little of my memories are gone. And it's because I was raised with pedophiles," a woman named Margo tells the group.
Some admit bad things they've done. Lost, drunk years. Children given or taken away. Cold, lonely marriages.
Regret.
The group is part of the Family Wellness Warriors Initiative.
It's a training program that targets the ongoing epidemic of abuse, neglect and violence within Alaska Native families. It teaches how to build healthy relationships through techniques rooted in storytelling.
The effort is designed for people in professions such as counseling and health care, but also for the wounded themselves, or anyone who wants to learn how to help. It's for non-Natives as well as Natives and the twist is that it welcomes abusers.
The problem is huge. Alaska in general has alarmingly high rates of child sexual abuse, domestic violence and suicide, and the numbers are even worse among Alaska Native people.
When these storytellers were children, abusers got away with it in isolated villages with little law enforcement and no system of support for damaged families. Normal boundaries were torn away over generations of historical trauma: diseases that wiped out whole generations; culture crushed by misguided missionaries, teachers and bureaucrats; villages where all the children were sent to faraway boarding schools; roles and responsibilities confused by alcohol.
"It all kind of festers into devaluing human beings. Devaluing children. Devaluing yourselves. Devaluing who we are. It easily winds up into we're just things instead of people," said Katherine Gottlieb, who started the program as Southcentral Foundation president and CEO. The foundation is the health-care arm of Cook Inlet Region Inc.
"The damage started years ago," said Rick McCafferty, a training specialist with the program who grew up in Kotzebue, where it seemed as though just about every child he knew was being abused sexually or physically.
It has to stop, says Gottlieb. That means inoculating an entire population against this destructive behavior.
'DON'T EVER SPEAK OF THIS'
In Lisa Dolchok's family, dark stories are spilling out.
She's 69 years old, a great-grandmother, a traditional healer -- and a victim of childhood sexual abuse.
All of those named in this story agreed to speak publicly to shed light on a problem they say has been hidden for too long. They say they want others to get the help they need. Some are identified only by first name.
Dolchok, her husband, a son and a daughter-in-law have become anchors in the elder-led movement to heal families.
For more than 50 years, she felt inferior, dirty and different but always blamed the wrong thing: tuberculosis suffered as a teen; being half Yup'ik, half Filipino; lacking a college degree.
"I was always wanting to be in the background behind somebody else. I didn't want to be up front. And I learned why," Dolchok said. "It's the end path of what happened as a child. At 5 years old you shouldn't be introduced to that world."
A world of tricks and bribes, of lies and threats. Daily betrayal. Almost no one confronted the pedophiles who found easy prey in Alaska villages and hubs.
Forty-one percent of child sexual abuse victims in Alaska are Native, according to the state Office of Children's Services. That's high considering that only about 23 percent of Alaska children and teens are Native. Every set of statistics seems grimmer than the last. One university study found that Alaska Natives in Anchorage were six times more likely to be raped than whites.
"It's almost like a way of life. What an awful thing to say. That's what I hear from women today. It seemed to be an accepted -- not accepted, that's the wrong word. It's just that --," Dolchok said, at a loss for words that made sense. Girls were told that's the way it was and if they thought different, there was nowhere to turn.
As a girl, Dolchok remembers being molested at different times by three different men -- none of them Native -- in villages where she grew up near Dillingham and in the hub itself. The men are all dead now.
She's been part of the warriors initiative almost from its beginnings 10 years ago. She's learned to tell her story to her clients, who come to her as a traditional healer. Nearly every one of her clients has been sexually abused and most of them never talked about it before, she said. She uses talk and prayer and healing touch, whatever they are comfortable with.
One of her abusers, she said, was a friend of her father who assured her that other children, whom he named, let him do it too. Later, he took out his pocketknife and sliced into his hand. If she ever told, he said, "I'll skin your father alive, and I'll tell you where to find him."
Only once, she tried to tell her mother. "She slapped me and said don't ever speak of this again."
Years later as an adult, Dolchok asked her mother why she didn't step in to protect her. "She said she was afraid that my dad would kill this man. I was the oldest of nine living brothers and sisters. There was no welfare and food stamps in those days."
The child kept quiet until the Catholic church arrived in her village. At 12, Dolchok confessed to a priest, who told her it wasn't her sin and made sure she was safe.
Later, a pastor at Mt. Edgecumbe boarding school in Sitka made lewd comments around her, then masturbated in front of her.
"So that's when I thought I really had a mark here that a bad man or a woman could see, that they had the right to do what they did to me," Dolchok said.
A SON'S TURMOIL
Dolchok married at 19. Her husband, Max, came from a childhood of trauma too. He said he was physically and sexually abused at the now-shuttered Wrangell Institute boarding school.
She and Max had four children. The damage done as a child snaked into her new life. Dolchok describes herself in those child-rearing days as overweight, insecure, jealous and seething with misplaced rage -- "a screaming mother." More than once, she flung dishes off the table, relishing the sound of smashing glass.
"In a sense," she said, "that is abuse, to put such fear into my own kids."
Perhaps the worst of it was that, despite all they knew and all they had been through, the Dolchoks couldn't protect some of those closest to them. One son, Max Dolchok, came forward as an adult to reveal that he too had been molested as a child, by older kids.
Dolchok found out at a Wellness Warriors conference in Fairbanks when he asked her if it was OK to speak up. Don't hold back, she told her son.
"I didn't know. I thought, because of my own abuse, I was watchful. ... We never think of baby-sitters or family members or friends would do that."
Yet that's usually who abusers are. It's not the creepy stranger in the park.
Last year at a small training conference in Anchorage, the younger Max told the group how the sexual abuse shaped him. He became a passive "nice guy," the go-to fellow at work, the son who always helps his parents. Now he's learning to assert himself more, he said.
When he finished talking, his father hugged him close.
"For me, before I came here, that was wallowing. My whole life was based on what happened to me as a kid," Max, now 46, said during a break.
The family members now talk from the heart as a result of Wellness Warriors, said his father, who is 71. He used to be really quiet, but now he's a leader, an advocate with the program and chair of the committee that oversees it.
Some in the family never found their way. Some of the victims turned into abusers, the younger Max said.
Another of the Dolchoks' four kids who was molested as a boy suffered from mental illness, alcoholism and addiction as an adult. Family members say he also preyed sexually on children. He died last year from heart disease.
The family says they're working on forgiveness.
The agenda for that day's training was packed: sexual identity, how to relate to others, recovery.
After a bit, Max excused himself to return to his job as an electrical company foreman. He said he'd be back at 6.
"What's at 6?" someone asked.
"Redemption," he said.
BEER BOTTLES ALL AROUND
In front of her employees, other Native leaders and people she's never met, Katherine Gottlieb shares her own disturbing stories.
On the outside, Gottlieb is a highly successful Alaskan, the head of Southcentral Foundation, a mother of six, a grandmother many times over, happily married, winner of a coveted MacArthur Foundation so-called "genius award" for her creativity.
On the inside, she's a victim of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence.
She tells about a sister who lay down in the snow and froze to death at age 19. A brother who killed himself. An alcoholic mother.
"There were times when we'd be standing outside of a bar because one of our brothers or sisters needed milk and we'd be holding the baby, trying to encourage her to come out, because we didn't have milk in the house," Gottlieb told one conference crowd.
She would come home from kindergarten to find her mother passed out, beer bottles all around. The fourth-oldest of 12 children, she became the mother in the house. She tidied up, scrounged for food. She remembers making macaroni but there was no cheese so she'd try to make a sauce from ketchup and water.
With her mother out of it, her father working, other adults would come and go as they pleased, Gottlieb said.
And, she said, they would do to the children what they pleased. "They were like friends and relatives. It was people we knew. In the family."
When she was about 5, she tried to tell her mother that people were bothering her, touching her in ways she didn't like. Her mother, who died when Gottlieb was 12, called her wicked and slapped her. It was the way the mother often related to her children -- angry, yelling, violent. "She would throw things and throw us around."
Gottlieb grew up thinking she must be bad like her mother said. She thought about becoming a nun, something good and pure. But she couldn't connect with her spiritual side in that way.
She married at 16. She says her husband was abusive, but also that they were both young and troubled. She escaped that marriage and then, in the mid-1990s, her second marriage crumbled too.
"I felt like I didn't want to live anymore. Instead of choosing a way out that I think a lot of people do -- our highest rates of suicide are here in Alaska -- I went to counseling."
'SWIM THROUGH THE PAST'
Soon after she took the Southcentral Foundation's top job in 1991, Gottlieb started looking for a way to address child abuse and domestic violence. One thing led to another. She told her story of childhood abuse at a small church. A missionary from Kodiak, Linda Ross, heard it and began talking to her about hosting a conference.
Then, at a social services meeting, she heard an elder tell her own abuse story. Talking about it tore up the woman. Audience members were emotional too. Gottlieb realized she needed to reach large numbers of damaged souls, people whose problems were too big for a single conference to repair. A committee scoured the country for ideas.
Ross led her to a Michigan-based, Christian group called Open Hearts Ministry and Gottlieb's group then tailored the approach for Alaska Native people.
Family Wellness Warriors Initiative stages various trainings, including five-day conferences around the state. Clinicians are on standby to help anyone in emotional crisis. They use Bible stories and songs to illustrate points, though most sessions aren't steeped in religion.
It's mainly about story, how to use storytelling as a way to clear out the shame and anger and learn to relate to others.
"Swim through the past and come through the other side," Gottlieb says.
Visit the worst of it, but don't linger there, Tanya Dolchok, the younger Max's wife, told a group of leaders in training. "It's dangerous to stay in the darkness too long without coming up for air."
Group leaders create a safe place for people to dig down to the depths of pain, to be totally open and vulnerable, said Bobbi Donadio, program administrator. "Even though we bring people to that difficult point, we also know how to bring them back up to healing and redemption."
Gottlieb said she realized at one conference how she had hurt her children when they were young by yelling about the littlest things. They now are grown with children of their own. She is making amends with them one by one, talking out the past.
She looks differently now at anyone who is angry or in a funk.
"There is a story behind someone's eyes. Don't jump to conclusions," Gottlieb said.
HELEN AND ALFRED
The topic this morning: sexual identity, through the eyes of a long-married couple from Seldovia, Helen and Alfred Quijance.
Helen told a group in training about being abused as a young girl. She didn't want anyone to notice her after that.
Alfred said his mother told him she could do with him what she wished, then molested him repeatedly. His grandmother, who raised him in his early years, beat him, sometimes until he bled or lost consciousness. He felt like nothing. Once, he put the cold barrel of a gun into his mouth.
They've been married for nearly 40 years but much of that time didn't really talk. Alfred always seemed angry, Helen said. Alfred said he wanted Helen silent. "I thought she would leave me if she ever found her voice," he said. He saw her as his mother, his granny, the women who had hurt him.
If they talked, it was about what's for dinner.
"Our home was a tomb where we ate, drank coffee and watched TV," Alfred said.
They became truly close only after opening up about the damage from long ago.
"Before, there would be no talking," Helen said. "He would get louder and I would get quieter."
They now are leaders in the program. Both are on the steering committee that oversees it. Alfred also is on staff as a part-time advocate. He and Helen hope to start their own branch of Wounded Warriors in Seldovia. They call it Quiet Place Ministry.
WHY WARRIORS?
When Gottlieb first pitched the initiative to the Alaska Native Health Board as a way to combat child abuse and domestic violence, she said the men in the group weren't interested. So she crafted a new strategy and went back.
"I said, 'We are calling out the warriors, and we're calling out the men,' " Gottlieb recalled. " 'We need men out here that will stand in the front lines, that will protect their families, fight for us, even die for us, like you did in the old days.' "
She walked away with $350,000 in seed money.
