Annie Maeren izpirituan

Eranskinak

(i) John Trudell-i eta Dennis Banks-i bidalitako e-mailak

Lehen eranskin edo gehigarri honetan John Trudell-i eta Dennis Banks-i 2004ko maiatzean
zuzendutako zenbait e-mail azaltzen dira (ingelesez) 1.
John Trudell-ek bere lagun baten bidez erantzun zuen. Ikus bigarren eranskina.
Banks-i e-mail desberdinetara bidali izan dizkiot mezuak. Ez dut inolako erantzunik jaso.

In the Spirit of Annie Mae

1. John Trudell-i eta Dennis Banks-i, batera, bidalitako lehen e-maila

Hi John, hi Dennis,

Here what you, John, said long ago:

1
E-mail bilduma hau ondoko jendeari bidali nion: Denise Maloney Pictou, Bob Robideau, Joseph Geshick, Paul
DeMain, Jordan S. Dill, Glenn Morris, Carter Camp, KaMook Nichols, Bruce Ellison, David Hill, Leonard Peltier
Defense Committee, Indigenous Women for Justice, National Americam Indian Movement, International
Confederation of Autonomous Chapters of the American Indian Movement, Lawrence Sampson, Russell Means,
Jim Vander Wall, Rex Weyler, Barry Bachrach, Robert Free, Ward Churchill eta noski John Trudell eta Dennis
Banks.
And here what you, Dennis, have just written in your book:

“It was during a meeting in Los Angeles, California, that John Trudell came over to me and said,
“Annie Mae’s body has been found”. The news devastated me. It was only the presence of so many
people that prevented me from bursting into tears. There was absolute silence in the committee
room. I left in order to regain my composure.... (p. 352)

Who is saying the truth?

joseba (from the Basque Country, Europe)

2. John Trudell-i bidalitako bigarren e-maila

Hi John,

Look at what you said in 1976:

And now in 2004:

(The United States of America vs. Fritz Arlo Looking Cloud. Court Trial Transcripts. February 2004.
Rapid City, South Dakota)

Q. How did you find out she had been killed?

A. I found out that she was killed, it was in a conversation I had with Dennis Banks in Berkley some
time in '76. February, March, some time in '76. At this time I didn't know there had been a body
found, and Dennis mentioned to me, he said, well, that body they found in Pine Ridge or Wanblee, he
said I think it is Anna Mae. This was the first that I had known.

This “some time” you mention was “about 25th or 26th of February", wasn't it?

joseba (Prof. University of the Basque Country. Basque Country. Europe)

3. Dennis Banks-i zuzenduriko bigarren e-maila

Hi Dennis,

It is wonderful that you have, with your book, helped to dissipate some doubts.

Here some statements and doubts:

Mary Crow Dog (in Lakota Woman, p. 191) quoted Anna Mae as following:

“…They don’t let Indians like me live. That’s all right. I don’t want to grow up to be an old woman.”
That quotation is almost the same as yours (in your book, p. 353):

"I know that I will be killed. They won't let an Indian like me live. The FBI has put a jacket on me.
When I refused to cooperate with them, they spread the rumor that I was one of their informants.
One FBI agent told me, "You won't be around anymore next year". So I think that my life will be short.
I have accepted it. It is better to die young, having done something for your people, that to grow old
never having done anything. But remember, its doesn't matter if the FBI kills me or whether my life is
snuffed out by one of our own people who believes the rumors the Feds have spread about me. It
always will be the FBI who murders me."

What you say in that quotation, “The FBI has put a jacket on me….”You won’t be around anymore
next year”” is very well know, and has been quoted by many different people, as you know.

What is new is what appears in the next sentence: “But remember… It always will be the FBI who
murders me.”

In fact, Anna Mae said Rebecca (her sister, quoted in The Life and Death of Anna Mae, by Johanna
Brand, p. 133, first edition 1978, second 1993):

“These woods are full of men. They’re out to get me. They’ll kill me if the FBI doesn’t get me first”.

According to Brand, “Rebecca Julian was never able to get clarification of this statement.” And Brand
did know what she was talking about, since Rebecca herself wrote an ‘Afterword’ in that book (1993
edition).

Now, thanks to your book we all do have a clarification: “But remember… the FBI who murders me.”

A single question: How is it that Anna Mae was able to think at that time (after September 1975
when she was arrested by the FBI in Rosebud and November 1975 when you went underground) that
she could be killed by one of your [she said ‘our’] own people who believed the rumors the Feds had
spread about her?

What Rebecca (Anna Mae’s sister) did not understand, maybe now she can understand reading your
book, since it seems that one of your own people snuffed out Anna Mae’s life.

