The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux tribe, which owns Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, pays this man almost 80,000 per month.  He owns multiple homes, arrives to court in a limousine with driver and yet he pleads “poverty” in court.

What was his crime? Instead of calling for rescue when a 16 year old girl was dying of a methamphetamine overdose, he decides to rape her and even keeps others from dialing 911so she died.

The girl died but he can not pay restitution to the family because “one of his homes is in foreclosure.”  Hey, we all got problems. I suppose we should feel sorry for this “untouchable” career criminal.  He almost went to jail, he owes everybody money, his terrible record of being an abuser and flouting the law now has another tarnish on it.  Perhaps the family of the victim should just forget about it. I’m sure his conscience has suffered enough. [sarcasm]

Daniel Edwin Jones served four years in prison for having sex with a 16-year-old Coon Rapids girl 10 years ago as she lay dying from a methamphetamine overdose.

In 2008, he settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Brittany Powell’s mother for $2 million.

His debt to society has officially been paid. His financial debt to Brittany’s family remains outstanding.

"He did not abide by the agreement he signed," said Brittany’s mother, Victoria Powell. "He’s shown up at certain legal events in his limousine, with his driver, and then in deposition pleads poverty."

The settlement calls for Jones, 28, a member of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux tribe, which owns Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, to pay the family $500,000 upfront, followed by monthly payments of $10,000 until the debt is paid.

"His income per year is over $900,000," said Fred Soucie, an attorney for Victoria Powell.

Jones, who has never held a job but receives hefty checks twice monthly from his tribe, has made little progress toward paying the $2 million, Soucie said. Instead, he has claimed in court he is swimming in debt and unable to come up with more than $10,000 per month.

The unpaid legal judgment underscores any number of discussions about victims’ rights and a convicted felon’s obligations to the family of those he has harmed: How much is a human life worth, and when is it paid for in full?

The legal battle has also brought unwelcome attention

to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux, a small but prosperous tribe whose members have made millions from casino revenues. For the Powell family, it’s drawn salt into a gruesome wound they are still struggling to come to terms with.

Jones did not return phone calls seeking comment, but his attorney, Sam McCloud, said his client hopes to negotiate a new payment plan in light of his debts.

"The bottom line is he has very little spendable money," McCloud said. "… He’s got problems like anyone else. He’s got a house in foreclosure."

CONSERVATOR HANDLING CASE

In November 2000, as Brittany overdosed on more than twice a lethal dose of meth, Jones took sexual advantage of her at a Burnsville trailer home. At trial, prosecutors alleged that when his cousin and a friend stopped by and found her in obvious distress, Jones prevented them from calling 911.

Brittany, who had told her mother she planned to shake drugs by moving in with her older sister in Kentucky, was dead by the time the group arrived at Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville. Jones, who was 18 at the time of the assault, was acquitted of her murder but convicted of two counts of criminal sexual assault and one count each of child neglect and child endangerment.

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To date, Jones has paid the family roughly $150,000, McCloud said, and his complicated finances are now being handled by a conservator, a third party designated by the tribal council.

"I am very interested in what the tribal conservatorship does with this man’s debt to the family of his victim, and whether or not his debt is going to be honored," said Soucie, Victoria Powell’s attorney. "It’s hard for me to envision a more heinous act than what this man did to this child."

In a brief written statement, however, the tribal council denied any involvement in the civil case.

"The issue is a personal one to Mr. Jones. The tribal government is not a party in this matter," they wrote. "The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community firmly believes that individual tribal members must be accountable for their personal acts; in this matter, Mr. Jones must satisfy his personal obligations to the plaintiffs as adjudicated by the courts."

In August 2008, Dakota County District Judge Kathryn Messerich found that Jones had breached the settlement agreement reached in May that year by failing to give Powell’s family the $500,000 lump sum upfront. Messerich ordered him to pay by September 2008, which he did not do.

Soucie maintains that Jones has the resources to pay. In fact, he believes Jones has been flashing his deep pockets and disrespect for Brittany’s family by showing up to court in a black limousine and making snide remarks as he leaves the courtroom.