The approach puts men and women into old-fashioned, traditional roles. Some criticize it as sexist.
"The men are doing the crime. They are doing the abuse. They are filling the prisons. The reason we are going after men is so we can help them turn it around, to use their strength to nurture, instead of their strength to harm," said Gene McConnell, training manager for the program.
He knows about transformation. He was sexually abused as a child and became a pornography and sex addict as an adult, which destroyed his marriage. He says he recovered and now can help others get past their childhood abuse and dysfunction.
The program has grown to 19 employees, an annual $1.1 million budget. And just this spring, they moved into a woodsy campus off Tudor Road.
More than 1,500 people have gone through the Wellness Warrior trainings. Nearly half are men. All sorts participate in this total-immersion, rapid-fire approach to healing: Russian Orthodox priests; inmates in the Palmer prison's faith-based unit; addicts at the Salvation Army's Clitheroe Center for substance abuse treatment.
That count doesn't include Southcentral Foundation employees who go through a shortened version.
Abusers are allowed, even encouraged, though not anyone who is still abusing others, Donadio said. If someone reveals recent sexual or physical abuse, program leaders will report it to authorities.
"I hope a lot of people who are harming show up to the conferences. I hope they are hearing," Gottlieb said. She wants them to know the damage. She wants it to stop.
One participant admitted at a conference that he had molested his little sister when he was a teenager. He was scared talking about it.
"I felt like I was a caged lion and very exposed. I was ready to fight anybody who said anything against me," Derek, who lives in the Glennallen area, said in an interview. But those who heard his story didn't lash out. Instead, they remarked that he seemed full of self-contempt, and needed help.
And gradually, he began to work through it. He says he's not looking for excuses but believes turmoil in his childhood may have made him desperate for control of someone weaker than he was.
At 44, he is married and has four young children, plus a good job with an auto repair shop. He's learning to talk things out with his wife.
"I used to fly off the handle with rage before this," he said.
There's evidence this approach is making a difference. Participants surveyed months after attending a conference indicated their families showed improvement in support for one another, the ability to deal with conflict, and the like. They now hope to study whether the approach can prevent child abuse.
And, the movement is spreading. Groups in the Interior and Kodiak have their own versions. Others are working on it.
"What I found was, you could help walk someone through some of the pain and the woundedness of their life and you didn't have to have a Ph.D.," said Linda Ross, the Kodiak missionary who helped bring it to Alaska.
What the experts say:
People with troubled childhoods often find it difficult to form normal bonds later on. The more mangled the childhood, the more likely the adult will become an abuser, according to Mark Erickson, a psychiatrist and medical director of behavioral health for Southcentral Foundation.
Alaska Natives have had more trauma and disruption than most cultures. Just look back 90 years to the influenza epidemic, he said. "Entire villages were wiped out and you had large numbers of people who were left as orphans," Erickson said. "That's a situation in which the early attachment experience is profoundly disrupted."
There's a measured health impact too, according to new research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Studies suggest the more chaotic the childhood home, the greater the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, suicide and other health problems later on, Erickson said. A child who was physically and sexually abused, in a home with domestic violence and alcohol abuse, has nearly double the chance of getting cancer as an adult as other people, some research shows.
LISA DEMER: ldemer@adn.com
By LISA DEMER, Anchorage Daily News, May 31, 2009
In a small room in a converted apartment building in East Anchorage, it's story time.
Only, these tales aren't for kids.
The grown-ups in this grim circle survived childhoods filled with sexual abuse and violence and shame.
Silent for so long, here they unleash.
One by one, they tell near-strangers some of the worst things that ever happened to them. They talk about being molested, sodomized and beaten, their pleas ignored.
"The first story I remember being told was my mother didn't want me. But a little of my memories are gone. And it's because I was raised with pedophiles," a woman named Margo tells the group.
Some admit bad things they've done. Lost, drunk years. Children given or taken away. Cold, lonely marriages.
Regret.
The group is part of the Family Wellness Warriors Initiative.
It's a training program that targets the ongoing epidemic of abuse, neglect and violence within Alaska Native families. It teaches how to build healthy relationships through techniques rooted in storytelling.
The effort is designed for people in professions such as counseling and health care, but also for the wounded themselves, or anyone who wants to learn how to help. It's for non-Natives as well as Natives and the twist is that it welcomes abusers.
The problem is huge. Alaska in general has alarmingly high rates of child sexual abuse, domestic violence and suicide, and the numbers are even worse among Alaska Native people.
When these storytellers were children, abusers got away with it in isolated villages with little law enforcement and no system of support for damaged families. Normal boundaries were torn away over generations of historical trauma: diseases that wiped out whole generations; culture crushed by misguided missionaries, teachers and bureaucrats; villages where all the children were sent to faraway boarding schools; roles and responsibilities confused by alcohol.
"It all kind of festers into devaluing human beings. Devaluing children. Devaluing yourselves. Devaluing who we are. It easily winds up into we're just things instead of people," said Katherine Gottlieb, who started the program as Southcentral Foundation president and CEO. The foundation is the health-care arm of Cook Inlet Region Inc.
"The damage started years ago," said Rick McCafferty, a training specialist with the program who grew up in Kotzebue, where it seemed as though just about every child he knew was being abused sexually or physically.
It has to stop, says Gottlieb. That means inoculating an entire population against this destructive behavior.
'DON'T EVER SPEAK OF THIS'
In Lisa Dolchok's family, dark stories are spilling out.
She's 69 years old, a great-grandmother, a traditional healer -- and a victim of childhood sexual abuse.
All of those named in this story agreed to speak publicly to shed light on a problem they say has been hidden for too long. They say they want others to get the help they need. Some are identified only by first name.
Dolchok, her husband, a son and a daughter-in-law have become anchors in the elder-led movement to heal families.
For more than 50 years, she felt inferior, dirty and different but always blamed the wrong thing: tuberculosis suffered as a teen; being half Yup'ik, half Filipino; lacking a college degree.
"I was always wanting to be in the background behind somebody else. I didn't want to be up front. And I learned why," Dolchok said. "It's the end path of what happened as a child. At 5 years old you shouldn't be introduced to that world."
A world of tricks and bribes, of lies and threats. Daily betrayal. Almost no one confronted the pedophiles who found easy prey in Alaska villages and hubs.
Forty-one percent of child sexual abuse victims in Alaska are Native, according to the state Office of Children's Services. That's high considering that only about 23 percent of Alaska children and teens are Native. Every set of statistics seems grimmer than the last. One university study found that Alaska Natives in Anchorage were six times more likely to be raped than whites.
"It's almost like a way of life. What an awful thing to say. That's what I hear from women today. It seemed to be an accepted -- not accepted, that's the wrong word. It's just that --," Dolchok said, at a loss for words that made sense. Girls were told that's the way it was and if they thought different, there was nowhere to turn.
As a girl, Dolchok remembers being molested at different times by three different men -- none of them Native -- in villages where she grew up near Dillingham and in the hub itself. The men are all dead now.
She's been part of the warriors initiative almost from its beginnings 10 years ago. She's learned to tell her story to her clients, who come to her as a traditional healer. Nearly every one of her clients has been sexually abused and most of them never talked about it before, she said. She uses talk and prayer and healing touch, whatever they are comfortable with.
One of her abusers, she said, was a friend of her father who assured her that other children, whom he named, let him do it too. Later, he took out his pocketknife and sliced into his hand. If she ever told, he said, "I'll skin your father alive, and I'll tell you where to find him."
Only once, she tried to tell her mother. "She slapped me and said don't ever speak of this again."
Years later as an adult, Dolchok asked her mother why she didn't step in to protect her. "She said she was afraid that my dad would kill this man. I was the oldest of nine living brothers and sisters. There was no welfare and food stamps in those days."
The child kept quiet until the Catholic church arrived in her village. At 12, Dolchok confessed to a priest, who told her it wasn't her sin and made sure she was safe.
Later, a pastor at Mt. Edgecumbe boarding school in Sitka made lewd comments around her, then masturbated in front of her.
"So that's when I thought I really had a mark here that a bad man or a woman could see, that they had the right to do what they did to me," Dolchok said.
A SON'S TURMOIL
Dolchok married at 19. Her husband, Max, came from a childhood of trauma too. He said he was physically and sexually abused at the now-shuttered Wrangell Institute boarding school.
She and Max had four children. The damage done as a child snaked into her new life. Dolchok describes herself in those child-rearing days as overweight, insecure, jealous and seething with misplaced rage -- "a screaming mother." More than once, she flung dishes off the table, relishing the sound of smashing glass.
"In a sense," she said, "that is abuse, to put such fear into my own kids."
Perhaps the worst of it was that, despite all they knew and all they had been through, the Dolchoks couldn't protect some of those closest to them. One son, Max Dolchok, came forward as an adult to reveal that he too had been molested as a child, by older kids.
Dolchok found out at a Wellness Warriors conference in Fairbanks when he asked her if it was OK to speak up. Don't hold back, she told her son.
"I didn't know. I thought, because of my own abuse, I was watchful. ... We never think of baby-sitters or family members or friends would do that."
Yet that's usually who abusers are. It's not the creepy stranger in the park.
Last year at a small training conference in Anchorage, the younger Max told the group how the sexual abuse shaped him. He became a passive "nice guy," the go-to fellow at work, the son who always helps his parents. Now he's learning to assert himself more, he said.
When he finished talking, his father hugged him close.
"For me, before I came here, that was wallowing. My whole life was based on what happened to me as a kid," Max, now 46, said during a break.
The family members now talk from the heart as a result of Wellness Warriors, said his father, who is 71. He used to be really quiet, but now he's a leader, an advocate with the program and chair of the committee that oversees it.
Some in the family never found their way. Some of the victims turned into abusers, the younger Max said.
Another of the Dolchoks' four kids who was molested as a boy suffered from mental illness, alcoholism and addiction as an adult. Family members say he also preyed sexually on children. He died last year from heart disease.
The family says they're working on forgiveness.
The agenda for that day's training was packed: sexual identity, how to relate to others, recovery.
After a bit, Max excused himself to return to his job as an electrical company foreman. He said he'd be back at 6.
"What's at 6?" someone asked.
"Redemption," he said.
BEER BOTTLES ALL AROUND
In front of her employees, other Native leaders and people she's never met, Katherine Gottlieb shares her own disturbing stories.
On the outside, Gottlieb is a highly successful Alaskan, the head of Southcentral Foundation, a mother of six, a grandmother many times over, happily married, winner of a coveted MacArthur Foundation so-called "genius award" for her creativity.
On the inside, she's a victim of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence.
She tells about a sister who lay down in the snow and froze to death at age 19. A brother who killed himself. An alcoholic mother.
"There were times when we'd be standing outside of a bar because one of our brothers or sisters needed milk and we'd be holding the baby, trying to encourage her to come out, because we didn't have milk in the house," Gottlieb told one conference crowd.
She would come home from kindergarten to find her mother passed out, beer bottles all around. The fourth-oldest of 12 children, she became the mother in the house. She tidied up, scrounged for food. She remembers making macaroni but there was no cheese so she'd try to make a sauce from ketchup and water.
With her mother out of it, her father working, other adults would come and go as they pleased, Gottlieb said.
And, she said, they would do to the children what they pleased. "They were like friends and relatives. It was people we knew. In the family."
When she was about 5, she tried to tell her mother that people were bothering her, touching her in ways she didn't like. Her mother, who died when Gottlieb was 12, called her wicked and slapped her. It was the way the mother often related to her children -- angry, yelling, violent. "She would throw things and throw us around."