But we do know, thanks to you, that, “It always will be the FBI who murders me”

Leonard Peltier, too, agrees with you (see http://www.indiancountrynews.com/anniededication.cfm):

“Whoever killed Anna Mae Aquash, whoever did the dirty work for the FBI, I think they were duped.
Those guys were tricked into doing this and I don’t believe that they had any personal dislike for her
or just wanted to hurt her, I think these people were just misled. There was such hysteria about
people being FBI agents and we knew that the FBIs put out shit about Anna Mae.”

By the way, a final question:

How is it that Leonard knew in December 1975 that Anna Mae was killed?

In fact, here his quotation (see http://www.indiancountrynews.com/anniededication.cfm ):

“I think it was around that December when I heard that Anna Mae was dead. I was in that jail over
there in Canada right around whenever they exposed who she really was and what she died from, but
I believe I didn’t hear about it until December.”
joseba

(Prof. of the Basque University, Basque Country, Europe)

PS: I’m sending this e-mail to Rebecca too.

4. Dennis Banks-i zuzenduriko hirugarren e-maila

Hi Dennis,

It was a good idea to write your book with Richard Erdoes. Erdoes is very well known as a writer. As
you know, he has another book with Mary Crow Dog: Lakota Woman.

Mary also deals with Anna Mae in her book: a whole chapter. Mary Crow Dog was very upset with
what happened to Anne Mae. So, in her book, she said, (p. 198):

“…Someday I am going to find out who killed this good, gently, tough, gifted friend of mine who did
not deserve to die. Someday I will tell her daughters that she died for them, died like a warrior.”

Do you think that Anna Mae died for her daughters? In your book, you say (p. 202) that Anna Mae
“would later give her life for us”.

There is a little bit of confusion: ‘her daughters’, ‘us’.

Just a question: For whom died Anna Mae?

On the other hand, it is just incredible how many friends had Anna Mae: Mary Crow (who seems that
forgot to tell Anna Mae’s daughters what she knew and already knows), yourself (that in spite of
knowing who killed Anna Mae: “But remember… It always will be the FBI who murders me”) have not
been able to talk with Anna Mae’s daughters, …, even John Graham says that he was a friend of hers
(!!!!).

Just incredible! Lot of friends and no one has been able, in the last 29 years, to talk with these girls in
Canada.

Why aren’t you, Dennis, able to talk with these two girls, face-to-face? You are a real warrior, a
(former) leader of AIM. They are just two girls, two women now.

If you are able to write, at the end of your book, “Me-gwitch2 Annie Mae”, I don’t understand why
you have not greeted these two girls.

Are you, a (former) warrior, afraid (?!?!) of these girls?

I think that you should meet Anna Mae’s daughters, and tell them the truth, the real truth.

joseba

(University of the Basque Country. Basque Country, Europe)

PS: I’m sending this e-mail to Denise and Deborath Maloney Pictou

2
Thank you.
 5. Dennis Banks-i zuzenduriko laugarren e-maila

Hi Dennis,

Whoever reads your book will have clear that you were at the very heart of the American Indian
Movement. This is evident.

Furthermore, as you said in We, The People of Earth and Elders (Volume II) (p. 236), referring to
Wounded Knee:

“…it was like my dream come true: I wanted to be part of a movement (…) and here I was on the eve
of a most significant event in Native American history and I was at the center. My name, Nowa
Cumin, means in the center and there I was.”

Not only you were at the center, you were the real leader. As you say:

“…I wanted to think about what I was going to do and what my role needed to be. “What should I
do?” And then I realized that the Creator had given me this opportunity, the very wish that I’d had in
prison, and said, “Here it is. Now take it. We want you to be strong. We want you to be strong in your
delivery. We want you to be strong in your words. We want you to lead the moment”. And that’s what
I felt. It made me feel so good…”

If the Creator said that to you, these are great words, indeed…

So, you lead the moment, but not only at that specific moment. The movement was lead by you. You
were the real leader who said what to do.

For instance, (Peter Matthiessen’s In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, p. 263), when Vernon Bellecourt,
Clyde Bellecourt, and John Trudell went to California:

“… “We wanted to clear up any suspicion that AIM was in any way involved, Banks says, “and Vern
organized an investigation two weeks later; he couldn’t find any real evidence that AIM people were
involved”. (…).. and for a while, he admits, he called off Bellecourt’s investigation”.

It is clear who the real leader was.

By the way: What was doing John Trudell there?

Not only at that moment, much more later too, still you were at the center of all.

Indeed, when Robert Branscombe-Pictou was trying to know who were involved in Anna Mae's
execution, first you wrote to Vernon Bellecourt (http://www.dickshovel.com/bra7.html) and then
Vernon wrote to all the other people (http://www.dickshovel.com/bra7.html, see in this web site
what appears below).