"Jones conveyed and continues to flaunt a ‘you can never touch me’ attitude with broken promises and ostentatious behavior," Soucie wrote in a November 2009 court filing.

TWO DIFFERENT STORIES

Separate depositions of Jones and his wife, Fabiola Martinez, reveal the Mdewakanton tribe pays Jones roughly $38,000 every two weeks.

In addition to Mystic Lake, the tribe owns the smaller Little Six Casino, the Dakotah Meadows RV Park, several smaller business ventures and 2,800 acres of land in the Shakopee and Prior Lake area.

News for Native Americans, Police Brutality, Government Conspiracies, Corruption, Cover-ups

Soucie said $2 million isn’t such a large sum relative to the $50 million Jones can expect to collect over the course of his lifetime. And he’s flouted legal rulings before.

Jones’ rap sheet includes convictions for fleeing police in a motor vehicle in 2004 and 2001, meth possession in 2003, drunken driving in 2004 and 2002 and underage alcohol consumption in 2004 and 2001.

In depositions, however, Jones has painted an entirely different picture of himself. He said he’s cash-strapped, overwhelmed by debt and demands from creditors and dependent on his wife’s family for basic necessities.

McCloud maintains the tribe plans to reduce his client’s income because the economic slowdown has taken a bite from its casino revenue.

He said the legal settlement has become a Catch-22 for Jones. The settlement, which was negotiated by a previous attorney, called for $500,000 upfront, which Jones had planned to borrow but said he was ultimately unable to do. When that money fell through, the Powell family began charging interest.

"He was making the monthly payments, but it turned out the monthly payments were doing him no good, because they were charging him interest," McCloud said. "Every $10,000 payment that he made … wasn’t reducing the principal. That essentially means you pay $10,000 for the rest of your life."

The conservator who now handles his money wants to renegotiate the terms of the settlement, McCloud said.

"(Daniel’s) not trying to run from it. He got bad legal advice that got him sucked into this. He’s not trying to avoid anything. He wants to pay them $2 million," McCloud said. "If they would accept $10,000 a month until the $2 million is paid, we’d be done with it. The only reason we’re not in the position right now is because his prior lawyer made a deal to pay money upfront without having the money in place."

TIME OFF FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR

Questioned before a Scott County District Court judge in Shakopee in March 2009, Jones said he was falling behind on mortgage and utility payments. His 20-year-old brother had died two months earlier, and he was paying for the funeral and shopping for a gravestone.

Among his creditors were the Internal Revenue Service, Dakota County, his mortgage lender, the tribe itself and Brittany Powell’s family. He was also paying child support and attorney’s fees related to a custody dispute.

"Lately, (I’m) borrowing money from family members and stuff, friends, when I can’t cover (my mortgage)," said Jones, who said he was having little success urging friends to buy one of his homes from him. "Right now, I’m just in a big slump."

Jones, who said he had never held a job other than a brief stint with a youth-enrichment program as a kid, said he owned two homes, a Mercedes-Benz, a second car and a fishing boat, though one of the homes was in foreclosure. He planned to enroll in a chef’s school.

Jones has disputed aspects of the civil and criminal cases related to Brittany’s death.

In 2004, he maintained throughout his criminal trial in 2004 that he did, in fact, have sex with Brittany, but it was in the early afternoon, hours before she fell comatose from abusing meth. His attorney at the time said the reason he discouraged his cousin and another acquaintance from calling 911 after they noticed her in distress was because he felt it would be quicker to get her to a hospital by car.

A jury concluded he’d had sex with Powell when she was physically helpless but stopped short of agreeing he supplied the drugs that killed her.

Jones twice appealed his 8 1/2-year prison sentence, arguing it was two years longer than the term mandated by state guidelines. In February 2009, his term was reduced to six years and 10 months. He had already been released from prison in April 2008 after time off for good behavior.

