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For the children in exile

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DLN Issues : Uninvestigated Aim Casualties and Unresolved Deaths : Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash

Anna Mae Justice. Offsite link to the Anna Mae Justice website. Breaking news articles are linked to from the home page.

Open letter to the family of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash and Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Arthur Topham, Pub/Ed of The Radical Press, December 26, 2003
Family disappointed murder trial delayed 18 Sept 2003
Pictou-Aquash murder trial delayed until September 6 June 2003
Peltier sues journalist for saying he had role in Aquash killing (5 May 2003)
AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT OF CO. POSITION ON THE ARREST OF ARLO LOOKING CLOUD
Aquash murder suspect in court Rapid City Journal
Arrest in mid-70s slaying stirs Indian community
Kidnapper sought in '70s AIM slaying Second suspect appears in court
Second man named in indictment for 1975 AIM slaying on Pine Ridge
Homeless man held in slaying of American Indian Movement
Arrest in Anna Mae Aquash death welcomed
Jury Probes 1975 American Indian Slaying

Family disappointed murder trial delayed

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT OF CO. POSITION ON THE ARREST OF ARLO LOOKING CLOUD

Posted to NDN AIM by Dodie

3 APRIL 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

o Contact Glenn Morris (303) 871-0463

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT (AIM) OF COLORADO POSITION ON THE ARREST OF ARLO LOOKING CLOUD IN THE MURDER OF ANNA MAE PICTOU AQUASH

In the twenty seven years since the unforgivable murder of our AIM sister, Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, the federal authorities could have, and should have solved this case. With the recent arrest of Arlo Looking Cloud, we caution the news media and the public not to form quick and unfounded conclusions in this matter. We would like to make a few points about this painful, troubling and complex case.

oThe murder of Anna Mae Aquash was unjustifiable, and justice demands that those who are responsible for ordering and carrying out her murder be held accountable. Anna Mae's memory, and peace of mind for her daughters (who live in Canada), requires a just resolution of this case.

o Arlo Looking Cloud is entitled to a presumption of innocence. No charges have been proven against him, and the burden continues to rest with the government to prove its case against him. He has been a member of our Indian community for many years, he is descended from some of the most heroic and honorable leaders of the Lakota Nation, and for years he was a respected member of AIM in Denver.

o The role of the federal government of the United States in the murder of Anna Mae cannot be denied or concealed, regardless of the outcome of any criminal trials for Arlo Looking Cloud, John Graham, or others.

o Anna Mae Aquash was killed as a direct consequence of the FBI's Counter-Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) operations against the American Indian Movement in the 1970's. Currently, the determination of who murdered Anna Mae remains unproven, what is not unproven is that Anna Mae was targeted for "neutralization" through the FBI's notorious COINTELPRO efforts to destroy AIM. What is known is that through COINTELPRO, the FBI deliberately placed infiltrators and operatives in AIM to promote suspicion and disinformation. Anna Mae was the victim of a "bad jacket" (sometimes known as a "snitch jacket") where FBI operatives suggested that she was an informant for the police. The FBI's express objective was to convince other AIM members of the need to eliminate Anna Mae as a "security risk," either by expelling her from the movement, or by more drastic means.

o Whatever the outcome of Arlo Looking Cloud's trial, the fact is that justice also demands an exposé of the methods that were used, and continue to be used, by the FBI and other police agencies that contributed to murder of Anna Mae.

o It is alleged that Looking Cloud murdered Anna Mae. One thing is obvious to us. In 1975, at the time of the murder, Arlo Looking Cloud was an individual member of AIM. Whatever decisions were made in the FBI to target AIM and to target Anna Mae, would not have been made by Looking Cloud. Neither, if, as has been alleged by the U.S. Attorney, the decision to kill Anna Mae was made by a rogue group in AIM's "leadership," it would not have been made by Looking Cloud either.

o Justice for Anna Mae, then, not only demands exposure of the person or persons who pulled the trigger of the gun that killed her, but also exposure of the person or persons that ordered her death. It also demands the exposure of the COINTELPRO system, including the specific FBI agents and operatives, that precipitated the entire chain of events resulting in her murder.

The facts in this statement can be substantiated through the extensive research that has been conducted in the years since Anna Mae's death. Documents in this research include thousands of pages from the FBI's own COINTELPRO files, that have now been declassified. Colorado AIM will be glad to provide media with the citations and sources that prove our points above.

