Easter Sunday 1973 in Occupied Wounded Knee

In Joe Trimbach's book, American Indian Mafia, Richard Two Elk sorrowfully recounts how, as a misguided 19-year-old, he and some other American Indian Movement (AIM) militants who were occupying the Indian village of Wounded Knee tortured a man by tying him to a cross and beating him on Easter Sunday, 1973:

Long before I forged an alliance with efforts to stop AIM violence, I was a soldier devoted to AIM militancy. Vernon Bellecourt was my commander in Denver. For a time I became Vernon's body guard, messenger, and procurer of drugs. Arlo [Looking Cloud] and I were brothers. When we were called to Wounded Knee, we packed in weapons and supplies under cover of darkness...I believe it was Easter Sunday when the leadership decided they had found a spy in their midst. When Dennis Banks told us to take care of him, we knew what he meant. After Arlo and I and several others beat this poor fellow, we tied him to a cross and beat him some more. He stayed up there for six hours in the sun. Stories that say this did not happen, or that it was a manikin [reference FBI report, April 22], are simply untrue. I have no idea what happened to that fellow after they cut him down (American Indian Mafia, p. 321).

Leonard Crow Dog Speaks

Retired FBI agent Joe Trimbach, the author of American Indian Mafia, says that the AIM militant Leonard Crow Dog is worried that the remains of people murdered by the American Indian Movement (AIM) during the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee might be discovered buried in the ruins of the village:

In one of his more lucid moments, AIM's peace-loving spiritual advisor, Leonard Crow Dog, warned that at least seven spirits haunt the village ruins. He urged a land purchase of the area in order to prevent a gastly discovery. To illustrate, Crow Dog drew lines in the sand while explaining to this Indian, "There's a Mexican, an Italian, a black man, three white women..." Could these be the forgotten souls AIM leaders do not want people to know about? Was it feared their departure might compromise internal security, should they decide to cooperate with authorities once safely inside a hospital recovery room?...With the possible exception of [the black man] Ray Robinson, the deaths remain mysteries (American Indian Mafia p. 323).

White Revolutionaries Infiltrated Wounded Knee and Replaced Indian Occupiers

"We began to see young [white] infiltrators trying to enter the village with gas masks and camouflage jackets, carrying maps, marijuana, and books by Mao-Tse-Tung."---Joe Trimbach

In their just-released e-book American Indian Mafia, Joseph and John Trimbach describe how the Indian village of Wounded Knee was attacked by the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1973 and its residents subjected to a 71-day reign of terror.

The publisher's review notes:

The 1970s legacy of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is haunted by the forgotten suffering of innocent victims and a falsified history found in almost every library in America. The perpetrators are often referred to as “brave warriors” and “selfless activists,” while many of their Indian victims are consigned to anonymity.

Soon after the people of Wounded Knee were taken hostage, armed white revolutionaries with drugs and alcohol began to replace the Indian occupiers. Joe Trimbach, who was the FBI Special Agent in Charge, observes:

...[T]he village situation grew worse. Of mounting concern was the presence of "white crazies," fledgling revolutionaries that had begun to replace Indian occupiers. We began to see young infiltrators trying to enter the village with gas masks and camouflage jackets, carrying maps, marijuana, and books by Chairman Mao-Tse-Tung. Drugs and alcohol that had not been present in great amounts previously were now seen throughout the village. Wounded Knee was turning into a counter-culture drug fest, a Woodstock with guns rather than guitars.

As the standoff continued, we received several reports that many of the non-Indian activists and organizations were attempting to assume leadership roles. Those who did not agree with AIM's violent tactics and armed confrontation found themselves in direct conflict with resentful Native leaders. I have talked to people who tell me there were fisticuffs, assaults, shootings---a few of which reportedly resulted in death---and at least one rape. The only predominately white organization whose friendly overatures appeared to be welcome was the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), probably because of their expertise in munitions, military operations, and escape and evasion tactics. If someone challenged the AIM leadership, somebody from the VVAW, it was reported, would intervene and "take care" of that person...there were quite possibly more deaths by the militants' own hand than by returned gunfire from law enforcement (American Indian Mafia, p. 140-141).

According to Mr. Trimbach:

Day after day, as the men and women of the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service served as target practice for pumped-up militants, few in Washington realized that a considerable number of the agressors were not Indians at all, but rather fringe radicals and anti-establishment reprobates itching for the chance to shoot at establishment figures (p. 301).

Oil-for-Food Case Opens in Australia

[T]he oil-for-food program... ultimately proved to be a cash cow masquerading as a humanitarian aid program.”---Mark J. Mershon, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York office

The New York Times (12-21-07) reports that a new U.N. oil-for-food civil case has opened in Australia.

An Independent Inquiry Committee led by Paul Volcker determined that executives of the Australian Wheat Board paid $250 million in bribes to Saddam Hussein. The bribes were "disguised as transport fees paid to a Jordanian trucking company partly owned by Mr. Hussein’s Ministry of Transport, the inquiry reported."

According to Volcker (10-27-05), Saddam Hussein's manipulation of the Oil-for-Food Program diverted almost two billion dollars from the humanitarian purposes of the program. More than 2000 companies were involved in the illicit payments.

According to Volcker, Saddam also made an estimated 11 billion dollars by smuggling oil outside of the Oil-for-Food Program.

The New York Times reports:

The men [in the Australia case] could also face criminal proceedings, but because the statute of limitations expires earlier for civil suits than for criminal cases, the authorities moved first on the civil action.

NBC News (1-6-2006) explains:

The oil-for-food program ran from 1996 to 2003. It was created to help Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It let the Iraqi government sell limited — and eventually unlimited — amounts of oil primarily to buy humanitarian goods.

But Saddam chose the buyers of Iraqi oil and the sellers of humanitarian goods. In a bid to end the sanctions, Saddam allegedly gave former government officials, activists, journalists and U.N. officials vouchers for oil to be resold at a profit.