Soucie hopes to convince Jones to pay Powell’s family at least $38,000 every two weeks. He said that if Jones does not increase his monthly payments, he could be held in contempt of court and jailed.

"At this point we have not had that order issued by the judge," Soucie said.

Keep track of this scourge of society by visiting his personal page at the Minnesota Department Of Corrections HERE

Interesting to note that he was admitted to jail 2/24/2009 and was released 3/5/2009

Must be nice to have so much money. He’s been buying himself out of trouble his whole life, when will it stop, when he finally kills someone? oh wait…. too late.

COMMENTS:

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SeaShark Eden Prairie, MN

DANIEL EDWIN JONES: A Career Criminal With No Conscience
Daniel Jones clearly has no intention of honoring the wrongful death civil lawsuit settlement he signed with advice of legal counsel, agreeing to pay Brittany Powell’s mother Victoria $2 million via a mutually agreed upon payment schedule.
Jones’ caustic, sneering, sarcastic comments deliberately uttered within earshot of Victoria during court appearances are designed to demean and hurt her; a snide and outrageous attempt to increase the pain and sorrow that Victoria endures as she grieves the tragic loss of her daughter.
Jones’ enthusiastic ally is criminal defense lawyer Sam McCloud, famous for admiring and defending drunk drivers but always willing to make excuses for any criminal who tries to avoid the consequences of his criminal conduct.
Jones should be found in contempt of court and sent to prison, and the court should order his conservator to immediately pay Victoria the $500,000 lump sum required by the settlement plus a minimum of $35,000 per month until the entire $2 million financial obligation is paid in full.
Career criminals like David Edwin Jones have no credibility and don’t deserve any favors from the criminal justice system. Jones’ excuses for failing to pay his debt to Brittany’s family are transparently false and ludicrous. Cry me a river, Mr. Jones.

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Bob the Bilderberg Saint Paul, MN

While there is some legal evidence that those who claim to be the rightful tribal owners of that land are frauds (their surname of Crooks is a delicious irony), it’s also true that the tribes in the dakotas are insanely jealous of the Shakopee Sioux who lucked into their obscene wealth while the Indians in the Dakotas still don’t have a pot to piss in.

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RACINO Dodge Center, MN
Share the wealth! RACINO… This guy is a loser.He gets paid $1,000,000 and what does he do for society? I’d rather have that money go to schools, roads, natural resources or with, a stadium!

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East German Pride Inver Grove Heights, MN

I say Hang him, confiscate his non earned money, revoke tribal rights, as half these clowns have German last names or English last names, aka fakers. Thanks for helping the real natives in South and North Dakota you White Indians

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Tim Burr Prior Lake, MN

This is the first generation from this tribe. The next one is even worse.

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neocon junta Minneapolis, MN

“Your casino wrote:Your casino dollars hard at work. Anyone gambling there is supporting people like this”

So are the people who bought cars from Denny just like him, what about the people who shopped at Petters. Gambling is never a good ideal but your statement is wacko.

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Not a dime Savage, MN

I can only suggest that NO ONE set foot in that Casino until the band causes this member of the tribe to honor the agreement that he made with the family of the girl that he assaulted and allowed to die.

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neocon junta Minneapolis, MN

Affula wrote: “if the tribe is actually that rich that they can not care about paying its felon tribal members $80,000 a month to blow however they feel, then I got one thing to say: LEGALIZE GAMBLING IN THIS STATE! NOW!”

Your comment is crazy. Well Petters is rich and Enron was run by white males so should all white men over 5O have to pay people back who lost money? Those that won court judgments.

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merks Saint Paul, MN

they are a sovereign nation which mean our laws do not apply to them and our rights are forfeited the second we put one foot on their soil. which begs the question. why isn’t a passport required for them to either leave the reservation or for us to go there?
Cut off all federal aid and state aid and charge a fee every time they leave the reservation.

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Its Fair Minneapolis, MN

He should not have to pay to money to a white victim.  This is how we will make up for injustices committed hundreds of years ago on the ancestors of Mr. Jones.   Leave Mr. Jones alone. GoBama!