So, if what a lot of people are saying is truth (namely that the AIM leaders were involved in the
murder/execution of Anna Mae), your responsibility in that murder will be first hand.

Indeed,

(1) Either you gave yourself the order to execute her, or

(2) You agreed with the order given by Vernon Bellecourt, together with Clyde Bellecourt, Bill Means,
Ted Means, and maybe some others.

In any case, you will be responsible of that murder-execution.

Question: Are you sure, Dennis, that the omerta under which you are hidden will not burst?

joseba

(Prof. University of the Basque Country)

PS: I'm sending this e-mail to Anna Mae's daughters and sisters.

6. Dennis Banks-i zuzenduriko bosgarren e-maila

Hi Dennis.

In the video The Fifth Estate, Silenced: the Execution of Anna Mae, John Trudell said this:

JOHN TRUDELL: "This agent had taken her to his office and he got called out of the room, and she was
standing there. And she could see these papers on the desk talking about informants A and B, and
that being how they got tripped up, through these informants A and B. And she wanted to warn me
about that."

It seems that some of you (starting with Vernon Bellecourt) had serious doubts about Anna Mae
being one of those informants, mainly after the incident in Oregon.

If you watch the video In the Spirit of Annie Mae (sure that you know it), you can read the last letter
Anna Mae sent her sister after being arrested in Oregon. In that letter, Anna Mae said:

"...I'm in jail (...) The whole incident happened because informer A and B as the FBI refer to them in
their report -which we saw yesterday- from the Settle area. Informer A has informed on at least
100 incidents already and informer B on 20 occasions. (...)"

So, Anna Mae knew about those A and B.

Furthermore, if you read this carefully:

TREMONTI: Do you remember the A-B informants? Do you remember them existing?

ZIGROSSI: I remember the informants. They exist. I remember the best informant we ever had. He was
a friend of mine, OK. There's no question in my mind, Anna Mae Aquash would be alive today if they
did not believe that she was an FBI informant.

TEMONTI: Was she?

ZIGROSSI: She was not an FBI informant. Definitely was not.

It is clear that Anna Mae was a problem for some of you, not an informant.

In fact, if we talk about weapons, one can see ‘the problem’…

(Hope that you already have read Bob Robideau’s statement -just in case, you have it here:
http://jfamr.org/rob.html-)
Here some of Mr. Robideau’s claims:

“In the case of Anna Mae I believe that she was ordered killed by a leader who did fear her and who
had experienced the impact and devastating results of a real FBI informer who at that time was his
right hand man. This leader had the influence of moving those who played their part in the killing of
Anna Mae. (…)

“But KaMook did testify to one very interesting event in October of 1975. She said that Dennis Banks,
David Hill, Anna Mae and others had set bombs in different locations in Pine Ridge. I feel that this bit
of information was not considered seriously enough for motive in killing Anna Mae.”

David Hill related the same story to me while I was the National Director for Leonard in 1991. Than I
remembered reading in Kenneth Sterns' book, Loud Hawk, that "Dennis was worried that they might
try to stick one of the 1975 bombings around the reservation on him." There was only one leader
amongst them with the motivation and fear to move the Bellecourts and others to kill Anna Mae. As
Russell Means said: "Dennis Banks was so paranoid after Douglass Durham. He thought everyone
was an informer, even Anna Mae." Matthiessen - In the Spirit of Crazy Horse.

KaMook then testified to the revealing phone call with her husband, Dennis Banks, who called her on
Feb. 24, 1976 to tell her that Anna Mae was dead on the same day her body was found. "When in fact
the body would not be identified for some days after that date." (…)

An act committed by one, a founder of AIM, nevertheless with the heart of a coward ordered Anna
Mae's execution. He and those that followed his dictates must pay their dues and I feel in the enemies
court is a proper and fitting place for these individuals who would not in the last 30 years show some
remorse to their people who had given them their trust and with this act betrayed.

You do know Bob Robideau.

First question: Any comment about Robideau’s statement?

By the way, in your book you misled his name: Bob Robideaux (p. 295), Bob Roubideau (p. 300, twice)
and (p. 312). (Correct it, please, in new editions.)

It is well known in Indian media that Mr. Robideau has struggled to clean Anna Mae’s memory at least
since the early 90’s.

Second question: Do you want to remind you that he knows who interrogated Anna Mae in
Farrington, 1975? That Anna Mae was clean, according to Leonard Peltier?