Pictou-Aquash murder trial delayed until September

http://www.kotanews.com

6/6/2003 11:10:52 AM
Associated Press

(AP) -- One of two men accused of killing a member of the American Indian Movement in 1975 is now scheduled to stand trial this fall. Arlo Looking Cloud asked for the delay. He's now scheduled to tried in federal court in Rapid City starting September 30. Looking Cloud and John Graham are charged with murder for the slaying of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Looking Cloud was picked up in Denver and has pleaded not guilty. Graham has not been arrested and is thought to be in Canada. Looking Cloud's being held in the jail in Rapid City until his trial.

Aquash murder suspect in court

By Jim Holland, Journal Staff Writer
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2003/04/23/news/local/news02. txt

RAPID CITY - A Denver man made his initial appearance Monday in federal court in Rapid City to face a murder charge in connection with the 1975 murder of an American Indian Movement activist.

Arlo Looking Cloud, 50, is one of two men recently indicted in the death of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, whose frozen body was found on Feb. 24, 1976, north of Wanblee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Pictou-Aquash was a member of the Mi'kmac Tribe of Canada and participated in the 1973 American Indian Movement occupation of Wounded Knee.

Pictou-Aquash disappeared from a Denver home in late 1975. The 30- year-old woman died from a gunshot wound to the head from a .38-caliber revolver.

A federal grand jury indicted Looking Cloud in March after the most recent of several grand juries convened to look into the case.

During Monday's hearing, Looking Cloud's attorney, Tim Rensch of Rapid City, told U.S. Magistrate Judge John Simko of Sioux Falls that he would decline to answer whether his client had ever been treated for any mental illness.

"I did not mean to pry into your personal life," Simko told Looking Cloud. "But I need to be sure that you're capable of understanding these proceedings and the charges being brought against you."

"You know who you are, where you are and the reason you are here?" Simko asked.

"Yes, sir," Looking Cloud replied.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Mandel said a federal judge has 70 days to set a date for Looking Cloud's trial.

"That doesn't necessarily mean a trial will occur on that date," Mandel said.

Also indicted in connection with Pictou-Aquash's death is John Graham, also known as John Boy Patton.

Graham and Looking Cloud worked as security guards for AIM events in the 1970s.

Mandel declined to comment on the search for Graham, who is still at large and believed to be in western Canada.

If convicted of murder in perpetration of a kidnapping, Looking Cloud faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Arrest in mid-70s slaying stirs Indian community

posted to NDN AIM by Ishgooda

Peter Harriman Argus Leader
http://www.argusleader.com/news/Thursdayfeature.shtml published: 4/3/2003

Some Native American leaders had lost trust in FBI and hope case would be solved

Denver police have arrested a man in a 27-year-old murder case that is a dominant symbol of the chaotic violence that swept the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after the 1973 American Indian Movement takeover at Wounded Knee.

Arlo Looking Cloud, 49, pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court in Denver to a charge of first-degree murder in the kidnapping and slaying of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash. He was arrested last week in Denver.

The frozen body of 30-year-old Pictou-Aquash was found with a gunshot wound to the head in February 1976 near Wanblee on the Pine Ridge reservation. Pictou-Aquash disappeared in late 1975 from a Denver home where she had been staying.

"It is gratifying that the fourth grand jury to be called in this case is finally acting upon what police procedure is all about and ordered the arrest of one of the principals in the kidnapping and death of Anna Mae," Russell Means said.

One of the most notable AIM figures from the 1970s, Means is a longstanding critic of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's effort to solve a case he says is at the center of a widespread conspiracy by the government to introduce spies into AIM and create paranoia among its leaders. That fear led some of them, he said, to order Pictou-Aquash killed.

"It took four grand juries to begin to get the wheels of justice to turn," Means said. "Because of that, we will finally find out who the FBI has been covering up."

Federal authorities have repeatedly denied any involvement.

A hearing is scheduled for today in Denver to determine whether Looking Cloud should be brought to South Dakota to face charges. If convicted, he would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

U.S. Attorney Jim McMahon said the indictment came out of the Rapid City district. It was sealed after the grand jury met in March and, he said, that precludes him from commenting on the arrest. Similarly, he said, he is unable to confirm whether more arrests are planned.

Means suggests "there will be a minimum of five more, at least, and maybe more."

Pictou-Aquash, according to witness accounts, was kidnapped by two or three individuals from the Denver home of Troy Lynn Yellow Wood in December 1975. She is thought to have been killed soon after by a gunshot to the head. Her body was discovered Feb. 24, 1976, by Roger Amiotte when he was checking fences on his ranch near Wanblee.