Mark J. Mershon, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York office, said that the Oil-for-Food Program "proved to be a cash cow masquerading as a humanitarian aid program.”

The official U.N. perspective on the Oil-for-Food Program is posted here. The U.N. site explains:

Although established in April 1995, the implementation of the programme started only in December 1996, after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United Nations and the Government of Iraq on 20 May 1996 (S/1996/356). The first Iraqi oil under the Oil-for-Food Programme was exported in December 1996 and the first shipments of food arrived in March 1997...

In the initial stages of the programme, Iraq was permitted to sell $2 billion worth of oil every six months, with two-thirds of that amount to be used to meet Iraq’s humanitarian needs. In 1998, the limit on the level of Iraqi oil exports under the programme was raised to $5.26 billion every six months, again with two-thirds of the oil proceeds earmarked to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people. In December 1999, the ceiling on Iraqi oil exports under the programme was removed by the Security Council.

"The Private Life of Chairman Mao" by Li Zhi-Sui

"Here's a picture of the daily life of a man who has absolute power, and the fascinating thing is how absolute power sort of deranges the possessor of it, so that the boundary between fantasy and reality is obliterated because there's nothing to check his will."--Professor Andrew J. Nathan

December 26 was Mao Zedong's birthday. In America, many people remember that this is the day that JonBenet Ramsey of Boulder, Colorado, was brutally murdered.

Mao's birthday is remembered by the Maoist MIM where he lists recent articles. The MIM also devotes its site to defending Boulder's fired University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill.

In 1994, the New York Times reviewed a book written by Dr. Li Zhisui, Mao Zedong's physician:

Mao Zedong, China's "Great Helmsman" whose brilliance, the official doctrine insists, led a vast nation to restored greatness, was actually an irritable, manipulative egotist incapable of human feeling who surrounded himself with sycophants and refused even to be treated for a sexually transmitted disease, though he knew he was spreading it to the numerous young women who shared his bed.

Those are among the elements of an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Mao drawn by Li Zhisui, who was his private physician from 1955 until Mao's death in 1976 at the age of 82.

Dr. Li, who has lived in the United States since 1988, has written "The Private Life of Chairman Mao," a 663-page memoir of the imperial court of Mao that, in absolute contrast with the official image, portrays it as a place of boundless decadence, licentiousness, selfishness, relentless toadying and cutthroat political intrigue.

...Once, Dr. Li recalls, Mao sent him one of his sexual partners, a young woman who had come down with trichomonas vaginalis, which is sexually transmitted. Dr. Li treated her and several others who got the disease.

"The young women were proud to be infected," he writes. "The illness, transmitted by Mao, was a badge of honor, testimony to their close relations with the Chairman."

Mao himself showed no symptoms of the disease, though he was clearly a carrier of it, Dr. Li said. When Dr. Li suggested that he take some antibiotic to protect his sexual partners, Mao told Dr. Li: "If it's not hurting me, then it doesn't matter. Why are you getting so excited about it?"

...Dr. Li acknowledges that for his first few years with Mao, he was held in his spell, and admired him as China's savior. As the years passed, however, Mao's cruelty and selfishness filled him with loathing.

"If I had known what I was getting myself into in 1949, I would have stayed in Australia," Dr. Li said. "For so many years, I did yes-man work, just to survive." [full text]

A reviewer at Amazon posted this comment:

This book opens with one of the most hilarious opening chapters of a book that I have read. Mao has just died and in what had become a tradition for Communist regimes his body had to be preserved to be kept on display. The problem was that on one knew how to preserve bodies. Calls were made to Lenin's Tomb and to the display in which Ho chi Min was kept all to no avail. It appeared that Lenin's mummification had not worked well as his nose had fallen off. A substitute nose had to be put in place. The feedback was to ring America as they were good at that sort of thing. A call to America suggested filling the blood stream with formaldehyde. There was a debate about how much to put in and it was decided to put in double the advised amount to make sure there were no mistakes. Mao after all was important and heads would roll (literally) if his body started to decompose. Huge amounts of formaldehyde were pumped into the body. Unfortunately it started to look like the Michelen Man. The assembled doctors realised that they had to do something so that they decided to massage the body to pump out the excess. The only problem was that during the massage process part of Mao's face broke of. This had to be hurriedly repaired using wax. A General came in to look at the body and looking at the face wanted to start a murder investigation.

The other chapters can't keep pace with this frantic opening but it is a batman's biography of one of China's most important leaders. The author was his doctor for most of his later years and gives an account not just of the politics of Mao but of every aspect of his life.

The author's role was to keep Mao alive and to fend of disease. This was not easy. Mao for instance refused to clean his teeth. As a result his teeth were covered in a sort of green coating. Although Mao liked to swim and (his residences) he never liked to wash. Mao was sexually predatory and large numbers of young women went through his bed. He picked up a number of sexual diseases and refused to be treated for them and thus spread them to his companions.

The book however is more interesting than a list of scandals. It describes he mechanics of power and the court that Mao ran. The author was there constantly. He was used by Mao as a source of gossip and as such perhaps learned more of his subject than most physicians. The book describes the way that Mao's favourites would circle around him drifting in and out of favour and how they would be used by Mao so that he could remain at the centre of power.

The book is not only important as a close source about one of histories (perhaps regrettably) towering figures but is fascinating to read. It has the grim fascination that a work of fiction can never have as you know that the events unfolded just a short time ago.

Pakistan's Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Dead Following Terrorist Attack

Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto (54) was shot and killed as she left a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan following a homicide bombing that early reports claim killed about 20 and injured about 40. Bhutto was hoping to become Prime Minister after the January 8, 2008 elections.

The killer shot Bhutto with an AK-47 and them blew himself up.