Gottlieb grew up thinking she must be bad like her mother said. She thought about becoming a nun, something good and pure. But she couldn't connect with her spiritual side in that way.
She married at 16. She says her husband was abusive, but also that they were both young and troubled. She escaped that marriage and then, in the mid-1990s, her second marriage crumbled too.
"I felt like I didn't want to live anymore. Instead of choosing a way out that I think a lot of people do -- our highest rates of suicide are here in Alaska -- I went to counseling."
'SWIM THROUGH THE PAST'
Soon after she took the Southcentral Foundation's top job in 1991, Gottlieb started looking for a way to address child abuse and domestic violence. One thing led to another. She told her story of childhood abuse at a small church. A missionary from Kodiak, Linda Ross, heard it and began talking to her about hosting a conference.
Then, at a social services meeting, she heard an elder tell her own abuse story. Talking about it tore up the woman. Audience members were emotional too. Gottlieb realized she needed to reach large numbers of damaged souls, people whose problems were too big for a single conference to repair. A committee scoured the country for ideas.
Ross led her to a Michigan-based, Christian group called Open Hearts Ministry and Gottlieb's group then tailored the approach for Alaska Native people.
Family Wellness Warriors Initiative stages various trainings, including five-day conferences around the state. Clinicians are on standby to help anyone in emotional crisis. They use Bible stories and songs to illustrate points, though most sessions aren't steeped in religion.
It's mainly about story, how to use storytelling as a way to clear out the shame and anger and learn to relate to others.
"Swim through the past and come through the other side," Gottlieb says.
Visit the worst of it, but don't linger there, Tanya Dolchok, the younger Max's wife, told a group of leaders in training. "It's dangerous to stay in the darkness too long without coming up for air."
Group leaders create a safe place for people to dig down to the depths of pain, to be totally open and vulnerable, said Bobbi Donadio, program administrator. "Even though we bring people to that difficult point, we also know how to bring them back up to healing and redemption."
Gottlieb said she realized at one conference how she had hurt her children when they were young by yelling about the littlest things. They now are grown with children of their own. She is making amends with them one by one, talking out the past.
She looks differently now at anyone who is angry or in a funk.
"There is a story behind someone's eyes. Don't jump to conclusions," Gottlieb said.
HELEN AND ALFRED
The topic this morning: sexual identity, through the eyes of a long-married couple from Seldovia, Helen and Alfred Quijance.
Helen told a group in training about being abused as a young girl. She didn't want anyone to notice her after that.
Alfred said his mother told him she could do with him what she wished, then molested him repeatedly. His grandmother, who raised him in his early years, beat him, sometimes until he bled or lost consciousness. He felt like nothing. Once, he put the cold barrel of a gun into his mouth.
They've been married for nearly 40 years but much of that time didn't really talk. Alfred always seemed angry, Helen said. Alfred said he wanted Helen silent. "I thought she would leave me if she ever found her voice," he said. He saw her as his mother, his granny, the women who had hurt him.
If they talked, it was about what's for dinner.
"Our home was a tomb where we ate, drank coffee and watched TV," Alfred said.
They became truly close only after opening up about the damage from long ago.
"Before, there would be no talking," Helen said. "He would get louder and I would get quieter."
They now are leaders in the program. Both are on the steering committee that oversees it. Alfred also is on staff as a part-time advocate. He and Helen hope to start their own branch of Wounded Warriors in Seldovia. They call it Quiet Place Ministry.
WHY WARRIORS?
When Gottlieb first pitched the initiative to the Alaska Native Health Board as a way to combat child abuse and domestic violence, she said the men in the group weren't interested. So she crafted a new strategy and went back.
"I said, 'We are calling out the warriors, and we're calling out the men,' " Gottlieb recalled. " 'We need men out here that will stand in the front lines, that will protect their families, fight for us, even die for us, like you did in the old days.' "
She walked away with $350,000 in seed money.
The approach puts men and women into old-fashioned, traditional roles. Some criticize it as sexist.
"The men are doing the crime. They are doing the abuse. They are filling the prisons. The reason we are going after men is so we can help them turn it around, to use their strength to nurture, instead of their strength to harm," said Gene McConnell, training manager for the program.
He knows about transformation. He was sexually abused as a child and became a pornography and sex addict as an adult, which destroyed his marriage. He says he recovered and now can help others get past their childhood abuse and dysfunction.
The program has grown to 19 employees, an annual $1.1 million budget. And just this spring, they moved into a woodsy campus off Tudor Road.
More than 1,500 people have gone through the Wellness Warrior trainings. Nearly half are men. All sorts participate in this total-immersion, rapid-fire approach to healing: Russian Orthodox priests; inmates in the Palmer prison's faith-based unit; addicts at the Salvation Army's Clitheroe Center for substance abuse treatment.
That count doesn't include Southcentral Foundation employees who go through a shortened version.
Abusers are allowed, even encouraged, though not anyone who is still abusing others, Donadio said. If someone reveals recent sexual or physical abuse, program leaders will report it to authorities.
"I hope a lot of people who are harming show up to the conferences. I hope they are hearing," Gottlieb said. She wants them to know the damage. She wants it to stop.
One participant admitted at a conference that he had molested his little sister when he was a teenager. He was scared talking about it.
"I felt like I was a caged lion and very exposed. I was ready to fight anybody who said anything against me," Derek, who lives in the Glennallen area, said in an interview. But those who heard his story didn't lash out. Instead, they remarked that he seemed full of self-contempt, and needed help.
And gradually, he began to work through it. He says he's not looking for excuses but believes turmoil in his childhood may have made him desperate for control of someone weaker than he was.
At 44, he is married and has four young children, plus a good job with an auto repair shop. He's learning to talk things out with his wife.
"I used to fly off the handle with rage before this," he said.
There's evidence this approach is making a difference. Participants surveyed months after attending a conference indicated their families showed improvement in support for one another, the ability to deal with conflict, and the like. They now hope to study whether the approach can prevent child abuse.
And, the movement is spreading. Groups in the Interior and Kodiak have their own versions. Others are working on it.
"What I found was, you could help walk someone through some of the pain and the woundedness of their life and you didn't have to have a Ph.D.," said Linda Ross, the Kodiak missionary who helped bring it to Alaska.
What the experts say:
People with troubled childhoods often find it difficult to form normal bonds later on. The more mangled the childhood, the more likely the adult will become an abuser, according to Mark Erickson, a psychiatrist and medical director of behavioral health for Southcentral Foundation.
Alaska Natives have had more trauma and disruption than most cultures. Just look back 90 years to the influenza epidemic, he said. "Entire villages were wiped out and you had large numbers of people who were left as orphans," Erickson said. "That's a situation in which the early attachment experience is profoundly disrupted."
There's a measured health impact too, according to new research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Studies suggest the more chaotic the childhood home, the greater the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, suicide and other health problems later on, Erickson said. A child who was physically and sexually abused, in a home with domestic violence and alcohol abuse, has nearly double the chance of getting cancer as an adult as other people, some research shows.
LISA DEMER: ldemer@adn.com
The night the Klan met its match
By Chick Jacobs and Venita Jenkins
The Fayetteville Observer, Jan. 18, 2008
MAXTON — The caravans rolled, like clockwork, every Saturday just after nightfall.
Seven, sometimes eight cars. Sedans mostly, long and low, forming an unsettling parade that rolled up U.S. 74 from the south into Maxton. Inside, the dome lights burned, casting the faces of passengers in an eerie, harsh glare.
The Ku Klux Klan wasn’t known for subtlety. But it was known in this part of North Carolina.
“You saw those cars coming, and you knew who those men were,” said Lillie McKoy, a former mayor of Maxton who grew up watching the caravan from her uncle’s store just outside town.
“They wanted you to see them. They wanted you to be afraid of them.”
And a lot of people were afraid. Until the Klan picked a fight with people who fought back.
A half-century ago, in a frosty cornfield about a mile south of Maxton, several hundred American Indians turned what was supposed to be a Klan show of strength into a melee that chased the organization of hooded hatred out of Eastern North Carolina.
Few of the witnesses of that night at Hayes Pond are still around. Those who are share a similar story: The Klan picked the wrong bunch of folks to mess with.
Yet, the tale of how the Klan met its match at the hands of a home-grown army remains a fascinating combination of changing times and long-standing customs — and a critical miscalculation by the grand dragon of the South Carolina Ku Klux Klan.
“Other than complete idiocy, I’m not really sure why you’d hold a rally in a place like that,” said Stan Knick, director of the UNC-Pembroke Native American Resource Center. “You wouldn’t hold a Klan rally in Harlem, would you?”
Christopher Oakley, a history professor at East Carolina University who has studied the melee, said the Klansmen erred twice: in assuming the Indian population would be cowed and that the local whites would support the Klan.
“They totally misread the dynamics of the area,” he said. “They stepped into a situation that was different from the rest of the South.”
The call for the Klan to rally at Maxton came from James W. “Catfish” Cole. A thin, wiry evangelist who preached the gospel of the Lord on the radio every Sunday and his own gospel of bigotry in front of a fiery cross, Cole was the Klan’s exalted grand dragon in South Carolina.
A year earlier, Oakley said, Cole had been commissioned by the Klan’s grand wizard, Eldon Edwards, to revive the Klan in North Carolina. When he heard reports of interracial dating in Robeson County, Cole saw his chance. He called his followers to action. If anything would get their blood boiling, he figured, that should do it.
The Klan had long been quietly present in the area. Each weekend, rolling cars of Klansmen, some still in their hoods, were a common sight in small towns.
But night ridings and beatings, once a common terror tactic of the Klan, had fallen from favor. Solicitor (later N.C. Secretary of State) Malcolm Seawell announced that night riders could face the death penalty.
“Instead, they’d gather at one place, a store or business,” said Clyde Chavis, who remembers the Klan meeting at a downtown Maxton store in the 1950s. “You just didn’t go there then. Let them be.”
In early January 1958, Cole urged the Klan to strike. Members burned a cross in a yard in St. Pauls, warning against “intermingling of whites and Indians.’’ They followed that with a cross at the home of an Indian family who moved into a “white” neighborhood in Lumberton.
The next day, fliers appeared advertising a Klan rally and cross burning in the field near Hayes Pond near Maxton.
Cole bragged that 500 Klansmen from across the Carolinas would gather to “remind those Indians of their place.”
He was right about the number — just not about which side they would be on.
For years, the Lumbee population of Robeson County had been fighting against legislative extinction. Segregation laws differentiated only between a black and white world. The Lumbees were neither.
“They had even created their own school district,” said Oakley, the history professor. “They were adamant in saying they were not white, nor were they black. They were who they were.”
“To most of these guys, it was the same old thing,” Knick said. “They didn’t differentiate between the Indian and black population. They figured to have their usual show and go home.”
That underestimation was a critical blunder.
Ray Littleturtle saw the storm brewing from a distance. He was stationed at Fort Bragg, and he saw the Klan actions becoming more focused on the Indian population.
“It was the first time they really came after Indians,” said Littleturtle, now 70. “They had been bothering black people, but not Indians. But we knew what they were about.”
When Cole called for a rally “in the heart of that mongrelized Indian country,” community leaders began to plan a response. Groups met in the VFW Hall and at Lowery’s Barber Shop in Pembroke.
Leaders emerged: Neill Lowery, Sanford Locklear and Simeon Oxendine.
Oxendine, who already had built a reputation on the football field and as a waist gunner on a B-17 in World War II, was especially vocal in his desire to stop the Klan.
“You didn’t want to get on Sim’s bad side,” said his younger brother Jesse Oxendine. “Folks around here knew that. But I guess the Klan didn’t.”