Pictou-Aquash, a member of Canada's Mi'kmaq Tribe, not only took part in the Wounded Knee occupation but was married during it. Her husband is deceased.

{COMMENT by Ishgooda: His trailer was burned in a suspected arson fire, as was the home of John Trudell. Trudell lost his family in a fire never properly investigated when he was in DC demonstrating against US policies toward First Nation's people.}

After Wounded Knee, she became caught up in intrigue that some Indian leaders, such as Means, contend was promulgated by the FBI in an effort to sow distrust in AIM and shatter it. A widely circulated story is that key AIM figures acted on that distrust and Pictou-Aquash was ordered assassinated because she was believed to be an FBI informant.

{COMMENT by Ishgooda: Anna Mae in a call to John Trudell from Oregon in Nov of 75 stated she knew who the informant was. From an interview with Trudell on the CBC Fifth Estate: Silenced- The Execution of Anna Mae..Nov 8, 2000 Tapes (or transcripts) of this show may be ordered by calling 1-800-363-1281 tapes run 55$ Canadian for the hour show}

From Kyle to Denver

Vernon Bellecourt, international representative for AIM's Grand Governing Council, said of allegations that he and his brother Clyde ordered Pictou-Aquash murdered "nothing could be more outrageous." He said he knew Looking Cloud, "but I haven't seen him since the early 1970s."

"I think he comes from Pine Ridge and is an Oglala Lakota. As far as I know, he is not associated with AIM, and I do not know how much he ever was associated with AIM," he said.

Paul DeMain, editor of the bimonthly newspaper News From Indian Country, said Looking Cloud worked as a security guard at AIM events during the 1970s.

Richard Iron Cloud of Pine Ridge said Looking Cloud was a high school classmate of his in Kyle. At the time, Looking Cloud "didn't look like the murdering type, just a regular guy," he said.

After high school, Looking Cloud moved to Denver, according to Iron Cloud.

Bernice Bull Bear of Denver said she is Looking Cloud's cousin and grew up with him on the Pine Ridge reservation.

"He's a very good person. He's a very gentle man. The children like him and he's really good with my mother. He helps her. He's not a bad person," she said. "He's never harmed anybody around here."

Looking Cloud had been living homeless in Denver, she said.

Former AIM member Wilma Blacksmith said Wednesday that she had a romantic relationship with Looking Cloud in the early 1970s. She said news of his arrest in the case did not surprise her.

"I was just wondering when it would happen," she said.

Blacksmith, who lives on the Pine Ridge Reservation, said she also knew Pictou-Aquash. She described her as "a good person."

"There wasn't anybody who needed to be afraid of her," Blacksmith said. "She just voiced her opinion on behalf of the people."

After Amiotte found the frozen body of a young woman, an autopsy was conducted, and the late coroner W.O. Brown ruled she had died of exposure. He had the hands removed from the body and sent to the FBI in Washington, D.C., for identification.

{COMMENT by Ishgooda: SA Price who had questioned Anna Mae extensively over the previous year was present during the first autopsy and said he didn't recognize her. Thus her hands were ordered sent to Dc for fingerprinting. This was not a standard procedure and served to delay proper identification of the body.}

"Were they really trying to identify her, or did they cut them off so she couldn't be identified?" Bellecourt asks.

After Pictou-Aquash was identified, her body was exhumed, and a second autopsy was conducted by Minneapolis pathologist Garry Peterson. He determined she had been shot in the head with a .38 caliber handgun. Brown then wrote that he had inadvertently overlooked the bullet wound.

The grisly circumstances of the murder, questions surrounding her disappearance and discovery of her body, the incorrect determination reached after the first autopsy and rumors that the killers were widely known among Pine Ridge residents and may have acted at the direction of AIM leaders have helped make the case a symbol for the tumult and distrust between Indians and the federal government at Pine Ridge in the 1970s. That Pictou- Aquash was generally considered a kind person and exemplary role model for young Lakota women has propelled a longstanding demand to see the murder solved.

Why so long?

While Means and Bellecourt clash on who ordered Pictou-Aquash murdered, they agree the FBI had a role in the circumstances leading to it and suppressed that role for decades.

"Why does it take the FBI 27 years?" Bellecourt asks of the Looking Cloud arrest.

He says Pictou-Aquash "was one of dozens of deaths directly connected to the FBI campaign, a campaign started in the Nixon White House. The FBI should have spent some of that time investigating themselves. They would have found they are connected to many of those deaths."

