CPF Akwesane Notes

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT

As many people know from conventional media sources, the case against the Wounded Knee defendants Russell Means and Dennis Banks was dismissed September 16. These two had been picked out by reporters as the "leaders" or "stars" of the American Indian Movement(AIM). It is true that they contributed a great deal, however, most publicity focused on their trial in St. Paul, and we failed to learn of at least 130 other indictments and another 100 to 150 cases still pending that were brought against Indians involved in confrontations at Wounded Knee, Custer and Sioux Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In Means' and Bank's trial, the prosecution paraded 79 witnesses in 98 days of testimony, while their defense presented only 5 witnesses. These people essentially related the history, significance, and abuses of the 1868 treaty drawn between the Ogalala Sioux and the U.S. government. The prosecution then tried to rebut that testimony by calling Louis Moves: Camp, a former AIM member who had been kicked out of the organization for instability and provoking fights. The FBI claimed that Moves Camp had offered to testify because he disagreed with AIM leadership, but it was later learned that the prosecution offered him a deal on several assault cases that were still pending against him, and had given him a substantial amount of money. Both Moves Camp's mother and wife refuted his testimony, disrupting the court in their anger at his defection.

LMSNavajo omam

Ellen Moves Camp, his mother, an AIM mem-1 ber and a negotiator at Wounded Knee, shouted out "You're lying!" during his testimony. She later took the stand and told of his fear of going to jail for the assault charges(this was substantiated by Moves Camp's father-in-

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⚫ law), and she also disputed that he attended several meetings he'd reported upon in his testimony. His wife Gayleen told of his FBI offer. of job, house, $200. per week and all charges dropped in the effort to discredit AIM. Other rebuttal witnesses established that he was in California on several occassions when he claimed to have been in Wounded Knee. Finally, it was learned that he had been accused of rape and assault during the time he was held under "federal protection" at a fancy resort by the FBI. The complaint had been filed by a 17 yr. old Wisconsin woman, but the FBI apparently intervened and stopped the investigation. During the time Moves Camp was being "protected", his family had tried unsuccessfully to make contact with him. "I'll never believe that he went to them of his own free will to do this to his people. I know he's being bribed;" said Ellen Moves Camp.

CPF Akwesane Notes

The judge lost patience with the prosecution when they refused to allow the case to be decided with one member absent due to a stroke. It was mistakenly believed that this one juror would surely vote for conviction(she has since released a statement saying she would have been for acquittal and has even joined with other jurors in an effort to convince the government to drop all charges against the Wounded Knee defendants). Judge Fred Nichol denounced the government's tactics and its dishonesty in final statement. "It's hard for me to believe that the FBI which I have revered for so long, has.stooped so low," he said as he dismissed the charges.

The cases arising from more than 200 other indictments have been coming to trial with almost a total media blackout. It is now more than 18 months since the Indians made their stand at Wounded Knee in the hopes of reminding the American people of the wretched position of the Indian in our society. AIM hoped that these indictments when brought to trial would allow information about Indian issues in this country to be raised. Because the trials. have been largely ignored, with the exception of the leadership trial in St. Paul, these hopes are being dashed. Three Indians are now in prison facing terms of up to 7 years, including Sarah Bad Heart Bull. Sarah went to Custer because her son had been killed and the assailant was charged only with manslaughter and subse quently acquitted. She received a five-year sentence for simply"being present at the scene of a riot where arson was committed." Sarah's family had only 24 hours to get re-settled before she was imprisoned, and now urgently needs assistance; attempts are being made to keep them a family group, together in an Indian home.

TRIAL

The position of the South Dakota judicial system can be understood through the inflammatory statements of William janklow and others in power who promised to banish AIM from the state of South Dakota. Another viewpoint on the Indian vs. the Law in South Dakota comes from Ken Tilsen of the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee in a speech given at the University of Minnesota. "The situation in South Dakota for the Indian people is comparable to the situation for Blacks in Mississippi or Alabama in the 30's, where lynching in and out of the courtroom was the order of the day."

The efforts to organize a defense for the Indians of Wounded Knee, Custer and Sioux Falls have been fragmented by pusuing other cases in Pierre, South Dakota;St. Paul, Minnesota; Lincoln, Nebraska; Phoenix, Arizona and Sioux Falls. This places a severe demand on a small, dedicated, and "green" group of lawyers and volunteers. They gained acquittals in Lincoln and the dismissal in St. Paul, but indictments are still coming down. While it can be seen as a "victory" that the Means and Banks case was dismissed, the Defense Committee was hoping for an acquittal in this instance where a jury was involved, to prove to the government that the people's sympathy is with the Indian. Instead, the dismissal became a hollow victory, one that seemed to prove that the courts are fair. If it were seen that the leaders gained acquittal, perhaps the other Indians indicted would would have their cases dropped or dismissed by the government. It would have seemed futile to pursue these cases. Now the government can work full-time on obtaining convictions for the "non-leaders" who represent a cross-section of the Indian Community involved in AIM.

CPF Akwesane Notes

This virtually decimates the power of AIM; it amounts to the legal lynching of the movement. Since so many Indians are involved, and all are AIM members, the trials could go on for years, and AIM would be forced to fight for justice in the courts instead of in their communities. The entire movement has become a prisoner of the trials. As AIM's National Chairman John Trudell said, "They use the law today like they used the cavalry years ago. They are using the law to destroy us."

Any financial assistance, subscriptions to the newsletter, more written material, general inquiries should be addressed to Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee, Box 80931, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508.

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page 1/What She Wants/November, 1974