So, a last question: Who ordered to execute Anna Mae? You? Vernon Bellecourt? Clyde Bellecourt?
Bill Means? Ted Means? All of you together?

joseba

(Prof. of the University of the Basque Country, Basque Country, Europe)

PS: I’M sending this e-mail to Robideau and Anna Mae’s daughters and sisters.

7. Dennis Banks-i zuzenduriko seigarren e-maila

Hi Dennis,
Let me introduce myself with this last e-mail to you. I'm a Basque, professor of the University of the
Basque Country.

I have read a lot about American Indian people (because I did not trust the official American history
since I was a kid) and also enough books and material about the American Indian Movement.

After my readings, I have two points very clear:

(a) Leonard Peltier does not deserve to be in jail, not even a single second more.

(b) Anna Mae was killed by AIM people, under orders given by AIM leader(s).

As to the first point I deeply regret that some former AIM leaders (you, Vernon Bellecourt, Clyde
Bellecourt,…) have done almost nothing in favor of Leonard.

(If you have any doubt about that statement, ask Bob Robideau, former director of LPDC since his
release from jail up to 19903).

As to the second point, in spite of the ways of the legal American and Canadian justice -dealing with
John Graham, Theda Nelson Clark, maybe the attorney Bruce Ellison and some other second level
people4-, to me is very clear, evident, that you were totally involved in the murder/execution of Anna
Mae.

I'm trying to write a book about Anne Mae. (Actually I have already written almost half of it.) A final
chapter of my book will deal with your role, your first hand responsibility in that execution.

I would have liked you to answer the different questions I asked you. You know that, although you
will not answer my questions, after sending these six e-mails, the virtual space will multiply my voice,
the questions will become louder. It is like the wind…, and you know: the answers are in the wind.

As you probably know, Anna Mae will return to her homeland, in Shubenacadie on the Mi’kmaq
reserve.

Be aware, Dennis, a strong wind can start in the North and the storm can reach you. One never
knows about the wind. It can blow anywhere…

We, in Basque, have a beautiful word: ‘Ekaitza5’, it means the storm that comes from the North. The
Spirit of Annie Mae can become an ‘ekaitza’.

In the Spirit of Annie Mae

(Annie Maeren Izpirituan, in Basque)

joseba

(Basque Country, Europe)

3
Jatorrizko e-mailean 1994 idatzi nuen, okertuta. Bob LPDC-n egon zen 1979tik 1985era eta gero, berriz ere,
1990tik 1992ra.
4
Nahiz eta izenak han ez agertu, badakigu nortzuk izan daitezke, gutxienez, Thelma Rios, Madonna Gilber (edo
Thunder Hawk), Lorelei Means (edo Decora) emakumeen artean, eta agian David Hill eta Herb Powless gizonen
artean.
5
'Enbata’ eta ‘Ekaitza’ pentsatuta neuzkan, eta soilik ‘ekaitza’ idatzi nuen, ez dakit zergatik. Baina biak ulertu
behar dira; lehen iparraldetik datorren haizea eta gero haize horrekin batera datorren ekaitza.
PS: I’m sending this e-mail to Anna Mae’s daughters and sisters and to Bob Robideau.

(ii) John Trudell-en erantzuna

Hona John Trudell-ek emandako erantzuna:

dennis is lying about this. he is not mistaken, he is lying. if there were all these people in this
committee room why is it no one has stepped forward before this to state that what I said is untrue.
also there never was any meeting at that time in l.a. that I attended. this email is the first that
I've heard about dennis revising his role in this. why would he wait more then 25 years to say this,
reality is dennis would have spoken out in 1976 if I was lying about this but he didn't. let this
play out we'll see who's telling the truth and who's not telling the truth. I haven't read dennis's book
but I figure the whole reason for his book is to try and clean himself up because during those times
he got very very dirty and I want nothing to do with his mess. we'll see what happens.
 (iii) Bob Robideau-ri egindako elkarrizketa (2005.07.15)

(Annie Mae, 1975ean)

Well, Bob, just to finish the book, let me ask you some questions, so that the reader can have a
general overview about this macabre mess in your own words 6.

(1) Why did you start trying to solve Annie Mae’s killing?

In retrospect, it was not a decision that I had made, but one which was forced on me by others.
Primarily, after I was released from Leavenworth, federal prison in the summer of 1979, AIM people
who were involved in the killing of Anna Mae came to me, wanting me to know of their involvement. I
was both surprised and confused, because I had thought a lot in prison about how I believed the FBI
had killed Anna Mae; even after the revelation that AIM people had killed Anna Mae, I still believed
that the FBI had played a major and direct role.

