March 24, 1984 The Nation. ARTICLES. ': ^ SOUTH DAKOTA TRAPS ITS MAN I The Hounding of Dennis Banks CONSTANCE MATTHIESSEN world of Dennis Banks, fiery leader of the r • ^he American Indian Movement, keeps shrinking. the 1960s and early 1970s Banks became a I During nationally recognized figure. He was seen by both his supporters and his detractors as an energetic and charismatic leader. A Chippewa Indian from Minnesota and a cofounder of AIM in 1968, Banks played a role in the movement's most controversial activities, participating in the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz and the 1972 takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington. But Banks is probably best known as a leader of the 1973 takeover of the South Dakota town of Wounded Knee. Several hundred Indians engaged in that action, a protest against treaty violations and Bureau of Indian Affairs misconduct. I iFederal officials surrounded the hamlet. The standoff lasted for seventy-one days and resulted in the death of two Indians and serious injury to one U.S. marshal. Criminal charges against Banks for his role in the incident were dismissed in 1974, but while awaiting sentencing on a riot and assault conviction arising out of a 1973 demonstration in Custer, South Dakota, Banks jumped bail. Five months later he surfaced in California. He requested sanctuary from Gov. Jerry Brown, claiming that his life would be in danger [ jin a South Dakota prison. After two years of review and controversy. Brown refused South Dakota's request to extradite Banks. For seven years Banks and his family carried on a normal life in Davis, California. But in 1983 Jerry Brown was succeeded by former State Attorney General George Deukmejian, a law-and-order Republican and longtime critic of Brown's decision to harbor Banks. Within hours of Deukinauguration, in January 1983, California police officers appeared at Banks's home. They were too late: Banks had fled the state several days earlier. At the end of ^ the month, he surfaced on the Onondaga Indian territory, f 7,300 acres of wild, wooded land in upstate New York, near ' Syracuse. The Onondaga chiefs welcomed Banks and it was hoped that New York Gov. Mario Cuomo would offer him sanctuary. Indeed, Banks had decided to go to New York partly because Cuomo had shown sympathy for Indian concerns when he was New York Secretary of State. But the newly elected Governor put off a final decision, though he prom Constance Matthiessen Washington, D.C. is a freelance writer living in 343 ised that pohce would not be allowed on Onondaga land to apprehend Banks. The Onondagas, who consider themselves an independent nation, regard any intervention by state or Federal authorities as a violation of their sovereignty, and they promised to oppose any attempt to seize Banks. Banks says he is happy with the Onondagas: he is building a house, and in the spring his wife, KaMook, will have another child. "Even though I'm restricted to an area, that doesn't restrict my life," Banks told me recently. But his freedom is restricted, and as the geographical boundaries that limit his actions have narrowed, so have his options. Last year an Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department's criminal division, Lowell Jensen, obtained a Federal indictment against Banks which, added to the South Dakota charges, make his chance for freedom all the more remote. At 10 A.M. last September 22, U.S. Attorney for South Dakota Phihp Hogen and several U.S. marshals appeared on the Onondaga territory carrying an Indian necktie to demonstrate good will. Hogen demanded that Banks be turned over to his custody. The Onondaga chiefs refused and Hogen produced his surprise: the Federal warrant for Banks's arrest on the ground of unlawful flight to avoid confinement. The indictment pre-empts state law and thus prevents Governor Cuomo, or any other governor, from providing Banks sanctuary. Hogen also proposed a deal: if Banks would return to South Dakota, Hogen would recommend that he receive the minimum sentence for the unlawful flight. The chiefs were given until 4 o'clock that afternoon to produce Banks. The deadline passed without result; Hogen returned to South Dakota. Before leaving, he told one of Banks's attorneys, Joe Heath, that he would push for a maximum sentence. But apprehending Banks will be difficult. Some observers believe the government fears that an attempt to capture Banks would lead to a bloody confrontation with the Onondagas. Banks himself thinks that if Reagan wins re-election, authorities may come to seize him. Asked if Federal law officers would enter the Onondaga territory to apprehend Banks, John Russell, a spokesman for the Justice Department, replied, "It's been discussed. There are no plans for that at this time." Banks's attorney William Kunstler has called Banks's prosecution for unlawful flight "a total misuse of this law." Kunstler recalled that in 1967, Federal authorities refused to prosecute H. Rap Brown under the unlawful-flight provision. Fearing he would be mistreated by Virginia police. Brown wanted to be charged in order to remain in the custody of Federal marshals. According to Kunstler, "The marshals took Brown down the courthouse steps and literally threw him into the hands of state officials." U.S. Attorney Hogen concedes that the Federal indictment is unusual. Prosecutions under the unlawful-flight statute have been extremely rare. The purpose of the law is TheXcitioii. 