Still, the plans were low-key until Cole sent a truck announcing the rally through the streets of Robeson County. Suddenly people who hadn’t paid attention were in the middle of the clash.
“When they came through town saying those things over a loudspeaker, that was it,” said Chavis, who lived up the road from Hayes Pond. “Before then, we knew the Klan was around, but they didn’t bother us and we didn’t mess with them.
“But they came through saying all that. It’s like this blew the lid off all of it.”
Local law enforcement was well aware of the brewing trouble. Robeson County Sheriff Malcolm McLeod traveled to South Carolina to ask Cole to call off the rally.
Cole’s reply: “It sounds like you don’t know how to handle your people. We’re going to come show you.”
Maxton Police Chief Bob Fisher asked the state patrol and FBI for help.
“There’s a famous picture of Fisher holding a flier for the rally,” Knick said. “He seemed to be forthcoming to all parties about the potential for fights or worse.”
It seems even the local Klan sympathizers knew better. They stayed away, dwindling Cole’s predicted crowd to about 50. Most of them came with him from South Carolina in one last motorcade through Robeson County.
The rally was set for Saturday, Jan. 18. Rumors swirled through the county, and reportedly ammunition at local gun stores was scarce.
“It was tense, very tense all day,” Chavis recalled. “People knew something was going to happen.’’
Littleturtle remembers the day a little differently.
“It was like you were going to the fair,” he said. “You didn’t know exactly what you were going to do when you got there, but you were excited about going.”
The Klan arrived at the empty cornfield early, just as the sun was setting. They rigged up the tall, wooden cross to be burned later, then set up a floodlight and P.A. system for Cole’s speech. A small flatbed truck served as the podium.
The Indians were getting ready as well. Simeon Oxendine and several war veterans had gathered nearby. Littleturtle rode to the event with friends. Members of the Lumbee, Tuscarora, Cohaire and even other tribes stationed at Fort Bragg arrived.
At 7 p.m., an hour before the rally was supposed to begin, Cole tested his P.A. system and played a reel-to-reel tape of the gospel tune “Kneel at the Cross.” About 50 Klansmen and a few scattered family members cheered. Others stayed in their cars to keep warm on the chilly evening.
A little farther up Hayes Pond Road, carloads of Indians parked and watched. It was soon evident the Indians would outnumber the Klan.
“They came from Prospect and Pembroke, hundreds of people,” said Chavis. “And I really believe that they were gonna kill someone.”
Sheriff McLeod warned Cole one more time to leave. Cole continued his tirade.
“They were talking about blacks, using the ‘n’ word a lot, calling us ‘half-n’s’,” Littleturtle said. “I think their intention was to intimidate us.”
A few minutes before the rally was to begin, Sanford Locklear, who came up from Pembroke, began arguing with Cole. Words became shoves as tempers rose. Then the first shot was fired — a shotgun blast that shattered the only light in the field.
That was enough for most of the Klansmen. As dozens of Indians shot into the air, peppering the field with birdshot, dozens of Klansmen scattered into the woods. Cole was among them, leaving his wife, Carolyn, behind. In a panic, she drove their car into a ditch, where several Indians helped push her out.
“The only thing they left behind was their stuff and their families,” Littleturtle said.
The state patrol, who had been waiting about a mile away, moved in when gunfire broke out. Sheriff McLeod, who later said he didn’t want to be accused of defending the Klan by showing up early, helped find lost Klansmen in the bushes and directed them out of Robeson County. He also booked one Klansman for public drunkenness — the only arrest that night.
Within minutes, and thanks to a couple of tear-gas grenades, the field was clear. “It seemed like an hour, though,” Littleturtle said.
Their foe routed, the victors began collecting spoils. Simeon Oxendine and Charlie Warriax snagged the large KKK banner from the flatbed truck. Others playfully donned some of the Klan robes left behind and fired their shotguns into the air.
Then they held one last Klan parade into Maxton. Some rode in cars and pickups; others marched. The parade and celebration ended with a bonfire of Klan material in Pembroke, where Cole was burned in effigy.
Oxendine and Warriax took their captured banner back to the VFW convention in Charlotte, where they posed for photographers from The Charlotte Observer. The pictures were distributed nationwide, triggering a national response.
The national media pounced on “The Maxton Riot,” gleefully denouncing the Klan and at the same time, showing just how little was known about the Indians of Eastern North Carolina.
“Media reaction was positive — strangely inaccurate, but positive,” Oakley said. “They managed to mix in tribes and customs from everywhere. Some even claimed the Cherokees had beaten the Klan.”
Back in Robeson County, the locals didn’t dwell on the skirmish. But it did give them an identity. They were the group who had stood against the Klan and won.
“We didn’t brag about defending our own land,” Littleturtle said. “We defended it from people who weren’t even from here. Cole was from South Carolina, and none of those guys were local.”
Cole was charged with inciting a riot and received jail time. No Indians were charged.
“That reflects the national opinion of the event,” Oakley said. “And the attitude of the people of Robeson County. Apparently nobody at the Klan rally was local. Ask a white citizen in Robeson at that time and they’d say there were no problems between whites and Indians.”
There hasn’t been a Klan rally in the county since that night — a sign of positive relations, says Lumbee Tribal Chairman Jimmy Goins. He said the tribe should strive to continue the legacy left by tribal elders.
“Because all our communities stood up 50 years ago and said ‘not here,’ all three races can live in peace without fear of outsiders trying to stir things up.
“This has had a positive impact and played a role in bringing all three races together,” Goins said. “No one — black, white or Indian — wanted this kind of mess in our backyard.’’
There was one other notable difference after that night.
“After that, I don’t think I ever saw those cars drive by again with their lights on inside,” McKoy said. “Not once.”
Staff writer Chick Jacobs can be reached at jacobsc@fayobserver.com or 486-3515. Staff writer Venita Jenkins can be reached at jenkinsv@fayobserver.com or (910) 738-9158.
The Fayetteville Observer, Jan. 18, 2008
MAXTON — The caravans rolled, like clockwork, every Saturday just after nightfall.
Seven, sometimes eight cars. Sedans mostly, long and low, forming an unsettling parade that rolled up U.S. 74 from the south into Maxton. Inside, the dome lights burned, casting the faces of passengers in an eerie, harsh glare.
The Ku Klux Klan wasn’t known for subtlety. But it was known in this part of North Carolina.
“You saw those cars coming, and you knew who those men were,” said Lillie McKoy, a former mayor of Maxton who grew up watching the caravan from her uncle’s store just outside town.
“They wanted you to see them. They wanted you to be afraid of them.”
And a lot of people were afraid. Until the Klan picked a fight with people who fought back.
A half-century ago, in a frosty cornfield about a mile south of Maxton, several hundred American Indians turned what was supposed to be a Klan show of strength into a melee that chased the organization of hooded hatred out of Eastern North Carolina.
Few of the witnesses of that night at Hayes Pond are still around. Those who are share a similar story: The Klan picked the wrong bunch of folks to mess with.
Yet, the tale of how the Klan met its match at the hands of a home-grown army remains a fascinating combination of changing times and long-standing customs — and a critical miscalculation by the grand dragon of the South Carolina Ku Klux Klan.
“Other than complete idiocy, I’m not really sure why you’d hold a rally in a place like that,” said Stan Knick, director of the UNC-Pembroke Native American Resource Center. “You wouldn’t hold a Klan rally in Harlem, would you?”
Christopher Oakley, a history professor at East Carolina University who has studied the melee, said the Klansmen erred twice: in assuming the Indian population would be cowed and that the local whites would support the Klan.
“They totally misread the dynamics of the area,” he said. “They stepped into a situation that was different from the rest of the South.”
The call for the Klan to rally at Maxton came from James W. “Catfish” Cole. A thin, wiry evangelist who preached the gospel of the Lord on the radio every Sunday and his own gospel of bigotry in front of a fiery cross, Cole was the Klan’s exalted grand dragon in South Carolina.
A year earlier, Oakley said, Cole had been commissioned by the Klan’s grand wizard, Eldon Edwards, to revive the Klan in North Carolina. When he heard reports of interracial dating in Robeson County, Cole saw his chance. He called his followers to action. If anything would get their blood boiling, he figured, that should do it.
The Klan had long been quietly present in the area. Each weekend, rolling cars of Klansmen, some still in their hoods, were a common sight in small towns.
But night ridings and beatings, once a common terror tactic of the Klan, had fallen from favor. Solicitor (later N.C. Secretary of State) Malcolm Seawell announced that night riders could face the death penalty.
“Instead, they’d gather at one place, a store or business,” said Clyde Chavis, who remembers the Klan meeting at a downtown Maxton store in the 1950s. “You just didn’t go there then. Let them be.”
In early January 1958, Cole urged the Klan to strike. Members burned a cross in a yard in St. Pauls, warning against “intermingling of whites and Indians.’’ They followed that with a cross at the home of an Indian family who moved into a “white” neighborhood in Lumberton.
The next day, fliers appeared advertising a Klan rally and cross burning in the field near Hayes Pond near Maxton.
Cole bragged that 500 Klansmen from across the Carolinas would gather to “remind those Indians of their place.”
He was right about the number — just not about which side they would be on.
For years, the Lumbee population of Robeson County had been fighting against legislative extinction. Segregation laws differentiated only between a black and white world. The Lumbees were neither.
“They had even created their own school district,” said Oakley, the history professor. “They were adamant in saying they were not white, nor were they black. They were who they were.”
“To most of these guys, it was the same old thing,” Knick said. “They didn’t differentiate between the Indian and black population. They figured to have their usual show and go home.”
That underestimation was a critical blunder.
Ray Littleturtle saw the storm brewing from a distance. He was stationed at Fort Bragg, and he saw the Klan actions becoming more focused on the Indian population.
“It was the first time they really came after Indians,” said Littleturtle, now 70. “They had been bothering black people, but not Indians. But we knew what they were about.”
When Cole called for a rally “in the heart of that mongrelized Indian country,” community leaders began to plan a response. Groups met in the VFW Hall and at Lowery’s Barber Shop in Pembroke.
Leaders emerged: Neill Lowery, Sanford Locklear and Simeon Oxendine.
Oxendine, who already had built a reputation on the football field and as a waist gunner on a B-17 in World War II, was especially vocal in his desire to stop the Klan.
“You didn’t want to get on Sim’s bad side,” said his younger brother Jesse Oxendine. “Folks around here knew that. But I guess the Klan didn’t.”
Still, the plans were low-key until Cole sent a truck announcing the rally through the streets of Robeson County. Suddenly people who hadn’t paid attention were in the middle of the clash.
“When they came through town saying those things over a loudspeaker, that was it,” said Chavis, who lived up the road from Hayes Pond. “Before then, we knew the Klan was around, but they didn’t bother us and we didn’t mess with them.
“But they came through saying all that. It’s like this blew the lid off all of it.”
Local law enforcement was well aware of the brewing trouble. Robeson County Sheriff Malcolm McLeod traveled to South Carolina to ask Cole to call off the rally.
Cole’s reply: “It sounds like you don’t know how to handle your people. We’re going to come show you.”
Maxton Police Chief Bob Fisher asked the state patrol and FBI for help.
“There’s a famous picture of Fisher holding a flier for the rally,” Knick said. “He seemed to be forthcoming to all parties about the potential for fights or worse.”
It seems even the local Klan sympathizers knew better. They stayed away, dwindling Cole’s predicted crowd to about 50. Most of them came with him from South Carolina in one last motorcade through Robeson County.
The rally was set for Saturday, Jan. 18. Rumors swirled through the county, and reportedly ammunition at local gun stores was scarce.