It became very personal when I began to realize and wake up to the fact that AIM people had killed
Anna Mae to save Peltier, Butler and myself from prison. I wanted to know why they had been lead to
believe this idea I knew to be a lie. I needed to know who had perpetuated this lie and what their
motive was. The person(s) who had created this lie had also made Peltier, Butler and me appear
responsible for killing Anna Mae. I knew that neither Peltier, nor Butler or I had anything to do with
the killing of Anna Mae. I knew that she had been killed for another reason, to save another. It
became a matter of defending my personal integrity and honor; and that of Peltier’s, Butler’s and
Anna Mae Aquash’s as well that compelled me to continue digging for the truth.

(2) Annie Mae was executed while you were in jail. At that time, as many other people, you thought
the FBI and/or the goons were involved in her killing. When did you start thinking about some AIM
people as her possible killers?

Yes, it is true that I, like others, believed that Anna Mae had been murdered by the FBI and/or the
goons. While in prison I believed the statements made by Trudell, Banks and others that the FBI had
killed her. This belief was based on my personal knowledge that Anna Mae was no informant. I had
accepted her into my group, at her own request, one day prior to the FBI raid on Crow Dog’s; and I
6
Horrelako euskal makila bat oparitu nion Bob-i. Idatzia hauxe zegoen: In the Spiri of Annie Mae.
knew that Banks and Peltier had done the same, confirming to me that she was not an informant.

(3) At what time did you realize that Vernon Bellecourt was involved in that crime?

I knew that Vernon Bellecourt and Banks had been the ones who had Peltier, Butler and I question
Anna Mae about her loyalty to the movement, during the Farmington AIM convention in 1975, but I
did not know of Vernon Bellecourt´s role during the Douglass Durham exposé and how it related to
the suspicions toward Anna Mae that lead to our questioning her. It was common knowledge in the
movement that Vernon Bellecourt was a very close confederate to Dennis Banks, so it followed that
Dennis Banks would use him in taking care of his personal business. Then in 1980, I read in Peter
Matthiessen´s unpublished manuscript which he had sent me to review that Banks said, "I sent
Vernon back to the rez to see what he could find out..." and it began to become more clear to me that
Vernon Bellecourt was involved, but I still did not have all the pieces of the puzzle.

The AIM Tribunal with the Bellecourts was the first time I publicly accused an AIM leader of being
responsible for the death of Anna Mae; the confrontation with Trudell became my second accusation.
It was after the confrontation with Trudell that I began in earnest to revisit my past, retracing those
events of which I had been a part, with the idea and hope of discovering who else in AIM had been
responsible for killing Anna Mae with the objective that they would lead me to the motive and AIM
leader(s) with the authority to order Anna Mae’s execution.

After reviewing all of the expressions by Dennis Banks, John Trudell, Vernon Bellecourt, and their
movements, as well as those of others in AIM, I came to the conclusion that Vernon Bellecourt had
been the one involved with Banks, along with Trudell, from the beginning, up to the execution of Anna
Mae. Vernon’s involvement with John Boy Graham and the John Graham Defense Committee is yet
another indicator of his complicity to the crime.

(4) When did you first know that Dennis Banks was behind the whole operation which led to Annie
Mae’s murder?

I became convinced that Banks had the only real motive for ordering Anna Mae executed because
everyone in the movement knew that Anna Mae was a member of his group before and during this
period. Other members of AIM would have never touched Anna Mae Aquash without the explicit
order of Dennis Banks.

Shortly before the Looking Cloud trial, after a long investigation of the sequence of events involving
Banks, Vernon Bellecourt, John Trudell and Anna Mae, it became clear that everyone in the
movement knew of Banks’ close relationship with Anna Mae, and that he and Vernon had accused
her of being a possible informant after Durham had been exposed, because others in the movement
began to publicly accuse Anna Mae too. As the founder and national leader of AIM, and someone in
an intimate relationship with Anna Mae, Banks was the only one with authority that others in AIM
would consent to an order for her imprisonment and execution.

I believe the true motive for killing Anna Mae was to save himself from the federal charges arising
from the Ontario, Oregon shoot out in 1975. I believe that Banks became convinced that Anna Mae
was, as he and Vernon Bellecourt originally thought and ordered us to question her, an FBI informant.
I am sure that his fear was triggered by, what I believe to be one of many FBI fabrications, an FBI
Affidavit of Informants "A" and "B". I ultimately became convinced of Banks’ motive and direct
involvement in silencing Anna Mae, after I learned of this affidavit. I also learned from those who
participated that it was one of many other documents, used to find Anna Mae guilty. Hours after he
and others were indicted for federal crimes arising from the Oregon shoot out, I believe Banks
ordered Anna Mae to be imprisoned and within days after her imprisonment she was executed.

(5) How is it that you confronted John Trudell in 1994?

