The case of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, the American Indian Movement activist murdered during the winter of 1975-76, on Pine Ridge, S.D., broke to the surface again as two men were indicted (one arrested) for her murder last week. An unrelenting cop’s decades-long record of pursuit and newly compelling grand jury testimony has apparently started prosecution on the 28-year-old case. Since Aquash’s body was found in a remote ravine by a local rancher, and was later desecrated by the FBI, who cut off her hands to send to Washington, many stories and many different layers of interpretation have shaded the truth of that unfortunate time. Most everyone would agree that the murder of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash marked a low point in the activist Indian era of the mid-1970s.
The two men indicted Arlo Looking Cloud, 49, and John Graham (aka John Boy Patton), were charged with first degree murder in the death of Aquash. In 1975, they were young security people and soldiers on the fringes of the American Indian Movement. Presumably and allegedly, higher ups in the movement ordered the two men to execute Anna Mae.
There are various layers of accusations in all of this. Many blame the FBI for fostering the climate of intimidation that was prevalent in Pine Ridge during those years. We are grateful for the diligent work of Denver police detective Abe Alonzo, who has dedicated 10 years to digging out the first set of facts in the case.
The birth of the activist Indian movement, particularly its first fiery years, created situations of intense pressure. The confrontation with the federal government that ensued after the 71-day occupation of the Hamlet of Wounded Knee, in 1973, gave every appearance of a hit-and-run war and campaign of attrition against any rising Native leadership. The Indian rebellion of that time, while many will disagree with its tactics and even over its actual achievements, nevertheless delivered a major message to the new Indian generation and to the world at large. It declared the Indian independence of thought and action to be alive and well and willing to tangle with the system, if the system did not listen to Indian perspectives and demands.
The mid-1970s was a time when hundreds of Indian warriors – men and women – could descend on a town and stage major protests that could shut down and besiege places like Custer and Rapid City, S.D. or Gordon, Neb. It was a time when large gatherings in the prairies actually heard from ancient chief’s councils and from elderly matrons – clan mothers and family headwomen – who spoke of a pride in the precious center of tribal cultures and who challenged the new leaders to “act like men” in taking on corruption and nepotism in tribal government and in federal bureaus.
Academic and professional careers went out the window as many young talented people took up the cause of the movement, which was fluid and passionate and mobile, and ultimately splintered in several directions. Rooted in confrontation, its leadership grew out of prison life as well as community indignation. With federal repression increasingly organized (to violence), defense and resistance also organized, most often from the traditional grassroots. But it also took a violent turn. By the summer and fall of 1975 – 76, several mid-western reservations, but most notably Pine Ridge, S.D., were awash in armed confrontations, shoot-outs and beatings that had political factions attached. Helicopter raids by federal agents armed with machine guns were all too common. All too often the violence followed a deep cycle of social recrimination.
A Mi’kmaq from Nova Scotia, Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash was a newcomer to the currents and crosscurrents of the American Indian Movement. By all accounts, though, she was bright and agile and many liked her dearly. Anna Mae is even memorialized in the prize announced in her name annually by the international organization, Indigenous Women’s Network. But, obviously, some did not like her at all and the going theory is that she was suspected by a core of movement leadership of being an FBI informant. The FBI had a way of arresting Anna Mae in major sweeps of AIM activists, then letting her go before others similarly arrested.
This pattern, deliberate or not, tended to arouse suspicion. Following the heat of the Movement, Anna Mae was far away from her home base. Her path intersected with people capable of violence in moments very turbulent. She paid the price, shot in the head execution style – allegedly shot by young Indians following orders. The indicted men are allegedly these young Indians – young at the time of their alleged act of execution.
Not a few people have theorized on the complexities and peculiarities of the murder of the young mother and activist, who has been mourned by Indian publics since her death. Conspiracy theories abound already (sometimes the game is called: accuse your enemy of having something to do with it.) For the sake of truth and justice, however, this issue should be focused on its main historical players.
Those who know about these things say that from the grave, Anna Mae’s spirit has called for justice all of these years; the truth is profoundly wanting in this case. We are gratified that the tragic murder of a young woman, beyond three decades of rumor, has now reached the light of the courtroom. The indicted men, if they are indeed guilty, would not have acted on their own. The best thing about this moment is that a clear pattern of fact-finding is in the record. Perhaps a broadening of the investigation can finally move forward. Clarity, long trampled on this history, begins to regain strength. Clearly, the one or ones who gave the order should be nervous. We congratulate the law enforcement investigators who have kept digging into this case. They are the best hope we have of seeing justice done.