“It was tense, very tense all day,” Chavis recalled. “People knew something was going to happen.’’
Littleturtle remembers the day a little differently.
“It was like you were going to the fair,” he said. “You didn’t know exactly what you were going to do when you got there, but you were excited about going.”
The Klan arrived at the empty cornfield early, just as the sun was setting. They rigged up the tall, wooden cross to be burned later, then set up a floodlight and P.A. system for Cole’s speech. A small flatbed truck served as the podium.
The Indians were getting ready as well. Simeon Oxendine and several war veterans had gathered nearby. Littleturtle rode to the event with friends. Members of the Lumbee, Tuscarora, Cohaire and even other tribes stationed at Fort Bragg arrived.
At 7 p.m., an hour before the rally was supposed to begin, Cole tested his P.A. system and played a reel-to-reel tape of the gospel tune “Kneel at the Cross.” About 50 Klansmen and a few scattered family members cheered. Others stayed in their cars to keep warm on the chilly evening.
A little farther up Hayes Pond Road, carloads of Indians parked and watched. It was soon evident the Indians would outnumber the Klan.
“They came from Prospect and Pembroke, hundreds of people,” said Chavis. “And I really believe that they were gonna kill someone.”
Sheriff McLeod warned Cole one more time to leave. Cole continued his tirade.
“They were talking about blacks, using the ‘n’ word a lot, calling us ‘half-n’s’,” Littleturtle said. “I think their intention was to intimidate us.”
A few minutes before the rally was to begin, Sanford Locklear, who came up from Pembroke, began arguing with Cole. Words became shoves as tempers rose. Then the first shot was fired — a shotgun blast that shattered the only light in the field.
That was enough for most of the Klansmen. As dozens of Indians shot into the air, peppering the field with birdshot, dozens of Klansmen scattered into the woods. Cole was among them, leaving his wife, Carolyn, behind. In a panic, she drove their car into a ditch, where several Indians helped push her out.
“The only thing they left behind was their stuff and their families,” Littleturtle said.
The state patrol, who had been waiting about a mile away, moved in when gunfire broke out. Sheriff McLeod, who later said he didn’t want to be accused of defending the Klan by showing up early, helped find lost Klansmen in the bushes and directed them out of Robeson County. He also booked one Klansman for public drunkenness — the only arrest that night.
Within minutes, and thanks to a couple of tear-gas grenades, the field was clear. “It seemed like an hour, though,” Littleturtle said.
Their foe routed, the victors began collecting spoils. Simeon Oxendine and Charlie Warriax snagged the large KKK banner from the flatbed truck. Others playfully donned some of the Klan robes left behind and fired their shotguns into the air.
Then they held one last Klan parade into Maxton. Some rode in cars and pickups; others marched. The parade and celebration ended with a bonfire of Klan material in Pembroke, where Cole was burned in effigy.
Oxendine and Warriax took their captured banner back to the VFW convention in Charlotte, where they posed for photographers from The Charlotte Observer. The pictures were distributed nationwide, triggering a national response.
The national media pounced on “The Maxton Riot,” gleefully denouncing the Klan and at the same time, showing just how little was known about the Indians of Eastern North Carolina.
“Media reaction was positive — strangely inaccurate, but positive,” Oakley said. “They managed to mix in tribes and customs from everywhere. Some even claimed the Cherokees had beaten the Klan.”
Back in Robeson County, the locals didn’t dwell on the skirmish. But it did give them an identity. They were the group who had stood against the Klan and won.
“We didn’t brag about defending our own land,” Littleturtle said. “We defended it from people who weren’t even from here. Cole was from South Carolina, and none of those guys were local.”
Cole was charged with inciting a riot and received jail time. No Indians were charged.
“That reflects the national opinion of the event,” Oakley said. “And the attitude of the people of Robeson County. Apparently nobody at the Klan rally was local. Ask a white citizen in Robeson at that time and they’d say there were no problems between whites and Indians.”
There hasn’t been a Klan rally in the county since that night — a sign of positive relations, says Lumbee Tribal Chairman Jimmy Goins. He said the tribe should strive to continue the legacy left by tribal elders.
“Because all our communities stood up 50 years ago and said ‘not here,’ all three races can live in peace without fear of outsiders trying to stir things up.
“This has had a positive impact and played a role in bringing all three races together,” Goins said. “No one — black, white or Indian — wanted this kind of mess in our backyard.’’
There was one other notable difference after that night.
“After that, I don’t think I ever saw those cars drive by again with their lights on inside,” McKoy said. “Not once.”
Staff writer Chick Jacobs can be reached at jacobsc@fayobserver.com or 486-3515. Staff writer Venita Jenkins can be reached at jenkinsv@fayobserver.com or (910) 738-9158.
Jubilation as UN Adopts Historic Statement on Native Rights
Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US, Sept. 14, 2007
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 13 (OneWorld) - Despite strong objections from the United States and some of its allies, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution Thursday calling for the recognition of the world's 370 million indigenous peoples' right to self-determination and control over their lands and resources.
The adoption of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples comes after 22 years of diplomatic negotiations at the United Nations involving its member states, international civil society groups, and representatives of the world's aboriginal communities.
An overwhelming majority of UN member countries endorsed the Declaration, with 143 voting in favor, 4 against, and 11 abstaining.
The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand stood alone in voting against the resolution. The nations that neither supported nor objected were Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Samoa, and Ukraine.
"It's a triumph for indigenous peoples around the world," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the General Assembly vote. "This marks a historic moment when member states and indigenous peoples have reconciled with their painful histories."
In her comments, General Assembly President Haya Al Khalifa described the outcome of the vote as a "major step forward towards the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all."
Pleased with the General Assembly's decision, indigenous leaders told OneWorld they wanted the declaration to be adopted by consensus, but since certain countries remained unwilling to recognize their rights until the end, a majority vote was the only possible option left.
"If a few states do not accept the declaration, then it would be a reflection on them rather than the document," said Les Malezer, an aboriginal leader from Australia, before the resolution was presented to the General Assembly.
Before the vote many indigenous leaders accused the United States and Canada of pressuring economically weak and vulnerable nations to reject calls for the Declaration's adoption. Initially, some African countries were also reluctant to vote in favor, but later changed their position after the indigenous leadership accepted their demand to introduce certain amendments in the text.
The Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their institutions, cultures, and traditions and pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations.
It also calls for recognition of the indigenous peoples' right to self-determination, a principle fully recognized by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, but deemed controversial by the United States and some of its allies who fear that it could undermine their rights to rule over all their current territory.
In return for their support, the African countries wanted the declaration to mention that it does not encourage any actions that would undermine the "territorial integrity" or "political unity" of sovereign states.
Though the African viewpoint was incorporated into the final version, the Declaration remains assertive of indigenous peoples' right to self-determination and control over their land and resources.
"It is subject to interpretation, but we can work with this," Malezer said last week.
Thursday, Malezer and his colleagues in the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues described the world body's decision as "a major victory."
"The 13th of September 2007 will be remembered as an international human rights day for the indigenous peoples of the world," said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairperson of the Permanent Forum, in an emotional tone filled with joy.
International civil society groups working for the rights of indigenous peoples also expressed extreme pleasure with Thursday's vote.
"We are really very happy and thrilled to hear about the adoption of the Declaration," said Botswana Bushman Jumanda Gakelebone of First People of the Kalahari, who works with the independent advocacy group Survival International.
"It recognizes that governments can no longer treat us as second-class citizens, and it gives protection to tribal peoples so that they will not be thrown off their lands like we were," Gakelebone added in a statement.
Survival's director Stephen Corry said he hoped the declaration would raise international standards in the same way the Universal Declaration of Human Rights did nearly 60 years ago.
"It sets a benchmark by which the treatment of tribal and indigenous peoples can be judged, and we hope it will usher in an era in which abuse of their rights is no longer tolerated," he added.
Vivian Stromberg, executive director of the New York-based rights group MADRE, said Thursday that the Declaration's passage "will signal a major shift in the landscape of international human rights law, in which the collective rights of indigenous peoples will finally be recognized and defended."
At the UN, indigenous leaders, however, cautioned against a possible gap between rhetoric and effective implementation of the Declaration.
"It will be the test of commitment of states and the whole international community to protect, respect, and fulfill indigenous peoples' collective and individual human rights," Tauli-Corpuz said.
"I call on governments, the UN system, indigenous peoples, and civil society at large to rise to the historic task before us and make the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a living document for the common future of humanity," she said in a statement.
Though pleased with the General Assembly's decision, some indigenous leaders seemed unhappy that the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand did not accept the Declaration.
"Canada has shown its true colors on our human rights," Arthur Manuel, a leader of Canada's indigenous peoples, told OneWorld.
Those in opposition have said the Declaration is "flawed," mainly because of its strong emphasis on the right to indigenous self-determination and full control over lands and resources. In their view, these clauses would hinder economic development efforts and undermine so-called "established democratic norms."
The United States has also refused to sign on to a UN treaty on biological diversity, which calls for a "fair and equitable" sharing of the benefits derived from indigenous lands by commercial enterprises.
Meanwhile, threats to indigenous lands and resources persist, say rights activists, in the form of mining, logging, toxic contamination, privatization, large-scale development projects, and the use of genetically modified seeds.
"The entire wealth of the United States, Canada, and other so-called modern states is built on the poverty and human rights violations of their indigenous peoples," said Manuel. "The international community needs to understand how hypocritical Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States are."
Recent scientific studies have repeatedly warned of devastating consequences for indigenous communities in particular as changing climates are expected to cause more floods, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events across the world.
The United States and Australia have taken particular criticism also for their refusal to join the majority of the world's nations in efforts to combat climate change.
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 13 (OneWorld) - Despite strong objections from the United States and some of its allies, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution Thursday calling for the recognition of the world's 370 million indigenous peoples' right to self-determination and control over their lands and resources.
The adoption of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples comes after 22 years of diplomatic negotiations at the United Nations involving its member states, international civil society groups, and representatives of the world's aboriginal communities.
An overwhelming majority of UN member countries endorsed the Declaration, with 143 voting in favor, 4 against, and 11 abstaining.
The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand stood alone in voting against the resolution. The nations that neither supported nor objected were Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Samoa, and Ukraine.
"It's a triumph for indigenous peoples around the world," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the General Assembly vote. "This marks a historic moment when member states and indigenous peoples have reconciled with their painful histories."
In her comments, General Assembly President Haya Al Khalifa described the outcome of the vote as a "major step forward towards the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all."
Pleased with the General Assembly's decision, indigenous leaders told OneWorld they wanted the declaration to be adopted by consensus, but since certain countries remained unwilling to recognize their rights until the end, a majority vote was the only possible option left.
"If a few states do not accept the declaration, then it would be a reflection on them rather than the document," said Les Malezer, an aboriginal leader from Australia, before the resolution was presented to the General Assembly.
Before the vote many indigenous leaders accused the United States and Canada of pressuring economically weak and vulnerable nations to reject calls for the Declaration's adoption. Initially, some African countries were also reluctant to vote in favor, but later changed their position after the indigenous leadership accepted their demand to introduce certain amendments in the text.
The Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their institutions, cultures, and traditions and pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations.
It also calls for recognition of the indigenous peoples' right to self-determination, a principle fully recognized by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, but deemed controversial by the United States and some of its allies who fear that it could undermine their rights to rule over all their current territory.
In return for their support, the African countries wanted the declaration to mention that it does not encourage any actions that would undermine the "territorial integrity" or "political unity" of sovereign states.
Though the African viewpoint was incorporated into the final version, the Declaration remains assertive of indigenous peoples' right to self-determination and control over their land and resources.