After the nationally televised AIM Tribunal against Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt for crimes against
AIM, and Indian people, a WKLD/OC lawyer confessed of his involvement in the killing of Anna Mae.
Then within days after his confession, Troy Lynn Yellow Wood confessed to me everything that she
said went on in her house, the WKLD/OC and the people involved. One of those she said was involved
was John Trudell, who I had been at odds with for some years, because he had, at that time, been
carrying on a campaign to snitch jacket David Hill, a National Spokesperson for Leonard Peltier. Troy
Lynn, said that Trudell was,"... her best friend" and admitted that, "I called John [Trudell] and told him
that [Anna Mae] had been taken from my house as prisoner." Surprised and angry to discover that
Trudell had been in some way involved with the killing of Anna Mae, I became determined to find out
the extent of his involvement.

I learned that John Trudell was scheduled to speak at the "Salt of the Earth" bookstore about his new
book, Stick Man, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, shortly after I returned home. I took my tape recorder
and drove to the bookstore. I stepped in front of him just outside the bookstore and began
questioning him about what his "best friend" Troy Lynn Yellow Wood had told me. I learned that
Trudell had indeed been in some way involved and that he knew all the people that had been involved
themselves. He also revealed that his friend, Bruce Ellison, had also been involved. In that moment I
knew that both of them had been covering up AIM´s part in killing Anna Mae.

After our conversation on the sidewalk, I walked into the bookstore and condemned Trudell publicly
for, "being responsible for the death of Anna Mae Aquash." Trudell publicly said, "a COINTEL
operation was being directed to neutralize me -an attack I have been waiting for. Now my life is in
jeopardy" and "I find it very interesting that Bob Robideau and David Hill are the vanguards of this."

(6) Let’s hope that John Boy Graham will be extradited to the United States. What will you expect to
happen at his trial?

Foremost, I anticipate that the FBI will influence the federal prosecutor to use witnesses that will
attempt to implicate Peltier further to the killing of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash. They will want Kamook
Banks Ecoffey to take the stand again to testify about her same lies about Peltier.

My greatest hope is that John Boy Graham will not go to trial, but instead that the Federal prosecutor
will offer him a deal to plea to a lesser offence in exchange for his testimony against those AIM
leader(s) who ordered him to execute Anna Mae, and who have been participating in leading others
to believe that Leonard Peltier is the one guilty for Anna Mae´s execution. With this revelation will
come the down fall of Banks and hopefully exposure of the FBI´s ongoing conspiracy to implicate
Peltier to the killing of Anna Mae, and manufacturing false evidence against him in this case, as well
as the Oglala case.

(7) It is very clear that the FBI has been trying to use all this mess around Annie Mae, including Arlo
Looking Cloud trial, against your cousin Leonard Peltier. How do you feel about that?

It became clear to me after the Looking Cloud trial that the FBI had targeted Leonard Peltier. The trial
had given the FBI another opportunity to fabricate testimony that they hoped could be used to keep
Leonard Peltier locked away in prison for the rest of his life.
The FBI paid Kamook Ecoffey $47,000 for her testimony, and influenced other witnesses to give
perjured testimony against Peltier. Kamook´s testimony about his alleged confession had absolutely
nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of Looking Cloud, but everything to do with the FBI´s on
going efforts to keep Leonard Peltier in prison. As a result of the FBI´s activities in the Looking Cloud
trial I have made a concerted effort to re-join the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee in order to
become a stronger voice in exposing these fabrications and lies against Leonard Peltier.
Me-gwitch Bob, eskerrik asko7.

Ongi, Bob, liburua bukatzeko, utz iezadazu zenbait galdera egiteko, irakurleak zure hitzetan nahasketa
makabro honi buruzko ikuspegi orokor bat izan dezan.

(1) Zergatik hasi zinen ahalegintzen Annie Maeren hilketa argitzen?

Atzera begira, ez zen nik hartutako erabakia, bestek niregan behartu zutena baizik. Lehendabizi,
Leavenworth espetxe federaletik 1979ko udan aske utzi eta gero, Anna Maeren hilketan zerikusia
zuten AIMko jendea niregana etorri ziren, nik ezagut dezadan haien parte hartzeaz. Harrituta eta
nahastuta nengoen, zeren presondegian asko pentsatu bainuen nola FBIk hil zuen Anna Mae; AIMko
jendeak Anna Mae hil zueneko ustekabea eta gero ere, oraindik uste nuen FBIk rol handia eta zuzena
jokatu zuela.