344 CENTRAL AMERICA IN RULK The Nation. CENTRAL AMERICA THE REGION: INEVITABLE flEVDLUTIONS WAI I I k I.Al mEK PHICT: WAIHIMTOM'S VUHS WILLIAM M hnCHANIlt WHOIE IS MICMUUI; II JOMNE) PDTER IIAHS AN^E NfcLSON •NUtYHTHlA ABNSON CKOHQE HI At V aUATEHUU VIITlHi PlRDRA/AMEkll AS BOOKS t, THE ARTS 1 i STBAL AHI mi A^ I (TLBATl'KI ; M i n K*/ART/f IL H.S This Special Issiie of The,Nation has sold over 10,000 copies in buik since its publication on January 28. Due to the overwhelming response, we are extending our speciai rates for bulk orders until March 3 1 . Don't miss this crucial, landmark issue: it is ideal for classroom use, for distribution to the membership of your organization or for passing along to friends. Send in the attached coupon tor your bulk order today. Bulk Order Price List 1-9 copies $3.00 each 10-99 copies $1.00 each 100-499 copies . .$ .75 each 500 or more copies $ .50 each Prepayment is required (price includes postage). Send me copies of The Nation Speciai issue on Centrai America, i enciose $ payment in fuli.* Name _ Address State. to give the Federal Bureau of Investigation a legal basis for locating and apprehending a fugitive. When the fugitive is seized, he or she is usually turned over to state officials. According to Hogen, "I requested approval for the indictment after Banks left California for New York because he was openly and notoriously seeking to avoid South Dakota justice, and clearly planned to continue doing so." That is not completely true. Banks has repeatedly offerea to serve time in another state. Even as the Justice Department approved Hogen's request for the indictment, Banks's lawyers were considering such an arrangement with South Dakota Judge Marshall Young, the man who had tried Banks. Young and Banks's lawyers were discussing the possibility of Banks's being sentenced in absentia and the various alternatives to incarceration in South Dakota. Banks says, "We were involved in good-faith discussions to come to some sort of agreement. Now we're back to nowhere." Hogen claims that no progress was being made in the negotiations. California Representatives Vic Fazio and Ronald V. Dellums have written letters to the Justice Department requesting an explanation for the unlawful-flight indictment. Assistant Attorney General Robert A. McConnell wrote to Fazio: Eisiuwoin City March 24, 1984 .Zip Phone # * Mail check or money order lo Nation Buik Saies, 72 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011, (U.S, currency only, N,Y. State residents must add appropriate sales tax, N.Y. City 8V. percent). You are correct in your understanding that this type of prosecution is pursued infrequently. While arrest warrants are regularly obtained under the unlawful flight statute, once the arrest has been made federal prosecution is generally declined in favor of release of the defendant to the appropriate state authorities for extradition to the state from which the flight originated. Statistics are not maintained concerning the unlawful flight cases in which prosecution is authorized. However, based on the recollection of Criminal Division attorneys, we know of two unlawful flight prosecutions which have occurred during the past two years. In both instances, a key factor in the determination to pursue a federal prosecution was the presence of an unreasonable risk of further night. In his letter McConnell identified only one of those defendants: a man facing life imprisonment for aggravated rape of a 9-year-old girl. The prisoner, who had committed numerous other rapes, had escaped and evaded authorities for over two years. Joe Heath observes: "You have a guy who escaped from a life sentence for a heinous crime. How can you compare him to a Dennis Banks? The charges against Banks are relatively minor. Not only that but Banks was not evading justice, he was actively engaged in trying to resolve his case when this indictment was served." Representative Dellums was not satisfied with the Justice Department's response to his inquiry. His aide Charles Stevenson told me that he believes South Dakota's request that the Justice Department obtain the indictment was designed to prevent Governor Cuomo from giving Banks sanctuary. "First you have a California Governor denying extradition. They wanted to prevent the New York Governor from doing the same," Stevenson said. "The question is. Why are they pulling out this old law in reference to March 24, 1984 The Nation. Mr. Banks? We believe it represents a personal vendetta against Banks. How else do you explain all this effort, and now the involvement of the Justice Department, to apprehend a man on the