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Mn resident Minneapolis, MN

The tribe members do pay federal taxes on there income which is like 35% of what they get. Maybe instead of racino, mn should get what they pay into federal taxes. just a thought. Again this is a individual matter so we cant blame the parents or a tribe for mistakes made by people.

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Telling it like it is Minneapolis, MN

Not one living indian today had ANYTHING stolen from them by a the white man. Why do the indians continue to recieve special treatment today? The only thing preventing them from being productive citizens of this country is the fact that they all seek refuge on their reservation and chose not to go forward and be fruitful. Anyone spending any money in the indian casinoes is just further enabling these people to be the lazy people that stereotypes (somewhat accurately) portray.

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East German Pride Inver Grove Heights, MN

Take away the Tribe’s casino rights ASAP, then place this lazy person in prison to do hard labor until his debt is paid!!!! Prison should be hard labor no TVs and murder inside should be punishable by mandatory hanging. MN should have non-Indian casinos as competition, also why aren’t they giving a good majority of their earnings to South and North Dakota tribes, ones that actually resisted the US Army for them? Answer that Shakopee!

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taxpayer too Detroit Lakes, MN

perhaps they should have taught thier daughter not to take or use drugs in the first place. How much did she contribute to society before her death? did she have job? Perhaps the united states should be sued for all the Indians that have died due to the army of the u.s. attacking them, man wouldn’t they owe the tribes and families a lot of money. get real greed greed and more greed

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your casino San Francisco, CA

Your casino dollars hard at work. Anyone gambling there is supporting people like this.

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what an idiot Forest Lake, MN

seriously? this just goes to show that if you are handed everything on a silver platter and never made to work for anything in your life you just aren’t functional. One more reason why the state of MN should get their hands in on the abundant revenues apparently being paid out to the Indians. See no reason why they should have the monopoly on something just because of what was done to their great ancestors who most of them probably can’t even trace back. If that is the case, why aren’t the ancestors of slaves being given $900,000 a year too. Jeesh- He makes more in one month than I do in a year and he can’t pay his bills? maybe they should garnish it from the tribe. Oh wait – they have their own tribal laws and council so they can’t. stupid!

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Affula Saint Paul, MN

oh you don’t like paying interest? tell that to the millions of Americans crippled by credit card debt…  not to mention what you are in debt for!!!  what a scumbag! why is this guy not in jail?
i guess i don’t know how Indian tribes work but: a) why do they seem to have this guy’s back, and b) who decides to keep paying a felon $80,000 a month to do nothing simply because he’s a member of the tribe?

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ForReal Saint Paul, MN

$2,000,000 judgment
-$500,000 upfront
-$120,00 (12 payments @$10,000 each)
Balance =$1,380,000
That is 69 payments of $20,000. I’m thinking monthly. He would seem to have the income to support that.

Affula Saint Paul, MN

if the tribe is actually that rich that they can not care about paying its felon tribal members $80,000 a month to blow however they feel, then I got one thing to say: LEGALIZE GAMBLING IN THIS STATE! NOW!

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Quinn Saint Paul, MN

Another reason to vote for racino. If this tribe can give 38,000 every two weeks to noncontributing members then the tribe has made more than enough and the monopoly should end.

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Indian Tears Saint Paul, MN

Unfortunately this is one area where stereotypes do fit. The problem of young people with huge incomes from casino profits getting into trouble with drugs, the law, etc. is repeated at every Indian casino. Tribes do nothing to alleviate the problem. The general attitude among tribes and their members seems to be, "Give me the money and f*%$ you! You can’t touch me. The laws of society do no apply to us."
This behavior is enabled by all tribe members.