Oso pertsonala bilakatu zen AIMko jendeak Anna Mae hil zuela Peltier, Butler eta hirurok
presondegitik salbatzearren konturatzen hasi nintzenean eta gertaera horretan esnatzen nintzenean.
Jakin nahi nuen zergatik haiek eramanak ziren banekien gezurra zen ideia hori sinestera. Jakin nahi
nuen nork iraunarazi zuten gezur hori eta zein zen haien arrazoia. Gezur hori kreatu zuen/zuten
personak/ek Anna Maeren hilketaren erantzungile gisa Peltier, Butler eta ni neu azalarazi
gintuen/gintuzten. Banekien ez Peltier-ek, ez Butler-ek ezta ni neuk ere, ez geneukan inolako
zerikusirik Anna Maeren hilketarekin. Banekien beste arrazoi bategatik hila zela, beste bat
salbatzearren. Nire zuzentasun eta ohore pertsonala defendatzeko kontu bilakatu zen; baita Peltier-
en, Butler-en eta Anna Mae Aquashena ere eta horrek behartu ninduen egiaren hondalanean
jarraitzeko.

(2) Annie Mae exekutatua izan zen zu espetxean egon zinen bitartean. Denbora hartan, beste
jende askok bezala, uste zenuen FBIk eta/edo goon taldekoek haren hilketan parte hartu zutela. Noiz
hasi zinen pentsatzen AIMko jendeaz haren hiltzaile posible gisa?

Bai egia da nik, beste askok bezala, uste nuela Anna Mae FBIk eta/edo goonek hil zutela.
Presondegian nengoenean, uste nuen Trudell-ek, Banks-ek eta beste batzuek egindako FBIk bera hil
zutela. Uste hori oinarritzen zen nire ezaguera pertsonalean, alegia Anna Mae ez zela inolako
informatzailea. Bera onartu nuen neure taldean, berak nahi zuelako, Crow Dog-en kanpamenduan
FBIK egindako erasoa baino aurreko egunean; eta banekien Banks-ek eta Peltier-ek gauza bera egin
zutela, horrek niri egiaztatzen zidan bera ez zela informatzailea.

(3) Zein denboratan konturatu zinen Vernon Bellecourt-ek parte hartu zuela krimen horretan?

Banekien Vernon Bellecourt eta Banks izan zirela Peltier, Butler eta niri Anna Mae mugimenduarekiko
leialtasunaz galdekarazi zigutenak, 1975eko Farmington-eko AIM konbentzioan, baina ez nekien
Douglass Durham-en salaketa publikoan Vernon Bellecourt-en rola eta nola hori lotuta zegoen Anna
Maerekiko susmoekin, zeintzuek guk berari galdekatzera eraman baitzuten. Oso ezaguna zen
mugimenduan Vernon Bellecourt Dennis Banks-en oso aliatu hurbila zela, hortaz ondorioztatzen da
Dennis Banks-ek bera erabil zezakeela bere arazo pertsonalez arduratzeko. Gero 1980an Peter
Matthiessen-en publikatu gabeko eskuizkribuan irakurri nuen Banks-ek esan zuenak berraztertzera
eraman ninduen, “Bidali nuen Vernon atzera erreserbara ikusteko berak aurki dezakeena…” eta
argiago bilakatzen hasi zitzaidan Vernon Bellecourt-ek zerikusia zeukala, baina oraindik ez neuzkan
puzzlearen pieza guztiak.

Bellecourt anaiekiko AIM Tribunala izan zen lehen aldiz nik publikoki AIMko buruzagi bati akusatu
niola Anna Maeren heriotzaren erantzulea izateko; Trudell-ekiko nire istilua nire bigarren akusazio
bihurtu zen. Trudell-ekiko borroka ondoren hasi nintzen sutsuki nire iragana errebisatzen, parte hartu

7
Segituan elkarrizketa horren euskarazko bertsioa dago.
nituen gertakarietan gogoratzen, Anna Maeren hilketan nor gehiago zen AIMn erantzulea aurkitzeko
ideia eta itxaropenarekin, honelako helburuarekin, alegia, gertakari haiek ni eramango ninduketen
arrazoira eta Anna Maeren exekuzioa agintzeko autoritatea zeuka(te)n AIMko buruzagi(ar)engana.

Dennis Banks, Vernon Bellecourt, John Trudell-en adierazpen guztiak, baita AIMko beste batzuena
ere, berraztertu eta gero, ondorioztatu nuen Vernon Bellecourt izan zela zerikusia zeukana Banks-
ekin, eta Trudell-ekin batera, hasieratik Anna Maeren exekuzio arte. John Boy Graham-ekiko eta John
Graham Defense Committee delakoarekiko Vernon-en zerikusia krimenarekiko haren konplizitatearen
beste adierazle bat da.

(4) Noiz ezagutu zenuen lehen aldiz Dennis Banks Annie Maeren hilketara eraman zuen operazio
osoaren atzean zegoela?