"It is subject to interpretation, but we can work with this," Malezer said last week.
Thursday, Malezer and his colleagues in the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues described the world body's decision as "a major victory."
"The 13th of September 2007 will be remembered as an international human rights day for the indigenous peoples of the world," said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairperson of the Permanent Forum, in an emotional tone filled with joy.
International civil society groups working for the rights of indigenous peoples also expressed extreme pleasure with Thursday's vote.
"We are really very happy and thrilled to hear about the adoption of the Declaration," said Botswana Bushman Jumanda Gakelebone of First People of the Kalahari, who works with the independent advocacy group Survival International.
"It recognizes that governments can no longer treat us as second-class citizens, and it gives protection to tribal peoples so that they will not be thrown off their lands like we were," Gakelebone added in a statement.
Survival's director Stephen Corry said he hoped the declaration would raise international standards in the same way the Universal Declaration of Human Rights did nearly 60 years ago.
"It sets a benchmark by which the treatment of tribal and indigenous peoples can be judged, and we hope it will usher in an era in which abuse of their rights is no longer tolerated," he added.
Vivian Stromberg, executive director of the New York-based rights group MADRE, said Thursday that the Declaration's passage "will signal a major shift in the landscape of international human rights law, in which the collective rights of indigenous peoples will finally be recognized and defended."
At the UN, indigenous leaders, however, cautioned against a possible gap between rhetoric and effective implementation of the Declaration.
"It will be the test of commitment of states and the whole international community to protect, respect, and fulfill indigenous peoples' collective and individual human rights," Tauli-Corpuz said.
"I call on governments, the UN system, indigenous peoples, and civil society at large to rise to the historic task before us and make the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a living document for the common future of humanity," she said in a statement.
Though pleased with the General Assembly's decision, some indigenous leaders seemed unhappy that the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand did not accept the Declaration.
"Canada has shown its true colors on our human rights," Arthur Manuel, a leader of Canada's indigenous peoples, told OneWorld.
Those in opposition have said the Declaration is "flawed," mainly because of its strong emphasis on the right to indigenous self-determination and full control over lands and resources. In their view, these clauses would hinder economic development efforts and undermine so-called "established democratic norms."
The United States has also refused to sign on to a UN treaty on biological diversity, which calls for a "fair and equitable" sharing of the benefits derived from indigenous lands by commercial enterprises.
Meanwhile, threats to indigenous lands and resources persist, say rights activists, in the form of mining, logging, toxic contamination, privatization, large-scale development projects, and the use of genetically modified seeds.
"The entire wealth of the United States, Canada, and other so-called modern states is built on the poverty and human rights violations of their indigenous peoples," said Manuel. "The international community needs to understand how hypocritical Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States are."
Recent scientific studies have repeatedly warned of devastating consequences for indigenous communities in particular as changing climates are expected to cause more floods, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events across the world.
The United States and Australia have taken particular criticism also for their refusal to join the majority of the world's nations in efforts to combat climate change.
A Message from Leonard Peltier
Greetings My Relatives,
You know I was just thinking there should be a degree one could receive for having expertise on doing prison time. I think I would be called Professor Peltier, PhD. with 30 years tenure. A friend of mine said once, PhD where he is from stands for post hole digger. I think I would at this time, embrace being a post hole digger, although I don’t relish the thought of fencing anything in after being fenced in myself for 30 + years.
On being imprisoned, I want to touch on that subject a bit. There are some who have voiced their opinion in one way or another, that I should give up after all these years of trying to win my freedom. Aside from the oppressors who put me here, some of them are people who were at times, part of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee; others, on the fringes. My answer, to put it in a simple, colloquial phrase, that anyone can understand, …it ain’t gonna happen! There are many reasons, both physical and mental, spiritual and social. The number one reason is that there aren’t any women in here. That should cover the social. Eh!
Another reason, is that the struggle is not just about me. It’s about life on earth, the struggle to survive, the onslaught of destructive technology, wealth mongering, by those who see the common man as nothing more than expendable beings to further their personal quest for power and affluence. I am here because, as a common man, along with other common men, I chose to try to stop the exploitation of my people. I know the Creator sent other common men at other times and other places and to other races to do the same. I am honored to be among common men. I know they tried to cause us to separate from alliances by color, religion, and geographic locale but our struggle is the same. It’s against people taking more than they need. In my culture it is taught that you should not take more than you need. In Christianity, Buddhism, and Zen, as well as most other spiritual teachings, it is taught that gluttony is a sin. Violation of this teaching is the reason for global warming, and the reason for world wars, including the war in Iraq at this time.
Because of people who always seek to take more than they need, my people have suffered greatly. They are the poorest of the poor yet most still cling to the original teachings. They have fought for several generations for the exploitation of our land, illegal occupation of our land, unjust treatment in the U.S. judicial system, and most of all, government lies and liars that have led the American people to believe all this exploitation and violation of treaties is in their best interest. I watch TV from time to time, and I notice there are those who try to make the wars like a war between religions. I tell you my relatives, it is only a ruse to get young men to die for those who crave wealth and power over the common man.
If the many denominations of religions would stand together as one against the violation that jeopardizes life itself, it would make a major difference throughout the world. Today, more than any other time in history, you are either part of the problem or part of the solution. I may, by now, have written more than you care to read. But, from where I sit myself, it’s the best I can do. The Defense Committee that bears my name struggles to help enlighten people of events and needs of people in jeopardy. I don’t use the word struggle lightly. Aside from trying to raise money for attorneys and office expenses, etc., we raise money for food and clothing for needy people on reservations in urban areas. In my world, the poor are common. I am honored to be one of them, to represent them from time to time, though it be from afar. We as Native People look to the Creator’s greatest manifestation for teachings, Mother Earth and her system of nature, along with personal visions, from time to time. In that, we see grass though encased in concrete, pushing its way through the cracks. We see the trees and water break down the structures of man that imprison them. We see everywhere, all life trying to follow the original instruction given by the Creator. If I were a blade of grass, I would grow out of here. If I were water, I would flow away from here. If I were a ray of light, I would bounce off these walls and be gone. However, I am not and unless I, at some future time, receive my freedom that was unjustly taken in the same manner as was the freedom of so many Native People before me. I can only leave here through my paintings, written words, and some other forms of communication that are sometimes available. I am in my 60’s now. If I end up spending all my days here, and my last breath rides on the wind, and the moisture of my body flows to the sea, and the elements of my being make the grass grow and the trees flourish, make no mistake they can kill my body but they can’t kill me. I am a common man.
The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee will continue working on my behalf and towards my freedom unless you the supporters tell me to close down the Defense Committee. Having said all this, I wish to ask you, if you can in any way help us, meaning the Defense Committee, send any donation to :
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
3800 N. Mesa
A2
El Paso, Texas 79902
Please do so, it is a common cause. If my case stands as it is, no common person has real freedom. Only the illusion until you have something the oppressors want. Back to being a post hole digger…. I’d rather be a free post hole digger than Professor Leonard Peltier, PhD.
May the Creator bless you with all you need.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, who never gave up
All my relations,
Leonard Peltier
Note: Sept 12, is Leonard Peltier's birthday. Supporters wishing to send Leonard a Birthday Card, we suggest that you send the birthday cards and letters NOW, thus allowing sufficient time for mail delivery. Leonard Peltier's address:
Leonard Peltier #89637-132
USP Lewisburg PA
PO Box 1000
Lewisburg PA 17837
Leonard Peltier Defense Committe
Email: info@leonardpeltier.net
Website: http://www.leonardpeltier.net/
Phone- 570-524-0749
International Peltier Forum WEBSITE: http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm
ONLINE PETITION FOR EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY
http://users.skynet.be/kola/lppet.htm
You know I was just thinking there should be a degree one could receive for having expertise on doing prison time. I think I would be called Professor Peltier, PhD. with 30 years tenure. A friend of mine said once, PhD where he is from stands for post hole digger. I think I would at this time, embrace being a post hole digger, although I don’t relish the thought of fencing anything in after being fenced in myself for 30 + years.
On being imprisoned, I want to touch on that subject a bit. There are some who have voiced their opinion in one way or another, that I should give up after all these years of trying to win my freedom. Aside from the oppressors who put me here, some of them are people who were at times, part of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee; others, on the fringes. My answer, to put it in a simple, colloquial phrase, that anyone can understand, …it ain’t gonna happen! There are many reasons, both physical and mental, spiritual and social. The number one reason is that there aren’t any women in here. That should cover the social. Eh!
Another reason, is that the struggle is not just about me. It’s about life on earth, the struggle to survive, the onslaught of destructive technology, wealth mongering, by those who see the common man as nothing more than expendable beings to further their personal quest for power and affluence. I am here because, as a common man, along with other common men, I chose to try to stop the exploitation of my people. I know the Creator sent other common men at other times and other places and to other races to do the same. I am honored to be among common men. I know they tried to cause us to separate from alliances by color, religion, and geographic locale but our struggle is the same. It’s against people taking more than they need. In my culture it is taught that you should not take more than you need. In Christianity, Buddhism, and Zen, as well as most other spiritual teachings, it is taught that gluttony is a sin. Violation of this teaching is the reason for global warming, and the reason for world wars, including the war in Iraq at this time.
Because of people who always seek to take more than they need, my people have suffered greatly. They are the poorest of the poor yet most still cling to the original teachings. They have fought for several generations for the exploitation of our land, illegal occupation of our land, unjust treatment in the U.S. judicial system, and most of all, government lies and liars that have led the American people to believe all this exploitation and violation of treaties is in their best interest. I watch TV from time to time, and I notice there are those who try to make the wars like a war between religions. I tell you my relatives, it is only a ruse to get young men to die for those who crave wealth and power over the common man.
If the many denominations of religions would stand together as one against the violation that jeopardizes life itself, it would make a major difference throughout the world. Today, more than any other time in history, you are either part of the problem or part of the solution. I may, by now, have written more than you care to read. But, from where I sit myself, it’s the best I can do. The Defense Committee that bears my name struggles to help enlighten people of events and needs of people in jeopardy. I don’t use the word struggle lightly. Aside from trying to raise money for attorneys and office expenses, etc., we raise money for food and clothing for needy people on reservations in urban areas. In my world, the poor are common. I am honored to be one of them, to represent them from time to time, though it be from afar. We as Native People look to the Creator’s greatest manifestation for teachings, Mother Earth and her system of nature, along with personal visions, from time to time. In that, we see grass though encased in concrete, pushing its way through the cracks. We see the trees and water break down the structures of man that imprison them. We see everywhere, all life trying to follow the original instruction given by the Creator. If I were a blade of grass, I would grow out of here. If I were water, I would flow away from here. If I were a ray of light, I would bounce off these walls and be gone. However, I am not and unless I, at some future time, receive my freedom that was unjustly taken in the same manner as was the freedom of so many Native People before me. I can only leave here through my paintings, written words, and some other forms of communication that are sometimes available. I am in my 60’s now. If I end up spending all my days here, and my last breath rides on the wind, and the moisture of my body flows to the sea, and the elements of my being make the grass grow and the trees flourish, make no mistake they can kill my body but they can’t kill me. I am a common man.
The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee will continue working on my behalf and towards my freedom unless you the supporters tell me to close down the Defense Committee. Having said all this, I wish to ask you, if you can in any way help us, meaning the Defense Committee, send any donation to :
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
3800 N. Mesa
A2
El Paso, Texas 79902
Please do so, it is a common cause. If my case stands as it is, no common person has real freedom. Only the illusion until you have something the oppressors want. Back to being a post hole digger…. I’d rather be a free post hole digger than Professor Leonard Peltier, PhD.