Don Wiley of Rapid City was an FBI agent working at Pine Ridge from 1967 to 1979. He said the investigation into Pictou-Aquash's murder got off to a slow start because "for a long time, nobody knew that she was murdered."

Eileen Janis of Pine Ridge has much the same recollection.

"She was friends with my mom. She would always come and visit my mom, and I knew her," Janis said. Before Pictou-Aquash disappeared, "she told my mom she was going somewhere but would be back to see her. She never came back."

FBI's Commitment

Wiley said the FBI agents assigned to the case made a concerted effort to solve it. "As it went on, it just came to a point where the leads didn't pan out anymore," he said. "People were not cooperating with the bureau."

He said a perception that the FBI has deliberately left dozens of Pine Ridge murders unsolved is incorrect. When the U.S. Civil Rights Commission met in Rapid City in 1999, Wiley said, the FBI provided information on the disposition of 67 murder cases.

"This is a problem on the reservation. They have a major crime occur. They go through the process of investigation and arrest, indictment. The case goes through the courts, and the outcome is hardly ever heard back on the reservation.

"That was my experience in the 13 years I worked on the reservation," he said.

Means said Pictou-Aquash's legacy is that "above all, she was a strong woman and dedicated to the human rights fight of women in Canada, the U.S., the Western Hemisphere."

Tribal officials in Pine Ridge on Wednesday were surprised that an arrest had finally been made.

"I figured it was put on a back shelf like so many other things here on Pine Ridge," said Craig Dillon, an Oglala tribal council member. "I'm really knocked back. I was so sure it would never be solved."

Another tribal council member, Lyle Jack, said he had heard Looking Cloud's name mentioned in connection with the investigation for years, but thought the murder would never be solved.

"Maybe it will give her family some rest, some peace," he said.

Pictou-Aquash's daughters released a statement saying they were pleased there had been an arrest. They said they were making contact with authorities in order to be part of the case.

"We have known for a long time that people have discussed amongst themselves the events that led up to her death, yet publicly have remained silent," wrote Denise Maloney Pictou of Ontario, Canada, and Debbie Maloney Pictou, who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada.

"We are inspired with the actions of those who choose to courageously stand on their own and honor our mother's spirit with truth and integrity."

Argus Leader reporter Kevin Dobbs and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Peter Harriman at 575-3615 or pharrima@a...

© 2003 Copyright Argus Leader.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In 1974-75 Anna Mae worked in the St Paul office of AIM working on trial preparations from the arrests that resulted from the Wounded Knee occupation. Antagonism developed between Anna Mae and Douglas Durham. Durham's treatment of women had seemed abusive to her, and she began to grow suspicious of his motives. Durham had become head of security and flew Dennis between Canada and the US in a private plane that he had secured. His position placed him as controller of all finances coming into the St Paul office. In the fall of 1974 Aquash travelled to Los Angeles where Aim had opened an office and had begun to receive financial and organizational support from sympathizers in the movie and rock industry, such as Marlon Brando and David Carradine. when Durham followed in early October Anna became upset. She phone St Paul and pleaded that a national leader come to Los Angeles to mediate between Durham and the local leaders. She said she felt his presence was disruptive.

{excerpted from Rex Wehler's Blood of the Land: The Government and Corporate War against the American Indian Movement, pp.167-168}

Kidnapper sought in '70s AIM slaying Second suspect appears in court

By Sean Kelly and Marilyn Robinson
The Denver Post Friday, April 04, 2003

Federal authorities are looking for a second man indicted in the 1970s slaying of American Indian Movement activist Anna Mae Pictou Aquash.

John Graham, also known as John Boy Patton, allegedly kidnapped Aquash from her Denver home in 1975, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. Graham and at least one other person are suspected of shooting her in the head.

Another man indicted in the killing, Arlo Looking Cloud, appeared in federal court in Denver on Thursday. He was ordered held without bond pending his return this month to South Dakota to stand trial.

"I think the movement on this case is moving a long way to put her spirit at rest," said Bob Ecoffey, director of law enforcement for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and a longtime investigator on the case.

Looking Cloud, 49, and Graham were each indicted on one count of first-degree murder in the perpetration of a kidnapping. If convicted, they each face a mandatory life sentence. Looking Cloud pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Graham, originally from Canada, lived in Denver in the 1970s, investigators say.

Looking Cloud, who was homeless and living on Denver's streets, was arrested March 27 by Denver police Detective Abe Alonzo, who had been working the case for nearly a decade. Alonzo recognized Looking Cloud on East Colfax Avenue and picked him up.