basis of very minor charges that are ten years old?" The charges against Banks arose out of the Custer emonstration, which was prompted by the fatal stabbing of a young Indian man in a barroom brawl. The alleged murderer, a white man named Darold Schmidt, was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Enraged because she thought the charge wasn't severe enough, the victim's mother, Sarah Bad Heart Bull, asked AIM for help. Banks set up a meeting with town officials to demand a stiffer charge, and brought more than 200 Indians to the town courthouse with him. Banks and several members of the delegation were inside the courthouse when fighting broke out between polix and the protesters outside. Each side accuses the other of starting the fracas, which quickly became violent. The police tossed tear gas canisters, and demonstrators hurled rocks. Rioters set fire to the Chamber of Commerce building, a small wooden structure which burned to the ground. When the fighting died down, twenty-two of the protesters had been arrested; Banks was not among them. He was arrested after a few days. When Banks was tried two years later, three of the five counts in the indictment were dismissed. He was convicted of rioting while armed and assault with a dangerous weapon—a night stick—without intent to kill. (Sarah Bad Heart Bull was convicted of rioting and spent five months in jail. The man accused of killing her son was acquitted.) Banks could receive up to fifteen years for the charges against him. His claim that his life would be in danger in a South Dakota prison must be considered against the backdrop of historic animosity between the South Dakota authorities and the Indians, who constitute less than 7 pereent of the state's population. It is a state where towns and restaurants are named after, Lieut. Col. George Armstrong Custer. An aide to Representative Fazio described Indianwhite relations in South Dakota as "a Hatfield and McCoy 345 situation. Unfortunately, Dennis Banks is the one who has had to pay for it." During the 1960s and 1970s the struggle by Banks and other activists for Indian rights churned up considerable fear and hostility among whites in the state. AIM has been the storm center of that conflict, the object of persecution and violence as well as F.B.I, infiltration. Before leaving South Dakota, Banks claimed he heard of prison officials saying that no AIM leader would last twenty minutes in a prison there. South Dakota attorney John Gridley claims to have heard Gov. William Janklow say, when he was State Attorney General, that the solution to the problem was to shoot the AIM leaders: "Put a bullet in a guy's head and he won't bother you anymore." (In a subsequent interview, Janklow emphasized that he was referring to the AIM leadership, not to Indians in general, and added, "I told him [Gridley] . ^ . that in the event that I was Attorney General or in a position of authority and they came around with their guns and their arms and either threatened people or used them on people, that I would see to it that they were shot.") AIM leader Russell Means was in fact stabbed in the South Dakota penitentiary. "Dennis Banks's life won't be worth a nickel if he is returned for sentencing," Means says. The feud between Indians and whites is epitomized in the relationship between Banks and Governor Janklow. Janklow was swept into office in 1978 on a wave of antiAIM sentiment, but his clashes with Banks began much earlier. In 1974 Banks served as prosecuting attorney in a Rosebud Sioux tribal court proceeding in which Janklow was accused of attempting to rape a young Indian girl. The assault allegedly occurred in 1967, when Janklow was director of the Legal Services program on the reservation. (No charges were ever filed against Janklow in a Federal or state court; after investigating the incident in 1975, the F.B.I, concluded that there was no substance to the allegation.) When Banks was brought to trial in 1975, Janklow was State At, torney General, and their previous roles were reversed. This stormy history causes many to fear for Banks's life should he be forced to return to South Dakota. California 346 The Nation. Municipal Court Judge Alice Lytle, who, as Jerry Brown's Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary, conducted an exhaustive review of Banks's case in 1978, explained in the decision to deny extradition: The decision was premised on the history of Indian-white relations in South Dakota and the activities of Dennis Banks, which angered a lot of people, and the personal animosity of Janklow toward Banks. When you balance that against the relatively light conviction—he wasn't convicted of murder or armed robbery, he was convicted of riot and assault without intent to kill, and these are typical charges that arise out of demonstrations—when you balance the circumstances against the need that South Dakota had to imprison him behind these charges, the danger to his life seemed significant enough to refuse the extradition request. Banks's supporters argue that if