FOX News commenters say that she was an enemy of the Taliban and Al Qaeda because she was for women's rights and democracy. She was educated at Harvard and Oxford. She was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996. The New York Times (12-28-07) reports some of the controversy about her leadership.

Benazir Bhutto was the leader of the PPP Party and the first woman Prime Minister of a Muslim country. Some of her supporters are blaming Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf for her death. I think it is more likely that it was jihadists loyal to the Taliban or Al-Qaeda, but Musharraf wasn't able to protect her. Many people in the security forces have ties to the Islamic terrorist organizations.

Here is Bhutto's Wikipedia. Here is her BBC obituary. Here is the Times account of her death. The Times reports:

Islamic militants have vowed to kill Ms Bhutto, anathematising her as a supporter of Washington's war on terror, a proponent of women's rights, and as a secular politician who returned to Pakistan in October to contest parliamentary elections....

The latest bombing was the second outbreak of political violence in Pakistan today. Earlier, gunmen inside the offices of a political party that supports Mr Musharraf opened fire on supporters of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, killing four, police said.

This murder will probably destabilize Musharraf's government and the January 8, 2008 elections.

The head of Pakistan's army, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, will probably play an important role in the days to come. The St. Petersburg Times (11-29-07) reports:

In the 1990s, Kavani was Benazir Bhutto's military secretary during her first term as prime minister, and he is said to be on good terms with many in Pakistan's political elite. When Musharraf and Bhutto began negotiations on power-sharing this year, Kayani was a go-between.

The Christian Science Monitor (11-29-07) profiled General Kayani after he became head of the Pakistani Army when President Musharraf stepped down from that role.

Columnist Robert Novak wrote an editorial in the Washington Post (12-3-07) about Pakistan's January elections and made this claim about the role of retired Pakistani Brigadier General Ijaz Shah:

Musharraf's efforts to keep Bhutto out have been orchestrated for two years by retired brigadier Ijaz Shah, who left Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) to become the president's chief of civilian intelligence. The ISI, a state within a state, is aligned against Bhutto and would be at the heart of any vote-rigging.

The ISI's views were expressed Nov. 19 by Ahmed Quraishi, an anchor on state-owned Pakistani television, in an article posted on his Web site and published in several of the country's newspapers. He describes an American plot "clipping the wings of a strong Pakistani military" that concludes by "toppling Musharraf, sidelining the military and installing a pliant government in Islamabad."

If Musharraf is finished, the ISI's chosen successor could be his old adversary, Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted as prime minister and went into exile when Musharraf seized power eight years ago. [See above--Nawaz Sharif's offices were attacked and people were killed just before the attack on Bhutto.] A recent secret meeting in Riyadh between ISI and Saudi intelligence officials -- Sharif has lived in Jiddah for years -- arranged for Sharif's return Nov. 25. Though he intends to regain national leadership, Sharif is boycotting the January elections, in which he would lose badly. In a recent private conversation with a former Pakistani government official, Sharif said that he hoped a coup would not be necessary to take power but did not rule it out.

Breitbart (12-27-07) reports that Nawaz Sharif said today that his party would boycott the January elections and demanded that President Pervez Musharraf resign. A long time opponent of Bhutto, he has rebutted suggestions that he may gain politically as the result of her death.

According to ABC's Brian Ross of The Blotter (12-27-07), the U.S. is trying to run down a claim by the head of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan who claims to have killed Bhutto:

...U.S. intelligence officials say they cannot confirm an initial claim of responsibility for the attack, supposedly from an al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan.

An obscure Italian Web site said Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, al Qaeda's commander in Afghanistan, told its reporter in a phone call, "We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahedeen."

It said the decision to assassinate Bhutto was made by al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al Zawahri in October. Before joining Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, Zawahri was imprisoned in Egypt for his role in the assassination of then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

What is the Provenance of Ward Churchill's Article "The Extralegal Implications of Yellow Thunder Tiospaye: Misadventure or Watershed Action?"

Scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this Spirit. He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been; and though the Spirit’s eyes were clear and kind, he did not like to meet them.

“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present,” said the Spirit. “Look upon me!"---from Charles Dickens' ghost story A Christmas Carol

Mr. Paine of PirateBallerina has been keeping track of journals where Ward Churchill says he has published peer reviewed articles. [See Update III below Mr. Paine's article called "Peer Reviewed*"---just below his 12-19-07 entry.] One peer reviewed journal seems to be called Policy Perspectives.

Ward Churchill claims in his book Since Predator Came that he published an article titled "Yellow Thunder Tiospaye: Misadventure or Watershed Action?" in Policy Perspectives, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 1982).

Mr. Paine googled the phrase Policy Perspectives, Vol.2, No. 2 (Spring 1982).

As you can see, Mr. Paine found three books that cited Churchill's article "Yellow Thunder Tiospaye: Misadventure or Watershed Action?"

It's odd that no other writer seems to have written an article that shows up on the Internet in this particular issue of Policy Perspectives.

I wonder what Policy Perspectives was. If it were a peer reviewed academic journal, I would expect that other authors might show up in Policy Perspectives, Vol 2, No. 2, Spring 1982.

I wonder where this journal was published and who published it. I even wonder if the journal ever existed at all.

I tried googling Churchill's article "Yellow Thunder Tiospaye: Misadventure or Watershed Action?" and found that Frederick E. Hoxie, Peter C. Mancall, and James Hart Merrell wrote a book called American Nations: Encounters in Indian Country, 1850 to the Present that cites Churchill's article in footnote 154. They had typed the journal entry a little differently as "Policy Perspectives 2:2 (Spring 1982)", so I searched that. The same book was the only thing that came up on the Internet.

I wonder if these authors saw the actual article in Policy Perspectives or just read about Churchill's article in another book and took his word for it.