The Last Straw Saint Paul, MN

I was aware that tribe members received "a lot" from the casinos, but no idea it was this much. The fact that these casinos contribute next to nothing back to the state is the last piece of info I needed … I’ll never again step foot into a MN casino. Too many restaurants, etc. in the cities that need our support …

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Get a Grip Saint Paul, MN

What short sighted moron ever thought up the idea of Indian Gaming. It didn’t empower them, it created garbage like this.
We pay our debt to Indian Tribes by showering them with money and keeping them completely incapable of surviving a modern day existence.
No offense intended, but I’m thinking that in 2010 Indians would not now be following the great herds of buffalo in a peaceful existence the way they had done for centuries whether the white man showed up or not?
Eventually they would have had to modernize like all other native peoples all over earth have done.
You’re better than that folks……

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Belief that traditional dancing is evil remains deeply ingrained in many Native villages

 By Rachel D’oro | THE Associated Press

NOORVIK – Bobby Wells has lived all his life in this remote Alaska village, where the Eskimo dancing of his ancestors was banned by Quaker missionaries a century ago as primitive idolatry.

Now Wells, 53, and other residents of Noorvik have wholeheartedly embraced the ancient practice outlawed in the Inupiat Eskimo settlement, which was established in 1914.

“This is the way God made us, to express our thankfulness to him with dancing,” Wells said.

The belief of traditional dancing as somehow evil, however, remains deeply ingrained in scores of Native villages around the state. But some communities have broken away from that ideology in recent decades. One by one, they have resurrected the old dances and songs of the long ago past, along with culture camps and language immersion programs.

Mike Ulroan can’t imagine life without dance. It was already revived in the Cup’ik Eskimo village of Chevak when he was born 21 years ago, long after the practice was prohibited by Russian Catholic missionaries. Dancing has always been a constant for Ulroan, even after he left four years ago to attend the University of Alaska Anchorage. In Alaska’s largest city, he dances with several groups.

“It’s just a way to make me feel happy,” he said. “With the movements we do, we push away bad spirits and keep away sickness.”

Noorvik’s decision to lift the ban last fall came after residents learned they would be the first in the nation to be counted in the 2010 U.S. Census. The idea had been kicked around before, but this time locals wanted to make it a reality for a celebration with visiting census representatives and other officials.

Tribal leaders formally approved the proposal after it received the blessing of the Noorvik Friends Church, despite opposition from a few elders. It’s a huge change because dancing had never been done in the current location of Noorvik, which means “a place that is moved to” in Inupiaq.

“I don’t speak for the church, but in my own view we’re going to come to a place in the afterlife where we sing and dance to the Lord,” said church pastor Aurora Sampson. “While we are on this earth we might as well practice.”

The primary dancers are students, who quickly honed their newfound skills to put on a rousing performance at the census festivities in January, complete with Native singing and drums.

“I like it. It’s fun,” said 16-year-old Tori Newlin. “It’s something to do.”

To learn the long forgotten moves, village leaders hired dancers from other villages for a week of intense lessons that led to frequent practice sessions at the Noorvik school. One of the instructors is 19-year-old Richard Atoruk, from the nearby hub town of Kotzebue. He has since moved to Noorvik to continue teaching and to enroll at the school as a senior.

For Atoruk, dancing is a way to tell stories for all occasions, weddings, funerals, birthdays, the subsistence lifestyles of people who live off the land as Noorvik residents do. Motions and songs represent the movements of fishing, ice hopping, even traveling by snowmobile. And as far as Atoruk is concerned, shamanism is an important part of his people’s spiritual culture, not a satanic tool.

“I think we lost a lot of our history because the missionaries came,” he said. “Now it’s coming back.”

But too many villages continue to cling to the oppressive legacy left by Western missionaries, according to Theresa Arevgaq John, a Yup’ik Eskimo and Native studies professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Indigenous people saw the destruction of their sacred traditions, including shamans, who were revered as spiritual leaders empowered by the creator with skills and tools to communicate with the spirit world to ensure the welfare of communities. Dancing had nothing to do with devil worship, John said.

“It was our only way of prayer,” she said. “Can you imagine someone coming in and saying your way is wrong?”

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Thousands of Native American Indians are illegally being kicked off reservations and kicked out of tribes all over the US!