anything, the hostility toward Banks in South Dakota has grown stronger in the ten years since the Custer incident took place. The state's zeal in pursuing Banks and the support that pursuit has received from the Justice Department seem exaggerated in relation to his crimes. Restricted to the Onondaga territory. Banks is isolated from the legal and political decisions that affect his future. But since his arrival in New York, his situation has drawn increasing attention. The Syracuse Herald American invited Banks to contribute a column. New York Representative Edolphus Towns plans to meet with Banks in the fall. An aide to Towns said recently, "The Congressman wants to ascertain the true facts in this case. Here's a guy they've chased from state to state—the nature of his crimes doesn't seem to warrant that. Why is this guy such a special case? Why is Dennis Banks so important?" U.S. Attorney Hogen responds to such questions with the weary patience of a man who has heard them all many times before. "Banks's behavior is not the point," he told me. "The point is that there are outstanding proceedings here. Banks was convicted, he promised to appear for sentencing and then he left the state. Justice has not yet been done." Asked about Banks's safety, Hogen replied, "I firmly believe that the South Dakota correction system is safe and that there is no danger to Banks or to any other prisoner. Having said that, I'm also certain that if and when he is sentenced. Banks will nqt be imprisoned in South Dakota. There has been so much controversy surrounding the question of his safety that if a wall fell on him, everyone would say, 'I told you so.' It makes no sense'to risk that kind of trouble." The South Dakota Division of Charities and Corrections would ultimately determine Banks's incarceration site, Hogen said. The stalemate between the Justice Department and the Onondaga chiefs continues. It is possible the department is happy with the situation as it is. The Federal indictment is a quiet way of neutralizing Banks. No state can grant him sanctuary while the indictment is outstanding, so Banks has nowhere to run. He may not be in prison, but the constraints on his freedom prevent him from playing the kind of strong leadership role he played as a free man in §puth Dakota. If that was the goal of South Dakota March 24, 1984 authorities and the Reagan Administration, they have been suficessful. Banks remains busy. This past winter he organized a food and clothing drive for Indians in South Dakota, where record temperatures made life on the impoverished reservations harsher than usual. He is organizing a cross-country run from the Onondaga territory to Los Angeles, wher Native Americans will join in pre-Olympic games in memory of Indian Olympic champion Jim Thorpe. But in May, when the runners begin the 3,000-mile trip. Banks will be able to lead them only as far as the border of his current sanctuary. D • I DICTATORSHIP ON THE ROCKS The Economic Threat to Marcos PETER TARR P hilippine President Ferdinand Marcos was shooting at scapegoats last December, when he blamed the Western press for "contributing to the difficulties now being encountered by the Philippines, with biased and distorted reporting." In fact the media's fascination with the grisly details of the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., and with the government's clumsy investigation of the affair, has paradoxically helped Marcos, diverting attention from the most serious crisis he has yet faced: the virtual collapse of the country's economy. In the frenzy that consumed Manila for several months after the August 21 assassination, nervous foreign investors withdrew nearly $1 billion from Philippine banks. The impact was devastating. Foreign deposits had been used to finance raw material imports which kept factories running; they also helped the government make interest payments on a mountain of short-term debts. In September and October the Philippine Central Bank had to draw on its foreign exchange reserves to pay those bills. By mid-October reserves stood at $430 million, drastically lower than June's level of $2.3 billion and scarcely enough to purchase a month's supply of imported commodities. Taking orders from the International Monetary Fund, the Central Bank then imposed strict controls on foreign exchange, declared a ninety-day moratorium on principal payments on the nation's $25 billion foreign debt and devalued the peso 21.4 percent. (The currency had already been devalued 9.4 percent in June.) Banks could authorize credit only for the most critical imports: oil and food. Businessmen who relied on "nonessential" imports saw their inventories dwindle, and many were Peter Tarr is a freelance writer living in New York City. He traveled in the Philippines last November and December and contributed articles from there to The Christian Science Monitor. Literary Sources: 1) ISBN: M9780787650155 Source # 39043482 Source: Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. Q1 2017, p1-1. 