May the Creator bless you with all you need.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, who never gave up
All my relations,
Leonard Peltier
Note: Sept 12, is Leonard Peltier's birthday. Supporters wishing to send Leonard a Birthday Card, we suggest that you send the birthday cards and letters NOW, thus allowing sufficient time for mail delivery. Leonard Peltier's address:
Leonard Peltier #89637-132
USP Lewisburg PA
PO Box 1000
Lewisburg PA 17837
Leonard Peltier Defense Committe
Email: info@leonardpeltier.net
Website: http://www.leonardpeltier.net/
Phone- 570-524-0749
International Peltier Forum WEBSITE: http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm
ONLINE PETITION FOR EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY
http://users.skynet.be/kola/lppet.htm
Leonard Peltier on his birthday, Sept. 12
Leonard Peltier: Silence Screams
by Carolina Saldaña
The Message
Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity.
But silence is impossible.
Silence screams.
Silence is a message,
just as doing nothing is an act.
Let who you are ring out and resonate
in every word and deed.
Yes, become who you are.
There's no sidestepping your own being
or your own responsibility.
What you do is who you are.
You are your own comeuppance.
You become your own message.
You are the message.
In the spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
¡31 years behind bars!
Leonard Peltier will be 63 years old on September 12, 2007. It's an international day for demanding the immediate, unconditional freedom of this Native American artist, writer, and activist––one of the most widely recognized political prisoners in the world.
Leonard has spent more than 31 years in some of the cruelest prisons in the United States, unjustly condemned to a double life sentence for the shooting death of two FBI agents in 1975. His situation is now aggravated by health problems.
From his cell in the federal prison at Lewisberg, Pensilvania, he keeps right on struggling for the rights of indigenous people. He's contributed to the establishment of libraries, schools, scholarships, and battered women's shelters among many other projects. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and again in 2007.
"My crime's being an Indian. What's yours?"
In his autobiography My Life Is My Sun Dance, Leonard explains that his bloodline is mainly Ojibway and Dakota Sioux and that he was adopted by the Lakota Sioux and raised on their reservations "in the land known to you as America....but I don't consider myself an American."
"I know what I am. I am an Indian--an Indian who dared to stand up to defend his people. I am an innocent man who never murdered anyone nor wanted to. And, yes, I am a Sun Dancer. That, too, is my identity. If I am to suffer as a symbol of my people, then I suffer proudly. I will never yield."
Leonard tells us that when he was nine years old a big black government car drove up to his house to take him and the other kids away to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding school in Wahpeton, Dakota del Norte. When they got there, they cut off their long hair, stripped them, and doused them with DDT powder.
"I thought I was going to die...that place...was more like a reformatory than a school...I consider my years at Wahpenton my first imprisonment, and it was for the same crime as all the others: being an Indian."
He goes on to say that "We had to speak English. We were beaten if we were caught speaking our own language. Still, we did....I guess that's where I became a "hardened criminal," as the FBI calls me. And you could say that the first infraction in my criminal career was speaking my own language. There's an act of violence for you....The second was practicing our traditional religion."
When Leonard Peltier was a teen-ager, President Eisenhower launched a program to eliminate the reservations and move the people off, giving them a small payment. Leonard remembers that the words "termination" and "dislocation" became the most feared words in the people's vocabulary. The process of fighting against dislocation was his first experience as an activist.
During the 60s, Leonard worked as a farm worker and, later, in an auto body shop in Seattle. At that time he got his first taste of community organizing. At the beginning of the 70s, he joined up with the American
Indian Movement (AIM), initially inspired by the Black Panthers.
In 1972, he participated in the Trail of Broken Treaties, a march / caravan from Alcatraz in California to Washington D.C., and also in the occupation of the BIA in the nation's capital. He became a target of the FBI program to "neutralize" AIM leaders and was set up and jailed
at the end of the year.
1973: The Occupation of Wounded Knee
One of AIM's boldest actions was the occupation of the village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the same place where the United States Army carried out its cowardly, infamous massacre of 300 Lakota people in 1890.
At the beginning of the 70s, AIM was getting together with the Lakota Indians who were true to their ancient traditions and wanted to hold on to their culture and their lands.
The BIA, worried about AIM's growing influence in the area, imposed Dick Wilson as tribal chairman on the reservation, running roughshod over the will of the traditional elders and chiefs.
The puppet Wilson hated the AIM militants and allied himself with the FBI to destroy the movement that the agency saw as a threat to the American way of life. His paramilitary group known as the "GOONS" (Guardians of the Oglala Nation) had committed a long chain of abuses against the people.
On the night of February 27, around 300 Lakota and 25 AIM members occupied the town of Wounded Knee, joined by several Chicanos, Black, and white supporters. They opposed the murders of Native Americans on the reservation, the extreme poverty that the people lived in, and the corrupt tribal government. They demanded that the government respect the ancient treaties signed with native peoples to protect their
territory and autonomy.
The next day, General Alexander Haig ordered an invasion. According to Ward Churchill and Jim Vanderwall in their book Agents of Repression, "In the first instance since the Civil War that the U.S. Army had been dispatched in a domestic operation, the Pentagon invaded Wounded Knee with 17 armored personnel carriers, 130,000 rounds of M-16 ammunition, 41,000 rounds of M-1 ammunition, 24,000 flares, 12 M-79 grenade launchers, 600 cases of C-S gas, 100 rounds of M-40 explosives, helicopters, phantom jets, and personnel, all under the direction of General Alexander Haig."
The operation also relied on 500 heavily armed policemen, federal marshals, and BIA and FBI agents. They surrounded Wounded Knee and set up barricades all along the road.
The occupation lasted 71 days and ended only after the government promised to investigate the complaints, something that never happened.
The next three years were known as the "reign of terror" on Pine Ridge. More than 300 people associated with AIM were violently attacked and many of their homes were burned. During these years more than 60 Native American people were killed by paramilitaries armed and trained by the FBI. There was also an increase of FBI SWAT team agents on the reservation.
It's now known, as a result of a suit based on the Freedom of Information Act, that AIM activities on and off the reservation were under FBI surveillance and that the FBI was preparing the paramilitary operations on Pine Ridge a month before the shootout at Oglala.
Oglala: The fatal shootout
In situation that was getting worse all the time, the Council of Elders on the Jumping Bull ranch near the town of Oglala asked AIM to come back to the reservation to protect them. Leonard Peltier, along with many other AIM members and non-members responded to the call and set up camp on the ranch.
On June 26, 1975, two FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ron Williamsen, followed a red pick-up truck onto the Jumping Bull ranch. They were supposedly looking for young Jimmy Eagle, who was said to have stolen a pair of cowboy boots.
A shootout began between the FBI agents and the people in the pick-up, trapping a family in the crossfire. Several mothers fled the area with their children while other people fired in self-defense. More than150 FBI SWAT team members, BIA police, and GOONS surrounded approximately 30 AIM men, women, and children and opened fire. Leonard Peltier helped a group of young people to escape from the rain of bullets.
When the shootout ended, AIM member Joseph Killsright Stuntz was found dead, shot in the head. His death has never been investigated.
Coler and Williamsen were wounded during the shootout and then killed at point blank range. The two agents had in their possession a map with the Jumping Bull ranch marked on it.
According to FBI documents, more than forty Native Americans participated in the shootout, but only four were charged with killing the two agents: three AIM leaders––Dino Butler, Bob Robideau, and Leonard Peltier–– and Jimmy Eagle.
Butler and Robideau were the first to be arrested, and at their trial they stated that they had fired in self-defense. The jury believed the act was justified due to the atmosphere of terror that prevailed at Pine Ridge at the time. They were both found innocent.
The FBI was furious about the verdict and dropped the charges against Jimmy Eagle, according to their memos, "...in order to direct the full weight of the prosecution on Peltier.
Meanwhile, Leonard Peltier went to Canada, believing that he would never have a fair trial. On February 6, he was arrested and then extradited to the United States due to the statement of a woman named Myrtle Poor Bear, who said she had been his girlfriend and had seen him
fire at the agents. As a matter of fact, she had never known him and was not present at the time of the shootout. In a later statement, she said that she had been coerced into giving false testimony as a result of being terrorized by FBI agents.
Two life sentences!?
The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee has cited a number of examples of the injustice of the trial:
-The case wasn't brought before the judge who had presided over the trial of Robideau and Butler, but instead before another judge with a reputation for making decisions favorable to the prosecution.
-Myrtle Poor Bear and other important witnesses were forbidden to testify about FBI misconduct.
-Testimony about the "reign of terror" on the Pine Ridge Reservation was severely limited.
-Important evidence, such as conflicting ballistic reports, was deemed inadmissible.
-The red pick-up that had been followed onto the ranch was suddenly described as Peltier's "red and white van."
-The jury was isolated and surrounded by federal marshals, making jurors believe that AIM was a security threat to them.
-Three young Native Americans were forced to give false testimony against Peltier after having been arrested and terrorized by FBI agents.
-The prosecutor couldn't produce a single witness who could identify Peltier as the shooter.
-The government said that a cartridge found near the bodies was fired from the presumed murder weapon, and alleged that this was the only pistol of its kind used during the shootout and that it belonged to Peltier.
As a result of the Freedom of Information Act suit, FBI documents turned over to the defense showed that:
1. More than one weapon of the type attributed to Peltier had been present at the scene.
2. The FBI intentionally hid the ballistics report showing that the cartridge could not have come from the presumed murder weapon.
3. There was no doubt whatsoever that the agents followed a red pick-up onto the territory, and not the red and white van driven by Peltier.
4. Strong evidence against several other suspects existed and was withheld.
None of this evidence was presented to the jury that found Leonard Peltier guilty. He was given two consecutive life sentences.
Two consecutive life sentences?! How do they plan to implement that? Doesn't the sentence reflect a deep fear of the spirit of Crazy Horse?
Bill Clinton: at the service of the FBI
The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee explains that a new trial was sought after several of these abuses came to light. During one hearing, the federal prosecutor admitted that "...we can't prove who shot the agents". The court realized that Peltier could have been found innocent if the evidence hadn't been unduly withheld by the FBI, but a new trial was denied on the basis of technical errors.
The Committee says:
"In 1993, Peltier requested Executive Clemency from President Bill Clinton. An intensive campaign was launched and supported by Native and human rights organizations, members of Congress, community and church groups, labor organizations, luminaries, and celebrities. Even Judge Heaney, who authored the court decision [denying a new trial], expressed firm support for Peltier's release. The Peltier case had become a national issue.
On November 7, 2000, during a live radio interview, Clinton stated that he would seriously consider Peltier's request for clemency and make a decision before leaving office on January 20, 2001.
In response, the FBI launched a major disinformation campaign in both the media and among key government officials. Over 500 FBI agents marched in front of the White House to oppose clemency. On January 20, the list of clemencies granted by Clinton was released to the media. Without explanation, Peltier's name had been excluded."
The efforts of the defense team are now focused on obtaining more than 6,000 documents that are still being retained by the FBI and on urging Congress to investigate FBI misconduct on Pine Ridge and the "reign of terror" that existed between 1973 and 1976.
In a recent letter Leonard said: "If my case stands as it is, no common person has real freedom. Only the illusion until you have something the oppressors want.... In the spirit of Crazy Horse, who never gave up."
Let's don't let it stand as it is.
This September 12, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee has announced cultural events in different parts of the world. In Philadelphia there will be a demonstration to demand freedom for Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, the MOVE 9, and the Cuban 5, convened by the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (ICFFMAJ), Philadelphia Jericho, Philadelphia Anarchist Black Cross, the African Peoples Solidarity Committee, and the Uhuru Solidarity Movement.