In court Thursday, Looking Cloud answered Magistrate Judge Michael Watanabe's questions succinctly and offered little explanation. His family and friends who attended the hearing cried out to him as he was led away in handcuffs.

"We love you, Arlo," shouted Kimimila Means, a 15-year-old niece of Looking Cloud and a granddaughter of American Indian activist Russell Means.

Aquash disappeared from the home of Troy Lynn Yellow Wood in December 1975. Her frozen body was found by a rancher in February 1976 on a remote part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Yellow Wood appeared at the court hearing to support Looking Cloud, her adopted brother. She said Looking Cloud could not have been involved in the killing.

"Only the people who were there know what really happened," said Yellow Wood.

"All of this has devastated his life. He had a life. He came from a very respected family," she said. "He's not just a bum off the street."

Aquash's daughters released a statement saying they were pleased there had been an arrest.

They said they were making contact with authorities in order to be part of the case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Second man named in indictment for 1975 AIM slaying on Pine Ridge

The Associated Press

Published April 3, 2003

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A federal grand jury has indicted a second man in the December 1975 slaying of American Indian Movement activist Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, a case that has become a symbol of a turbulent time on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

John Graham, also known as John Boy Patton, has not been arrested. He was last known to be in western Canada, according to people familiar with him.

The other man, Arlo Looking Cloud, 49, pleaded innocent this week in federal court in Denver to first-degree murder committed in the perpetration of a kidnapping, according to U.S. Attorney James McMahon in Sioux Falls.

A hearing scheduled for Thursday will determine whether Looking Cloud should be brought back to South Dakota and be tried.

A March 20 indictment accuses Graham and Looking Cloud in the fatal shooting of Aquash, 30, around Dec. 12, 1975. They would serve mandatory life prison terms if convicted.

American Indians have said for years that federal investigators and prosecutors knew who took Aquash from a home in Denver, drove her to Rapid City and then to the Pine Ridge reservation and executed her.

In a 2000 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. show "The Fifth Estate," Graham denied any involvement.

"I wasn't there and I didn't witness it. And that's all I can say about that," he said.

Graham did acknowledge being with Aquash when she left Denver, though he said she was not kidnapped.

"That's all I'm going to say on that. If other people want to put themselves there, let them put themselves there," he told the CBC.

Looking Cloud is a Lakota Indian who grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. A former classmate said Looking Cloud moved to Denver after high school. Most recently he was homeless.

In the 1970s, Graham and Looking Cloud did low-level security at AIM events, said Paul DeMain, editor of News From Indian Country. DeMain has collected volumes of information and written about the Aquash case.

"These guys would be the guys to show up and say, 'We're escorting you out of here,'" DeMain said.

The indictment comes after several grand juries took testimony about the case, including one this spring that heard evidence in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.

McMahon said he could not comment on the case or say why charges weren't filed sooner.

Bernice Bull Bear of Denver said she is Looking Cloud's cousin and grew up with him on the Pine Ridge reservation.

"He's a very good person. He's a very gentle man. The children like him and he's really good with my mother. He helps her. He's not a bad person," Bull Bear said. "He's never harmed anybody around here."

Aquash was killed during a turbulent period on the reservation when tensions between AIM members and government-backed factions ended in numerous deaths.

Aquash, a member of Mi'kmaq Tribe of Canada, was among Indian militants who occupied the village of Wounded Knee for 71 days in 1973.

Some speculated she was killed by AIM members because she knew some of them were government spies, while others said Pictou-Aquash was killed because she herself was an informant. Federal authorities have repeatedly denied any involvement.

On Feb. 24, 1976, rancher Roger Amiotte found her frozen body on his ranch north of Wanblee while working on fences.

"I got around right there and the body was laying right there," he said in February, pointing down a 30-foot crevice.

Because Pictou-Aquash was Canadian, the long-unsolved case has been closely followed in Canada. AIM leaders often cite the case and other unsolved slayings to suggest U.S. federal authorities don't aggressively pursue murders on reservations.

Aquash's daughters released a statement Wednesday saying they were pleased there had been an arrest. They said there were making contact with authorities in order to be part of the case.

"We have known for a long time that people have discussed amongst themselves the events that led up to her death, yet publicly have remained silent," wrote Denise Maloney Pictou of Ontario, Canada, and Debbie Maloney Pictou, who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada.

"We are inspired with the actions of those who choose to courageously stand on their own and honor our mother's spirit with truth and integrity."

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