1p. : Document Type: Reference Entry American Indian Movement (AIM), organization of the Native American civil-rights movement, founded in 1968. Its purpose is to encourage self-determination among Native Americans and to establish international recognition of their treaty rights. In 1972, members of AIM briefly took over the headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. They complained that the government had created the tribal councils on reservations in 1934 as a way of perpetuating paternalistic control over Native American development. In 1973, about 200 Sioux, led by members of AIM, seized the tiny village of Wounded Knee, S.Dak., site of the last great massacre of Native Americans by the U.S. cavalry (1890). Among their demands was a review of more than 300 treaties between the Native Americans and the federal government that AIM alleged were broken. Wounded Knee was occupied for 70 days before the militants surrendered. The leaders were subsequently brought to trial, but the case was dismissed on grounds of misconduct by the prosecution. AIM also sponsored talks resulting in the 1977 International Treaty Conference with the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] 2) Title: May 8, 1973: American Indian Movement surrenders at Wounded Knee after 71-day standoff. By: Pusey, Allen, ABA Journal, 07470088, May2016 Database: EBSCO MegaFILE By February 1973, unrest among Lakota residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota was coming to a boil. Though in office barely a year, the tribe's elected chief, Dick Wilson, was already facing impeachment. The charges against him alleged widespread nepotism and corruption, but the sources of tribal division ran far deeper than simple politics. Established in 1889, the 60 million-acre reservation proved prey to a broad variety of white opportunism: by squatters, gold miners, merchants and a federal government that routinely ignored its own treaties. Pine Ridge was also the site of the tiny town of Wounded Knee, where in 1890, panic-stricken U.S. soldiers surrounded and massacred as many as 300 Lakota Sioux men, women and children. Wilson, a resident of mixed race, made no secret of his loyalty to white culture and the moneyed interests favored by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. His alliance with white values was deeply resented by the more traditional tribal families; but Wilson had the support of both mixed-race voters and those who believed only outside investment could break the century-old grip of poverty. Tensions grew critical after Wilson formed a reservation police force, Guardians of the Oglala Nation. Known colloquially as the GOONs, the force was accused of routinely harassing-even beating and arresting-Wilson's political opposition. And when Wilson managed to avoid impeachment, angry traditionalists decided to ally themselves with members of the militant American Indian Movement. AIM leader Russell Means and Kent Frizzell, a U.S. assistant attorney general, signed a tentative agreement on April 5, 1973, that later collapsed. AIM leaders, typified by the charismatic Russell Means and the contemplative Dennis Banks, were schooled in 1960s radicalism, and thus inclined to splashy and confrontational acts of protest: a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969 and a 1972 invasion of the BIA offices in Washington, D.C. On Feb. 27, 1973, a well-armed cadre of 200 activists marched into Wounded Knee and announced to 11 residents that the hamlet was now under the occupation of AIM. Within hours, Wounded Knee was surrounded by a formidable force of federal marshals and FBI agents, equipped with armored military vehicles and aerial support from the Nebraska National Guard. The next 71 days were spent with both sides entrenched; the sullen South Dakota weather punctuated by frequent firefights, arson and looting, sporadic sniper attacks and occasional negotiations-all played out before a mass of media attention. Two federal agents were wounded by gunfire-one paralyzed-and two protesters were killed. After Lawrence Lamont, the second protester, was killed on April 26, there was an uptick in negotiations to end the siege. On May 8, at least 120 weary protesters surrendered to federal authorities. And just eight months later, Banks and Means were before a federal jury on 11 charges, including arson and conspiracy to assault. But the summer of 1974 was the summer of Watergate, and the trial had revealed a pattern of government overreach: outright perjury by one key witness and false testimony by another-a witness for whom the government sought dismissal of a rape accusation. Moreover, prosecutors had attempted to obscure the extent of involvement by the U.S. military-with equipment and advice-in suppressing the occupation of WoundedKnee. In August, during a break in jury deliberations, Judge Fred J. Nichol dismissed all charges against Banks and Means, calling the conduct of government prosecutors "offensive to our traditional notions of justice."
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