Dis enrolled, Dis enfranchised, Exiled, whatever you want to call it, it’s happening to thousands of Indians across America.  Apparently what the whites FAILED to do, money, or at least the love of it, is now accomplishing.  

 
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WOLFCHILD V. UNITED STATES (NO. 09-579); ZEPHIER V. U.S. (NO. 09-580) – On November 6, 2009,

two groups of individuals who claim to be descendants of the “loyal” Mdewakanton Sioux filed petitions

seeking review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which reversed the trial

court’s finding of breach of trust by the United States. Based on its determination that the finding of

breach of trust is a critical prerequisite to identifying which plaintiffs are entitled to relief and calculating

the measure of damages due, the trial court certified two questions for immediate appellate review. In

response, the Federal Circuit held that (1) the 1888, 1889 and 1890 Appropriation Acts enacted for the

benefit of the loyal Mdewakanton Sioux and their lineal descendants which included lands, improvements

to lands and monies as the corpus did not create a trust; and (2) if the referenced Appropriations Acts did

create a trust (which they did not), the 1980 Act terminated that trust by giving the three Mdewakanton

Indian communities beneficial ownership of the lands. The U.S. filed a waiver of its right to respond on

December 7, 2009, and the petitions were scheduled for conference on January 15, 2010. However, on

January 13, 2010, the Court issued a request for the United States file a response by February 12, 2010.

 

Download the entire TRIBAL-SUPREME-COURT-PROJECT-MEMORANDUM-FEBRUARY-1-2010-UPDATE-OF-RECENT-CASES

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Written by Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) © 2010 Native Sun News Sunday, 31 January 2010 12:29

February 1, 2010

Like millions of other Americans I watched the State of the Union address by President Barack Obama almost as a moth drawn to a flame. I saw something afoot that I haven’t read about in the words of other columnists even though it was not something I expected.

Whenever the President made a point that may have been intended to draw the audience together, African American, white women and Democrats stood and cheered while their Republican counterparts sat on their hands.

The real problem with this is that

Read the rest of this entry »

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton considers starting a state run casino in the Twin Cities to raise money

Dayton says he would consider supporting a Twin Cities casino to raise money for Minnesota’s ailing budget, but not for a new Vikings stadium.

The former senator says a metro-area casino would raise about $200 million a year, and would bring “much needed competition” to Mystic Lake Casino, the only tribally run casino in the Twin Cities area.

The Prior Lake casino is owned by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community.

Dayton says he wants to raise taxes on the wealthy, including tribal members who have received million-dollar casino pay-outs.

He says the money would pay for services such as public schools.

Dayton talked about the idea at a wide-ranging Capitol news conference Monday.

The former U.S. senator says a metro-area casino would raise about $200 million a year.

He says such a facility would bring “much needed competition” to Mystic Lake Casino, the only tribally run casino in the Twin Cities. The Prior Lake establishment is owned by the Shakopee Mdewakanton  Sioux Community.

Dayton says he wants to raise taxes on the wealthy, including tribal members who have received million-dollar casino pay-outs. He says the money would pay for services such as public schools.

Dayton says he is not only considering a state-run casino but also tax increases on couples who make more than $150k.

After a news conference last week in which he ducked most reporters’ questions, DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton reappeared at the Capitol on Monday with more details about his campaign.

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Leonard Peltier to get first full parole hearing in 15 years

MORE ARTICLES ABOUT PELTIER

A hearing is set for this coming Tuesday in Lewisburg, Pa., where Peltier is incarcerated in a federal prison, according to this story.

Peltier is serving two life sentences for the deaths of two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He has claimed the FBI framed him, which the agency denies. His case has become a cause celebre among activists and celebrities.

A 1992 documentary film, “Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story,” was produced and narrated by Robert Redford. Author Peter Matthiessen’s book, “In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,” which came out that same year, also details the events surrounding Peltier’s case.

Imprisoned Native American Activist Leonard Peltier Parole Hearing
RIGHT NOW, today, Tuesday 28th, 2009!