I went to Churchill's CV and saw that the article is actually cited a bit differently there. It is called "The Extralegal Implications of Yellow Thunder Tiospaye: Misadventure or Watershed Action?"

I thought that perhaps the problem was that Mr. Churchill and Mr. Paine left off the beginning of the article's title "The Extralegal Implications of...", So I googled that title.

I got just two hits. One hit was the Churchill CV Mr. Paine has posted, and the second hit was a book called From a Native Son: Selected Essays in Indigenism, 1985-1995 by Ward Churchill.

I thought it was odd that in his book Since Predator Came Churchill didn't give the same title for his 1982 Policy Perspectives article as he gave in From a Native Son or in his CV.

It seems like other people who cited this article may not have seen the original 1982 essay in Policy Perspectives if it was called "The Extralegal Implications of Yellow Thunder Tiospaye: Misadventure or Watershed Action?" because they cited the shorthand version "Yellow Thunder Tiospaye: Misadventure or Watershed Action?"

According to his CV, Churchill presented "The Extralegal Implications of Yellow Thunder Tiospaye: Misadventure or Watershed Action?" at the annual conference of the Western Political Science Association (WPSA) in San Francisco in May 1982.

Well, this is very confusing for someone as crazy as I am. Perhaps Churchill's apologist Ben Whitmer can shed a little light on the provenance of this peer reviewed article.

Richard Two Elk's Oral Histories of the American Indian Movement (AIM)

On June 7, 2007, Richard Two Elk interviewed the retired FBI official Joe Trimbach on his radio show, Generations: Native American Radio [See left side at Two Elk's site], about the FBI agent's just-released history of the American Indian Movement (AIM).

Mr. Trimbach's book is titled American Indian Mafia, and it can be downloaded as an e-book for only five dollars. You can listen to Mr. Two Elk's interview of Joe Trimbach here.

Mr. Two Elk also interviewed the residents of Wounded Knee and let them tell what happened to their town when armed AIM radicals invaded their community in February 1973.

You can listen here to what the people of Wounded Knee told Mr. Two Elk about how the American Indian Movement (AIM) terrorized and robbed the people, ruined their homes, churches, trading post, and museum. It sounds like the kind of thing that happened a long time ago, not in the 20th century.

Mr. Two Elk wrote the foreward to American Indian Mafia and has spent his life interviewing Indian people and chronicling their history.

I wrote about the ruin of Wounded Knee here, but this is a first-hand oral-history by people who actually lived through this terrorist attack and the 71 day occupation by AIM gunmen. They all tell very sad, scary stories.

One mother told how terrified she was when she had to hike out of the town in the middle of a February night carrying her three-year-old because she didn't have any food to feed her daughter.

This lady told how her family's pictures, treasured collections, and historical heirlooms were all stolen even though they were hidden in the attic.

One lady said, "Nobody cared that somebody lived here, they just made themselves at home."

Many people's homes were burned to the ground.

How could we have been so blind that we couldn't see that our own people were held hostage by terrorists right in America?

Why didn't the news media tell us the truth about what was really happening?

I guess the media and politicians felt guilty about the historical treatment of Indians and so were fooled by the AIM propaganda. Also, I think that the victims may have been afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation. I think that this fear of speaking out is changing because of Mr. Two Elk's interviews.

In my opinion, Mr. Two Elk's history of AIM is a lot more
believable than the historical fabrications penned by the white radical Ward Churchill.

Hat tip to my friend Mr. Martin.

America's Heroes Protecting Innocent People from the Scourage of Terrorism

"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep...I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me." (Jn. 10:11, 14)

10/10/2006
STANDING GUARD
An infantryman assigned with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, stands guard during a patrol as part of Operation Yorktown in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, Sept. 27, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Trenton Elijah Harris [Defense Link Photos]

This is my Christmas card for all America's heroes. On the Internet, many Americans pay tribute to our armed forces as they protect our people and innocent men, women, and children all over the world from the scourge of terrorism, in spite of all the setbacks and difficulties, especially the lack of support from people who can't face up to the dangers and so appease the evil-doers.

This year, I especially am thankful for the gift of the Trimbachs' book, American Indian Mafia. Joe Trimbach, a former Marine and a career FBI agent, is a real American hero; and his son John is a very good son to help his father write this book and share with all Americans his father's legacy--the gift of the truth about our history.

The father and son tell how Americans, especially American Indians, have been victimized and pillaged by arrogant, narcissistic criminals: terrorist wolves in sheep's clothing, rapists, thieves, liars, and murderers who have disguised themselves as freedom fighters.

The Trimbachs make us brave; they make us unconfused; they make us love the innocent victims so that we will have the moral courage to defend our innocent people from the terrorists.

My favorite thing to do on the Internet at Christmas is to see how creative people have interpreted the poem called "The Soldiers' Night Before Christmas." Check back. I may link some more good sites.

"AIM Militants Were the Terrorists of Their Time"--Joseph and John Trimbach

Leonard Peltier (above) as shown in this article about the significance of Ka-Mook Nichols' testimony at the trial of Arlo Looking Cloud for the December 1975 murder of Anna Mae Aquash.

Joseph and John Trimbach's book American Indian Mafia compares the tactics of the American Indian Movement (AIM) with the tactics of today's terrorists:

"When compared to the international enemy we face today, the American Indian Movement obviously presented much less of a threat to the nation at large. Nonetheless, the "war" against AIM has parallels to today's war against terror. AIM militants were the terrorists of their time, employing many of the same tactics used by modern-day terrorist groups.