What will you do?
Write a letter to Leonard:
Leonard Peltier # 89637-132
USP Lewisburg
PO BOX 1000
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837
To sign an online petition or obtain information about letter writing campaigns, consult the page of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee: www.leonardpeltier.net
Sources:
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, case summaries
Leonard Peltier, My Life is My Sun Dance
Ward Churchill and Jim Vanderwall, Agents of Repression
by Carolina Saldaña
The Message
Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity.
But silence is impossible.
Silence screams.
Silence is a message,
just as doing nothing is an act.
Let who you are ring out and resonate
in every word and deed.
Yes, become who you are.
There's no sidestepping your own being
or your own responsibility.
What you do is who you are.
You are your own comeuppance.
You become your own message.
You are the message.
In the spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
¡31 years behind bars!
Leonard Peltier will be 63 years old on September 12, 2007. It's an international day for demanding the immediate, unconditional freedom of this Native American artist, writer, and activist––one of the most widely recognized political prisoners in the world.
Leonard has spent more than 31 years in some of the cruelest prisons in the United States, unjustly condemned to a double life sentence for the shooting death of two FBI agents in 1975. His situation is now aggravated by health problems.
From his cell in the federal prison at Lewisberg, Pensilvania, he keeps right on struggling for the rights of indigenous people. He's contributed to the establishment of libraries, schools, scholarships, and battered women's shelters among many other projects. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and again in 2007.
"My crime's being an Indian. What's yours?"
In his autobiography My Life Is My Sun Dance, Leonard explains that his bloodline is mainly Ojibway and Dakota Sioux and that he was adopted by the Lakota Sioux and raised on their reservations "in the land known to you as America....but I don't consider myself an American."
"I know what I am. I am an Indian--an Indian who dared to stand up to defend his people. I am an innocent man who never murdered anyone nor wanted to. And, yes, I am a Sun Dancer. That, too, is my identity. If I am to suffer as a symbol of my people, then I suffer proudly. I will never yield."
Leonard tells us that when he was nine years old a big black government car drove up to his house to take him and the other kids away to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding school in Wahpeton, Dakota del Norte. When they got there, they cut off their long hair, stripped them, and doused them with DDT powder.
"I thought I was going to die...that place...was more like a reformatory than a school...I consider my years at Wahpenton my first imprisonment, and it was for the same crime as all the others: being an Indian."
He goes on to say that "We had to speak English. We were beaten if we were caught speaking our own language. Still, we did....I guess that's where I became a "hardened criminal," as the FBI calls me. And you could say that the first infraction in my criminal career was speaking my own language. There's an act of violence for you....The second was practicing our traditional religion."
When Leonard Peltier was a teen-ager, President Eisenhower launched a program to eliminate the reservations and move the people off, giving them a small payment. Leonard remembers that the words "termination" and "dislocation" became the most feared words in the people's vocabulary. The process of fighting against dislocation was his first experience as an activist.
During the 60s, Leonard worked as a farm worker and, later, in an auto body shop in Seattle. At that time he got his first taste of community organizing. At the beginning of the 70s, he joined up with the American
Indian Movement (AIM), initially inspired by the Black Panthers.
In 1972, he participated in the Trail of Broken Treaties, a march / caravan from Alcatraz in California to Washington D.C., and also in the occupation of the BIA in the nation's capital. He became a target of the FBI program to "neutralize" AIM leaders and was set up and jailed
at the end of the year.
1973: The Occupation of Wounded Knee
One of AIM's boldest actions was the occupation of the village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the same place where the United States Army carried out its cowardly, infamous massacre of 300 Lakota people in 1890.
At the beginning of the 70s, AIM was getting together with the Lakota Indians who were true to their ancient traditions and wanted to hold on to their culture and their lands.
The BIA, worried about AIM's growing influence in the area, imposed Dick Wilson as tribal chairman on the reservation, running roughshod over the will of the traditional elders and chiefs.
The puppet Wilson hated the AIM militants and allied himself with the FBI to destroy the movement that the agency saw as a threat to the American way of life. His paramilitary group known as the "GOONS" (Guardians of the Oglala Nation) had committed a long chain of abuses against the people.
On the night of February 27, around 300 Lakota and 25 AIM members occupied the town of Wounded Knee, joined by several Chicanos, Black, and white supporters. They opposed the murders of Native Americans on the reservation, the extreme poverty that the people lived in, and the corrupt tribal government. They demanded that the government respect the ancient treaties signed with native peoples to protect their
territory and autonomy.
The next day, General Alexander Haig ordered an invasion. According to Ward Churchill and Jim Vanderwall in their book Agents of Repression, "In the first instance since the Civil War that the U.S. Army had been dispatched in a domestic operation, the Pentagon invaded Wounded Knee with 17 armored personnel carriers, 130,000 rounds of M-16 ammunition, 41,000 rounds of M-1 ammunition, 24,000 flares, 12 M-79 grenade launchers, 600 cases of C-S gas, 100 rounds of M-40 explosives, helicopters, phantom jets, and personnel, all under the direction of General Alexander Haig."
The operation also relied on 500 heavily armed policemen, federal marshals, and BIA and FBI agents. They surrounded Wounded Knee and set up barricades all along the road.
The occupation lasted 71 days and ended only after the government promised to investigate the complaints, something that never happened.
The next three years were known as the "reign of terror" on Pine Ridge. More than 300 people associated with AIM were violently attacked and many of their homes were burned. During these years more than 60 Native American people were killed by paramilitaries armed and trained by the FBI. There was also an increase of FBI SWAT team agents on the reservation.
It's now known, as a result of a suit based on the Freedom of Information Act, that AIM activities on and off the reservation were under FBI surveillance and that the FBI was preparing the paramilitary operations on Pine Ridge a month before the shootout at Oglala.
Oglala: The fatal shootout
In situation that was getting worse all the time, the Council of Elders on the Jumping Bull ranch near the town of Oglala asked AIM to come back to the reservation to protect them. Leonard Peltier, along with many other AIM members and non-members responded to the call and set up camp on the ranch.
On June 26, 1975, two FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ron Williamsen, followed a red pick-up truck onto the Jumping Bull ranch. They were supposedly looking for young Jimmy Eagle, who was said to have stolen a pair of cowboy boots.
A shootout began between the FBI agents and the people in the pick-up, trapping a family in the crossfire. Several mothers fled the area with their children while other people fired in self-defense. More than150 FBI SWAT team members, BIA police, and GOONS surrounded approximately 30 AIM men, women, and children and opened fire. Leonard Peltier helped a group of young people to escape from the rain of bullets.
When the shootout ended, AIM member Joseph Killsright Stuntz was found dead, shot in the head. His death has never been investigated.
Coler and Williamsen were wounded during the shootout and then killed at point blank range. The two agents had in their possession a map with the Jumping Bull ranch marked on it.
According to FBI documents, more than forty Native Americans participated in the shootout, but only four were charged with killing the two agents: three AIM leaders––Dino Butler, Bob Robideau, and Leonard Peltier–– and Jimmy Eagle.
Butler and Robideau were the first to be arrested, and at their trial they stated that they had fired in self-defense. The jury believed the act was justified due to the atmosphere of terror that prevailed at Pine Ridge at the time. They were both found innocent.
The FBI was furious about the verdict and dropped the charges against Jimmy Eagle, according to their memos, "...in order to direct the full weight of the prosecution on Peltier.
Meanwhile, Leonard Peltier went to Canada, believing that he would never have a fair trial. On February 6, he was arrested and then extradited to the United States due to the statement of a woman named Myrtle Poor Bear, who said she had been his girlfriend and had seen him
fire at the agents. As a matter of fact, she had never known him and was not present at the time of the shootout. In a later statement, she said that she had been coerced into giving false testimony as a result of being terrorized by FBI agents.
Two life sentences!?
The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee has cited a number of examples of the injustice of the trial:
-The case wasn't brought before the judge who had presided over the trial of Robideau and Butler, but instead before another judge with a reputation for making decisions favorable to the prosecution.
-Myrtle Poor Bear and other important witnesses were forbidden to testify about FBI misconduct.
-Testimony about the "reign of terror" on the Pine Ridge Reservation was severely limited.
-Important evidence, such as conflicting ballistic reports, was deemed inadmissible.
-The red pick-up that had been followed onto the ranch was suddenly described as Peltier's "red and white van."
-The jury was isolated and surrounded by federal marshals, making jurors believe that AIM was a security threat to them.
-Three young Native Americans were forced to give false testimony against Peltier after having been arrested and terrorized by FBI agents.
-The prosecutor couldn't produce a single witness who could identify Peltier as the shooter.
-The government said that a cartridge found near the bodies was fired from the presumed murder weapon, and alleged that this was the only pistol of its kind used during the shootout and that it belonged to Peltier.
As a result of the Freedom of Information Act suit, FBI documents turned over to the defense showed that:
1. More than one weapon of the type attributed to Peltier had been present at the scene.
2. The FBI intentionally hid the ballistics report showing that the cartridge could not have come from the presumed murder weapon.
3. There was no doubt whatsoever that the agents followed a red pick-up onto the territory, and not the red and white van driven by Peltier.
4. Strong evidence against several other suspects existed and was withheld.
None of this evidence was presented to the jury that found Leonard Peltier guilty. He was given two consecutive life sentences.
Two consecutive life sentences?! How do they plan to implement that? Doesn't the sentence reflect a deep fear of the spirit of Crazy Horse?
Bill Clinton: at the service of the FBI
The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee explains that a new trial was sought after several of these abuses came to light. During one hearing, the federal prosecutor admitted that "...we can't prove who shot the agents". The court realized that Peltier could have been found innocent if the evidence hadn't been unduly withheld by the FBI, but a new trial was denied on the basis of technical errors.
The Committee says:
"In 1993, Peltier requested Executive Clemency from President Bill Clinton. An intensive campaign was launched and supported by Native and human rights organizations, members of Congress, community and church groups, labor organizations, luminaries, and celebrities. Even Judge Heaney, who authored the court decision [denying a new trial], expressed firm support for Peltier's release. The Peltier case had become a national issue.
On November 7, 2000, during a live radio interview, Clinton stated that he would seriously consider Peltier's request for clemency and make a decision before leaving office on January 20, 2001.
In response, the FBI launched a major disinformation campaign in both the media and among key government officials. Over 500 FBI agents marched in front of the White House to oppose clemency. On January 20, the list of clemencies granted by Clinton was released to the media. Without explanation, Peltier's name had been excluded."
The efforts of the defense team are now focused on obtaining more than 6,000 documents that are still being retained by the FBI and on urging Congress to investigate FBI misconduct on Pine Ridge and the "reign of terror" that existed between 1973 and 1976.
In a recent letter Leonard said: "If my case stands as it is, no common person has real freedom. Only the illusion until you have something the oppressors want.... In the spirit of Crazy Horse, who never gave up."
Let's don't let it stand as it is.
This September 12, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee has announced cultural events in different parts of the world. In Philadelphia there will be a demonstration to demand freedom for Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, the MOVE 9, and the Cuban 5, convened by the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (ICFFMAJ), Philadelphia Jericho, Philadelphia Anarchist Black Cross, the African Peoples Solidarity Committee, and the Uhuru Solidarity Movement.
What will you do?
Write a letter to Leonard:
Leonard Peltier # 89637-132
USP Lewisburg
PO BOX 1000
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837
To sign an online petition or obtain information about letter writing campaigns, consult the page of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee: www.leonardpeltier.net
Sources:
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, case summaries
Leonard Peltier, My Life is My Sun Dance
Ward Churchill and Jim Vanderwall, Agents of Repression
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)