 

Video tribute to Leonard Peltier Original music by Buggin Malone

 

Actor Peter Coyote, good friend of Peltier, urges people to write their congressional representatives on behalf of Leonard Peltier’s release.

As of this year, my good friend, Native American leader Leonard Peltier, has been imprisoned for 29 years for a murder that even the government has no idea if he committed or not. The Appeals Court judge that sentenced him wrote a letter to President Clinton asking for clemency, and informing the President that the case had many errors in it, but that his hands had been tied. Furthermore, he held the FBI equally culpable for the events that started a massive fire-fight on the Sioux reservation that resulted in the deaths of two FBI agents.

Leonard has been in prison longer than many people convicted of murder. He has been eligible for parole for many years and every appeal has been denied. Both his parents have died while he was incarcerated and he has survived two attempts on his life; had his jaw wired shut after botched surgery and is now suffering from old age. During the 1996 Democratic Convention I asked a Deputy in the Justice Department about Leonard and he told me, "When you first spoke to me, I thought you were crazy. I’m embarrassed to say that everything you told me was the truth. All I can say is that there are some very powerful people in Washington that do not want to see him leave prison alive."

Here are the facts of the case.

In 1973 the highest per capita murder rate in the country was the Sioux reservation at Pine Ridge. The head of Oglalla Sioux police force, a virtual dictator named Dick Wilson and his GOON Squad (Guardians of the Oglalla Nation) were systematically picking off everyone working for electoral reform on the reservation and traditional elders—more than 60 in that year alone. The situation got so bad, that the tribe’s elder women called the American Indian Movement (AIM) for help, and they arrived and set up an encampment, with women and children, schools and kitchens.

In this tense and murderous climate, on June 26, 1975, two FBI agents in unmarked cars followed a pick-up truck onto the Jumping Bull ranch supposedly to serve a warrant on a young boy who had stolen some cowboy boots. It also happened to be the same day that GOON Squad chief Dick Wilson was in Washington, illegally signing away the tribe’s uranium rights to multinational mining corporations. The families immediately became alarmed and feared an attack. Shots were heard and a shoot-out erupted. Tribal police had been readied as back-up outside the ranch, but when they heard the return fire, they abandoned the FBI men who were wounded, then eventually executed at close range. Everyone who was there insists that Leonard was minding the children and not even involved in the gun-fight. When they searched the bodies and found the Federal ID the Native leaders dispersed far and wide, correctly anticipating that the reservation would be over-run ‘y Federal forces. It was, and they shot it to pieces, instituting a week long reign of terror where elders were harassed and beaten, houses burned and shot up, and the native population terrorized.

Leonard was finally captured in Canada and brought to trial where he and his cohorts were freed by an all-white jury. The FBI was enraged and assembled a new case by fabricating evidence, suborning witnesses, breaking the chains of evidence, having witnesses perjure themselves—all errors cited by the Appeals judge who later petitioned on Leonard’s behalf, but despite numerous errors, Leonard was sentenced to life in prison.

His case was masterfully explained by author Peter Mathiessen in his book, The Spirit of Crazy Horse which was kept off bookstore and library shelves for eight years due to a suit brought by two FBI men who did not like the way they were portrayed. More than 16 million people around the world have signed petitions demanding his release. Amnesty International, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Congress of American Indians, the Robert F. Kennedy

 

Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Rev. Jesse Jackson, among many others, have called Leonard a political prisoner who should be immediately released. Even the government finally admitted they had no idea of who had killed the agents. Native warrior has confessed to the crime, but refuses to turn himself in saying it was an act of war.

29 years later Leonard languishes in prison, a political prisoner, tarnishing the reputation of the legal system of our country; offering cheap propaganda to our enemies, and a reminder of the deep injustice any country is capable of committing when they abandon the rule of law, to seek a predetermined outcome. I have been Leonard’s friend since before he went to prison. I have never abandoned efforts to see him freed and I am asking anyone who hears or reads these remarks to learn something about the case by reading Peter Mathiessen’s book or going to www.freeleonard.org If you do, you will certainly want to do something. You might begin with a call or hand-written letter to your congress-person. Thank you.