With the same viciousness that Middle-Eastern henchmen lop off the heads of innocent people, AIM hitmen dispatched their victims, in both cases recruiting young members to do their dirty work. AIM enjoyed the support and understanding of many who turned a blind eye to the cowardice of indiscriminate attacks, although on a much smaller scale, but with the same rationalization as "aggrieved minorities." AIM could not have existed without funding and support from certain quarters of the government. In some cases, that support came from the same government entities tasked with defeating it. In supporting Al-Qaeda and Hizbollah, world governments and at times, it seems, the United Nations (with U.S. dollars), have unfortunately served the same purpose. Yesterday's well-intended government aid to AIM is like today's foreign aid and world-body assistance programs---we're not really sure where the money is going until it's too late...

The occupation of Wounded Knee can be seen as a microcosm of today's terrorist controversies. Amid complaints of a disproportionate use of force" and the view of oppressors as victims, the true victims are often consigned to anonymity by a blissfully unaware press. Meanwhile, instigators benefit from media-driven calls for understanding, and government bodies seek appeasement through calls for restraint and negotiation" (p. 508-9).

FBI Series: A Day in the Life in Indian Country

Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, the mother of two young daughters, is pictured before she was brutally executed and pushed over a cliff on the orders of the leaders of the American Indian Movement (AIM).

"It was a bitterly cold, lonely morning when Anna Mae Pictou Aquash drew her last breath. Had she trusted the FBI, they could have saved her..."---Joe Trimbach

"Dozens of co-conspirators, even minor players who aided and abetted the murder and subsequent cover-up, could face the same fate that awaits Anna Mae's alleged executioner: life in prison."--Joe Trimbach

The FBI has a long history in Indian Country. One of the Bureau's earliest and most famous investigations was the infamous case called the Osage Indian Murders.

Recently, the FBI has been doing a four-part series called "A Day in the Life in Indian Country." I have posted the featured quote from each article.

Part 1 of the Series: Indian Country agents are some of the FBI's most experienced criminal investigators. Agents are required to respond to a wide variety of criminal matters and work them from the ground up, to include conducting victim, witness and subject interviews, crime scene investigations and analysis, fugitive investigations, as well as taking cases through prosecution. Indian Country work can be difficult and challenging but agents who work it have a real impact on the community."- Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer Leonard, head of the Indian Country/Special Crimes Unit, FBI Headquarters

Part 2 of the Series: “You really have to be more than a good investigator out here. You have to be part-historian, part-sociologist, and even part-genealogist. You have to know who’s related to whom, whether someone’s status in a tribe will complicate your case, what the history of the various tribes is and the differences between them. We lean on our tribal partners as much as we can, but the more we truly grasp the realities here, the better.”- Special Agent Doug Klein, on working in Indian Country

Part 3 of the Series: These police, who typically handle misdemeanors like public intoxication and petty theft, aren’t our only partners in Indian Country. We also depend on:
-Tribal judges, who can help us by releasing those serving a misdemeanor sentence in exchange for their help on future FBI cases;
-Federal probation officers, who know when someone is about to be released from prison back into the community or if someone has violated probation and is a potential threat;
-State, county, and other local police, who might help investigate crimes off the reservation and who participate in joint task forces for drugs and violent crimes;
-The U.S. Attorney and assistant U.S. attorneys who prosecute the cases we investigate;
-Health care professionals, especially from the Indian Health Service, who report cases of suspected abuse and provide services to victims; and
-FBI victims specialists, who provide witnesses and victims with support services.

Part 4 of the Series: “The impact you have here is just tremendous. The crimes we investigate touch people’s day-to-day lives in a very real way—the murder of a friend, kids getting molested by their uncle. That’s why we’re here: to give victims a voice and to remind them that ‘justice for all’ applies equally to everyone in America.”- Special Agent John Quinlan

Bluster's Last Stand: Russell Means Tries to Boss the Lakotas

"[Russell] Means has reinvented himself more times than a snake sheds its skin. And when cornered, he's still known to strike."---Joe Trimbach

FOX NEWS reports (12-20-07):

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

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,'' long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said.
A delegation of Lakota leaders has delivered a message to the State Department, and said they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the U.S., some of them more than 150 years old.

The group also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and would continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months.

Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.

The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free - provided residents renounce their U.S. citizenship, Mr Means said. [full text]

For another view of this so-called "Indian rights activist" see my previous post. I would call Russell Means a dangerous terrorist who uses his own people as human shields and cares only about protecting himself. This snake will destroy anyone to save his own skin.

The crazy old terrorist who destroyed Wounded Knee and called it "liberation" characterized elected Indian leaders as "collaborators." The Argus Leader (12-20-07) reports:

"I want to emphasize, we do not represent the collaborators, the Vichy Indians and those tribal governments set up by the United States of America to ensure our poverty, to ensure the theft of our land and resources," Means said, comparing elected tribal governments to Nazi collaborators in France during World War II.

Rodney Bordeaux, chairman of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said his community has no desire to join the breakaway nation. Means and his group, which call themselves the Lakota Freedom Delegation, have never officially pitched their views to the Rosebud community, Bordeaux said.

"Our position on that is we need to uphold the treaties, and we're constantly reminding Congress of that message," Bordeaux said. "We're pushing to maintain and to keep the treaties there because they're the basis of our relationship with the federal government." [full text]

After the article in The Argus Leader, a lady commented:

"Don Quixote needs to face reality. My son, who is 16, was upset when I told him that he must dress nicer for people to have respect for him. He said that it was wrong that others would judge him by how he looks instead of who he is. I know that it is not always pleasurable to hear the truth but one needs to hear it. People judge you by how you dress, the company you keep and how you act. Russell is not 16. We shouldn't have to tell him when he looks unclean in public, hangs out with thugs and dictators and makes hollow threats he brings dishonor to the Lakota people."

Perhaps Russell Means' latest stunt is just another pathetic attempt attempt to distract people from the implications of the coming trial of John Graham for the murder of Anna Mae Aquash.

According to News From Indian Country:

"The Aquash case may have implications for leadership members of the American Indian Movement alleged to have been involved in several murders of those they believed were informers going back to the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. Those murders include that of Black civil rights worker and Martin Luther King disciple Perry Ray Robinson Jr ., according to AIM members now cooperating with federal authorities."