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Standing Rock Sioux get $30 million casino loan

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is getting a $30 million loan from a Minnesota tribe to upgrade its casino complex in south central North Dakota.

The tribe will use the money for such things as more hotel rooms, an indoor pool and underground parking at Prairie Knights Casino and Lodge.
Construction is set to begin in September and take about 1½ years.

The money is part of $86 million in economic development loans the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux is giving to three tribes, through a charitable giving program funded by profits from its casinos and other ventures.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has about 11,000 members. Its reservation straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.

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St. Mary was site of memorable Blackfoot Confederacy Conference, Sobriety Campout By John McGill Wednesday, July 1, 2009 10:10 AM MDT

This year’s Blackfoot Confederacy Conference was remarkable in several areas, including the Southern Piegan’s hosting the event. But what was even more remarkable was its being held inside Glacier National Park at St. Mary.

With Divide Mountain providing a backdrop, traditional Blackfoot lodges made the perfect setting for tipi shops, tipi transfers and the headdress transfer ceremony at St. Mary last week. Photo by John McGill

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A group of traditional Blackfoot lodges graced a space near the St. Mary Visitors Center in Glacier Park, also near a newly made medicine wheel of rocks. This year’s conference was combined with the Blackfeet Chemical Dependency’s Sobriety Campout, and while Confederacy related issues were being discussed and displayed, and ceremonies conducted, the auditorium at Glacier Park’s Visitor Center hosted a series of lectures about chemical dependency, organized by Crystal Creek Lodge.

The Conference opened with painting the rocks at the medicine wheel. Bruce Wolf Child later explained the wheel has an entryway on the east, that being the only proper way to approach the wheel. Blackfeet Councilman Peter Tatsey conducted the opening ceremonies Monday, June 22, with welcomes from Joe Old Chief and Blackfeet Chairman Willie Sharp Jr. Tipis were transferred that first day, under the direction of Herman Yellow Old Woman, and the Blackfeet Manpower program hosted the lunch.

The weather wasn’t very cooperative Monday, but the Conference-Campout continued on Tuesday, with the leadership and elders meeting and breakfasting at the Cattle Baron in Babb. Lunch on Tuesday was presented by Crystal Creek Lodge under sunny skies and cool, windy conditions. The highlight of that day’s activities was a traditional Blackfoot headdress transfer ceremony. Conducted by Bruce Wolf Child, the seldom-seen ceremony was witnessed by a crowd of more than 100 people, surrounded by Glacier County Sheriffs and National Park Service personnel for security.

Because the ceremony is rare, organizers allowed photographs to be taken, but not for profit. The pictures, said Wolf Child, should be used to instruct the nations’ children so the knowledge will not be lost.

Several men were chosen to be honored with the transfer, including Blackfeet Chairman Willie Sharp. Four veterans, representing each of the four bands of the Blackfoot Confederacy, danced and ceremonially "captured" the four men; then the elders painted their faces and conducted an elaborate transfer of the traditional, upright Blackfoot headdresses.

A powwow, stick games and horseback riding into Glacier Park completed the second day’s activities.

Meanwhile, Crystal Creek Lodge began their campout with lectures from Darrell Rides At The Door, Herman Whitegrass and Marilee Crow and ended the day with storytelling. Lectures continued on Tuesday, all of which were conducted in the auditorium at the St. Mary Visitors Center, and Crystal Creek Lodge also turned out to barbecue up a luncheon for everyone in attendance at the twin events.

Breakfast on Wednesday was presented by Crystal Creek Lodge, and leadership meetings and tipi workshops headlined that day’s events in the Confederacy Conference. Stick games and horseback rides were also featured while Crystal Creek continued its lecture series throughout the day on such topics as suicide prevention, healing through humor, youth mentoring and more.

On Thursday, both events came to a close, with the focus slated to have moved to the Stampede Park in Browning.

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