In his just-released book American Indian Mafia, the retired FBI official Joseph H. Trimbach writes of Means:

"Means has had an uphill task convincing the people of Indian Country that he knew nothing of the plot to kill Anna Mae [Aquash] or of the ensuing coverup. Time and again he has pleaded ignorance to the crime, despite admitting the murder victim was taken to his brother's house, where Clyde Bellecourt allegedly received Vernon's order to execute the prisoner. In fact, Bill Means' house was purportedly Anna Mae's last stop before she was driven to the cliff near Wanblee, South Dakota. Further compounding Russell's problem is that he and his brothers were reportedly on the reservation when Anna Mae was buried, yet boycotted her funeral...

Another problem facing Means is justifying a 24-year wait before emerging as an Anna Mae advocate. To some observers it is simply an indication that he'd seen the writing on the U.S Attorney's wall. Like many aging AIMsters who do not want to spend their last years incarcerated, Means may be trying to hop a ride on the justice bandwagon" [American Indian Mafia, p. 30].

The Man Who Never Was

"Oh, Fudge!"--Ben Whitmer

Mr. Paine at PirateBallerina reports (12-17-07) that Benjamin Whitmer won't be teaching any classes in the Ethnic Cleansing Department this Spring:

"Speaking of Churchill's dog, Benjie (and who isn't?), according to a little birdie, CU's Ethnic Studies department is telling people Benjie won't be teaching any classes there this Spring. We're guessing a conflict with Benjie's busy speaking schedule is responsible for the absence."

Have Russell Means' Chickens Come Home to Roost?

"[Russell] Means has reinvented himself more times than a snake sheds its skin. And when cornered, he's still known to strike."---Joe Trimbach

Professor Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School has written that AIM left “… thousands of poverty-stricken Indians, first driven by years of neglect to accept false prophets of violence and then shorn even of that ineffective leadership.”

One of these false prophets is Russell Means.

In the Trimbachs' just-released book, American Indian Mafia, Joseph Trimbach discusses the implications of the extradition of John Graham Patton, who is accused of murdering Anna Mae Aquash in December 1975.

Joseph Trimbach observes:

On June 26, 2007, [the 32nd anniversary of the murder of FBI agents Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams on Pine Ridge] the Supreme Court of British Columbia ordered the extradition of John Graham Patton to the United States.

Obviously, Graham's arrival on U.S. soil will further imperil AIM's legacy. The more immediate concern among former members is his cooperation with federal prosecutors. Dozens of co-conspirators, even minor players who aided and abetted the murder and subsequent cover-up, could face the same fate that awaits Anna Mae's alleged executioner: life in prison. And so they are naturally concerned that Graham will cut a deal and sing like a canary. As Professor Ward Churchill likes to say, the chickens have come home to roost, perhaps one of them being his old pal, Russell Means. For the next several years, U.S. Attorneys could be very busy prosecuting one very old murder case (467).

Child Abuse: The Scourage of Pine Ridge

The Epilogue (518-531) of Joseph and John Trimbachs' book American Indian Mafia discusses the terrible problem of child sexual abuse on Pine Ridge Indian reservation.

The Trimbachs are going to give some of the money from the sale of their book to help Pine Ridge children.

Joseph and John Trimbachs' Revealing Words of Truth

"You will see how many people were fooled by misplaced sympathies and emotions. If any good can come of those mistakes, let it begin with those who have been misled."--Richard Two Elk

This morning I received a copy of Joseph and John Trimbach's book American Indian Mafia: An FBI Agent's True Story about Wounded Knee, Leonard Peltier, and the American Indian Movement (AIM). [While you wait for the paperback to arrive, you can download the e-book to your computer for only five dollars here!]

The book begins with some quotes. The quote I like best is by Quintillian: "A liar needs a good memory."

The book begins with a foreward by an Indian man named Richard Two Elk who has spent 32 years recording the words of Native Peoples across the Americas. He sounds like a truthful man who as been able to reflect in his mature years on how he was manipulated in his youth.

As a teenager, Mr. Two Elk took part in AIM's 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee and witnessed the atrocities and ruin of this Indian town. He says that many Indian people have been on the receiving end of AIM violence and that even today they are afraid to speak up about the "AIM legacy of membership through intimidation" for fear of retribution.

Mr. Two Elk says that the Trimbachs' book is "a good first step in exposing the false history aging AIMsters desperately try to protect."

Mr. Two Elk says of American Indian Mafia:

In its revealing words of truth, you will discover that popular books presented as modern-day history are flat-out wrong. You will see how many people were fooled out of misplaced sympathies and emotions. If any good can come of those mistakes, let it begin with those who have been misled.

Mr. Two Elk says that the terrible problems Indians on Pine Ridge face--unemployment, crime, alcoholism, and domestic violence--have "been compounded by the destructive legacy of false heroes." He says that Native people are now speaking out to native journalists "about what really happened at Pine Ridge in the early and mid 1970s" and "the voice of truth survives."

Mr. Two Elk also says that living conditions on Pine Ridge have created a monster called child sexual abuse. He says that the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, "the government agencies that AIMsters love to criticize from afar" to are trying to "defeat this evil."

Mr. Two Elk observes: "How ironic that the people doing the heavy lifting are law officers, while AIM stars are nowhere in sight." Mr. Two Elk says that child sexual abuse is a plague that is destroying what is left of Indian society and asks for our help.

He says to look in the Epilogue to find out what we can do.

Mr. Two Elk signed his foreward on June 26, 2007. This is the anniversary of the date that two FBI agents were murdered by AIM on Pine Ridge.

Christmas is a time when we especially remember innocent children. For some people, Christmas is also a difficult time because life doesn't always measure up to our expectations of peace on earth and good will toward men. The world has its share of hypocritical liars, con-artists, oppportunists--sanctimonious bad men who advance themselves by sowing lies, mistrust, and dischord.

Fortunately, we also are blessed with clear-sighted men of good will like the Trimbachs who seek the justice that can heal the historical wounds that divide our people.

For me, the Trimbachs' book is a really special Christmas present and an answer to my prayer for "Peace on Earth Good Will Toward Men."

Naughty or Nice? American Indian Mafia

"For the first time in over 30 years, the public will know who the real heroes were."--John Trimbach

He's making a list and checking it twice. He's going to find out who's naughty and nice.

It's official! Joseph H. (Joe) and John M. Trimbach's long-awaited book is listed on Amazon, just in the Nick of time!

The Trimbachs' Tome is 652 pages long! I will hazard a guess that this means that not everyone has been nice!

The book is titled: American Indian Mafia: An FBI Agent's True Story about Wounded Knee, Leonard Peltier, and the American Indian Movement (AIM).

The Trimbachs' book will be available in a few days. I can hardly wait for mine to arrive! [Update--instant e-book download available for only five dollars here!]

For a sneak preview of who the Trimbachs think are naughty or nice, order your book, and savor the editorial reviews Santa's helpers over at Amazon have posted:

The book the AIM leadership does not want you to read!

For the first time, the true history of AIM is revealed through the eyes of an FBI Agent who was there. And for the first time, the AIM leadership's dirty little secrets are exposed, unlike in any other history book. In fact, this book exposes the history books. It is time to set the record straight for the benefit of all Native Americans.

"Although much has been written about the tragic events at Wounded Knee and Pine Ridge, Joe Trimbach's book appears to be the first definitive report of the courageous efforts of federal law enforcement (FBI, U.S. Marshals and BIA), often at great personal risk, to restore order to the Native Americans living in the midst of violence and intimidation. Mafia is well documented and presents an important contribution to our understanding of what actually happened."

-Judge William H. Webster, former Director, FBI, former Director, CIA

"As a longtime journalist, author, and Oglala Lakota born, raised and educated on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, I have been appalled at the many books, movies, and documentaries about Wounded Knee II and about Leonard Peltier that are so filled with myths, misconceptions and outright lies. Trimbach takes apart Matthiessen's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, movies like Thunderheart, Lakota Woman, and A Tattoo on My Heart - The Warriors of Wounded Knee 1973, and exposes them for the frauds that they are. It is refreshing to finally hear the other side of the story."

-Tim Giago, former editor and publisher of Indian Country Today, author and nationally syndicated columnist

"A gripping, no-holds barred account of what really happened at Wounded Knee-one of the bloodiest and most controversial chapters in the long proud history of the FBI. Joe Trimbach is a myth-breaker; his carefully compiled chronology is a must-read for all Americans who seek truth behind the headlines."

-Oliver North, Lt Col USMC (Ret.)

"It's an ugly dark feeling realizing you were lied to. For many years I supported clemency for Leonard Peltier, and towed the line for leadership of the American Indian Movement. The facts, the anger, and the blame Mafia puts on AIM, on its sympathizers, and even on the institution Trimbach once worked for, is from a law-enforcement perspective, and is revealing. See clearly through the foggy AIM alibis, the false cry of civil rights. From a tiny element of Native America we once looked up to, the people's Movement was hijacked by false warriors, murderers, and liars. Whether you support the FBI or thought of it as your enemy, Mafia is a must-read for understanding the other side of the DMZ, established at Wounded Knee '73."

-Paul DeMain (Oneida-Ojibwe), Editor, News From Indian Country

Believe in Miracles!

Video from Prancer!

Believe in Miracles!

"For the first time in over 30 years, the public will know who the real heroes were."--John Trimbach

A poster who identified himself as John Trimbach has posted two comments in the Rapid City Journal in response to a 12-11-07 article about the extradition of John Boy Patton-Graham for the December 1975 murder of Anna Mae Aquash.

John Trimbach announced that the long awaited book American Indian Mafia, co-authored by Joseph and John Trimbach, will be available at http://www.amazon.com/ by Christmas! [Update: You can download the e-book here for only five dollars!]

You can track Santa as he brings your book at NORAD.

Here are John Trimbach's two posts:

John Trimbach, co-author of American Indian Mafia wrote on Dec 9, 2007 11:56 AM:

"My father, Joseph H. Trimbach, witnessed much of the unrest from those troubling days in the 1970s. He was the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI headquartered in Minneapolis. As our soon-to-be-released book shows, he and his fellow Agents did their jobs faithfully, legally, and honorably. Yet, their names and reputations have been dragged through the mud by the perpetrators and their accomplices in academia, government, Hollywood, and the news media. For the first time ever, the true story of Wounded Knee, Leonard Peltier, Anna Mae Aquash, and the American Indian Movement will be told by the law enforcement men and women of the FBI. John Graham supporters take cover! This book will blow away the popular myths that are all too often found in history books that purport to tell the truth. That is because the violent legacy of the American Indian Movement and the true history of Pine Ridge will be layed bare. For the first time in over 30 years, the public will know who the real heroes were. As the award-winning journalist Tim Giago recently wrote, "Trimbach takes apart Matthiessen’s In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, movies like Thunderheart, Lakota Woman, and A Tattoo on My Heart - The Warriors of Wounded Knee 1973, and exposes them for the frauds that they are. It is refreshing to finally hear the other side of the story." Note: American Indian Mafia should be available by Christmas at amazon.com."

John Trimbach wrote on Dec 10, 2007 9:31 AM:

"In fact, there is a lot of doubt about who "bad-jacketed" Anna Mae. According to many Lakotas who were there, the finger-pointing originated with AIM leaders after FBI informant Douglas Durham's cover was blown. That's when Dennis Banks's ego and paranoia led to group discussions about murder. These are, of course, the same people who tried to blame the FBI for the crime and who now run to the "bad-jacket" story. A good example was offered by former AIM spokesman John Trudell. Sounding a bit like O.J. Simpson, Trudell recently said he is still looking for the evil government operative responsible for the deed. The truth is Trudell is knee-deep in the cover-up. The idea that the AIM leaders had no choice but to eliminate the threat posed by a defenseless woman, nine months after Durham was long gone from the scene, is simply not credible. American Indian Mafia will set the record straight for the benefit of all Pine Ridge Indians. "Mafia", by the way, is a term used by Congress to describe AIM in the report that is seldom referenced in the history books, accounts strangely silent on the violations of the rights of AIM victims."

Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash Was Murdered on or about December 11, 1975

Accused Triggerman John Boy Patton-Graham

"[Anna Mae] Aquash, a Mi'kmaq originally from Nova Scotia, was killed during a period of unrest and protests by the American Indian Movement, known as AIM. The organization has been tied to gun running, bombings, and drug dealing during the 1970's in several federal cases...The Aquash case may have implications for leadership members of the American Indian Movement alleged to have been involved in several murders of those they believed were informers going back to the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. Those murders include that of Black civil rights worker and Martin Luther King disciple Perry Ray Robinson Jr ., according to AIM members now cooperating with federal authorities."---News from Indian Country

News from Indian Country reports that John Boy Patton-Graham, the accused killer of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, was brought to the United States from Canada on December 6, 2007. Aquash was shot to death execution-style 32 years ago, on or about December 11, 1975:

Only one day after the Canadian Supreme Court cleared the way for the extradition of John Boy Patton-Graham, a Vancouver, British Columbia man and former member of the American Indian Movement, pled not guilty in his first court hearing December 7 and was assigned an attorney to handle his case.

Graham was charged with the first-degree murder of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Her body was found during February 1976 north of Wanblee with a gunshot wound to the back of her head....

Graham was arrested in 2003 and charged in the 1975 death of Native activist Anna (Annie) Mae Pictou-Aquash, who was shot in the back of the head execution style on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota.

Aquash, a Mi'kmaq originally from Nova Scotia, was killed during a period of unrest and protests by the American Indian Movement, known as AIM. The organization has been tied to gun running, bombings, and drug dealing during the 1970's in several federal cases.

AIM was also involved in the occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1973 where activists and authorities exchanged gunfire during a 71-day stand off which destroyed the village which has not been rebuilt.

The Aquash case may have implications for leadership members of the American Indian Movement alleged to have been involved in several murders of those they believed were informers going back to the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. Those murders include that of Black civil rights worker and Martin Luther King disciple Perry Ray Robinson Jr ., according to AIM members now cooperating with federal authorities.

Authorities allege Aquash was murdered on orders from the leadership of AIM, because the group believed she was an FBI informant...

Graham has said he had nothing to do with Aquash's death, that the two met in Minneapolis and struck up a friendship as young AIM members and fellow Canadians. But Graham also admitted in a 2001 recorded interview, that he was with Aquash right up until the moments before she was shot on or around December 11, 1975, according to the Associated Press who verified the transcript and recorded interview. The interview was set up by Vernon Bellecourt and his wife Janice Denny with the original intent of finding a way to enhance Graham's alibi according to documents provided to News From Indian Country...

Graham's lawyers argued that the evidence against him was feeble. But under the U.S./Canadian Treaty governing extraditions the United States did not have too, and did not provide all the evidence that will be used against Graham to Canada. The U.S. only had to establish the threshold of evidence necessary for the extradition court to determine that a Canadian citizen might be "charged" with a similar crime in Canada...[Full Text].

Remembering Officer Daniel Faulkner: Murdered by Black Panther Mumia Abu Jamal on December 9, 1981

Officer Daniel Faulkner was murdered by the Black Panther
Mumia Abu Jamal 26 years ago today on December 9, 1981. The Black Panthers were a communist organization that followed Mao Zedong.

Daniel Faulkner's widow Maureen was was on FOX News today and told how Mumia's supporters spit on her and persecute her. Arrogant, vain movie stars also defend this criminal instead of supporting his widow.

Now Mrs. Faulkner has written a book about her husband called Murdered by Mumia. An excerpt from the book is on the Today Show (12-6-07).

Mrs. Faulkner has a website with detailed information about her husband's murder and appears in a TV interview on the Today Show.

The site explains:

On December 9, 1981, at approximately 3:55 a.m., Officer Danny Faulkner, a five year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, made a traffic stop at Locust Street near Twelfth Street. The car stopped by Officer Faulkner was being driven by William Cook. After making the stop, Danny called for assistance on his police radio and requested a police wagon to transport a prisoner. Unbeknownst to him, William Cook's brother, Wesley (aka Mumia Abu-Jamal) was across the street. As Danny attempted to handcuff William Cook, Mumia Abu-Jamal ran from across the street and shot the officer in the back. Danny turned and was able to fire one shot that struck Abu-Jamal in the chest; the wounded officer then fell to the pavement. Mumia Abu-Jamal stood over the downed officer and shot him four more times at close range, once directly in the face. Mumia Abu-Jamal was found still at the scene of the shooting by officers who arrived there within seconds. The murderer was slumped against the curb in front of his brother's car. In his possession was a .38 caliber revolver that records showed Mumia had purchased months earlier. The chamber of the gun had five spent cartridges. A cab driver, as well as other pedestrians, had witnessed the brutal slaying and identified Mumia Abu-Jamal as the killer both at the scene and during his trial. On July 2, 1982, after being tried before a jury of ten whites and two blacks, Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of murdering Officer Danny Faulkner. The next day, the jury sentenced him to death after deliberating for two hours. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania heard the defendant's appeals and upheld the conviction on March 6, 1989.