Anna Mae exekutatzearren agintzeko arrazoi erreal bakarra Banks-ek zeukala konbentzituta bilakatu
nintzen, zeren mugimenduko jende guztiak baitzekien Anna Mae haren taldeko kidea zela epealdi
hori baino lehenago eta epealdi horretan zehar. AIMko beste kidek ez zuketen inoiz Anna Mae ukituko
Dennis Banks-en agindu espliziturik gabe.

Looking Cloud epaiketa baino pixka bat lehenago, Banks, Bellecourt, John Trudell eta Anna Maerekin
zerikusia zeukaten gertakarien sekuentziaren ikerketa luzearen ostean, argi bihurtu zen mugimenduko
jende guztiak bazekiela Anna Maerekiko Banks-en harreman hurbilaz, eta berak eta Vernon-ek hari
[Anna Maeri] akusatu ziotela informatzaile posible bat izateaz Durham publikoki salatua izan
ondoren, zeren mugimenduko beste batzuk ere Anna Mae publikoki salatzen hasi baitziren. AIMren
fundatzaile eta buruzagi gisa, eta Anna Maerekiko barneko harremaneko norbait modura, Banks zen
AIMn autoritate bakarrarekin, bestek hura [Anna Mae] preso hartzeko eta exekutatzeko agindua
onartuko zuketena.

Uste dut Anna Mae hiltzeko benetako arrazoia bera [Banks] 1975eko Ontario-ko Oregon-go
tiroketatik sortu ziren kargu federaletatik salbatzeko zela. Uste dut Banks konbentzituta bihurtu zela
Anna Mae FBIko informatzaile bat zela, berak eta Vernon Bellecourt-ek hasieran pentsatu zuten
moduan eta berari galdekatzeko agindu ziguten bezala. Segur nago haren beldurra piztu zuela ‘A’ eta
‘B’ informatzaileei buruzko FBIko dokumentu batek, dokumentu hori FBIren fabrikazioetako bat izanik,
nire ustez. Anna Mae isiltzeko Banks-en zerikusi zuzenaz eta argudioaz azkenik konbentzitua bilakatu
nintzen, dokumentu horretaz jakin eta gero. Parte hartu zutengandik ezagutu nuen ere Anna Mae
errunduntzat hartzeko erabilitako dokumentu askoetako bat izan zela. Oregon-go tiroketatik sortu
ziren krimen federalengatik bera [Banks] eta besteak salatuak izan eta ordutara, uste dut Banks-ek
Anna Mae preso edukitzeko agindu zuela, eta hura preso hartu eta egun batzuetara exekutatua izan
zen.

(5) Zer dela-eta jo zenuen John Trudell-en kontra 1994an?

AIMren eta jende indiarren aurkako krimenak zirela-eta, Vernon eta Clyde Bellecourt-en kontrako
nazionalki telebistatutako AIM Tribunal eta gero, WKLDOC-ko abokatu batek Anna Maeren hilketan
bere zerikusia aitortu zidan. Gero, aitorpen hura eta egun batzuetara, Troy Lynn Yellow Wood-ek bere
etxean gertatu zen guztia esaten zuena aitortu zidan. Berak zerikusia izan zuela esan zuenetariko bat
John Trudell izan zen; zenbait urtetan haserre egon nintzen John Trudell-ekin, zeren, denbora hartan
berak David Hill, Leonard Peltier-entzako bozeramale nazional bat, gaizki janzteko kanpaina bat
eramaten baitzuen. Troy Lynn-ek esan zuen Trudell “bere lagun mina” zela eta onartu zuen, “John-i
[Tudell] deitu niola eta esan niola [Anna Mae] nire etxetik preso gisa hartua zela”. Anna Maeren
hilketan nolabait John Trudell-ek zerikusia zeukala harrituta eta haserre aurkitzean, erabaki nuen
haren zerikusiaren norainokoa izan zen jakitea.

Etxera itzuli eta denbora gutxira jakin nuen John Trudell-ek New Mexico-ko Albuquerque-ko “Salt of
the Earth” liburu-dendan Stickman bere liburu berriari buruz hitz egiteko ordua emanda zuela. Hartu
nuen nire grabagailua eta liburu-dendara gidatu nuen. Haren aurrean paratu nintzen liburu-dendatik
kanpo eta hasi nintzen berari galdetzen Troy Lynn Yellow Wood-ek bere “lagun minak” niri esan
zidanari buruz. Jakin nuen benetan John Trudell nolabait zerikusia zeukala eta berak ezagutzen zuela
zerikusia zeukan jende guztia. Berak esan zuen Bruce Ellison-ek, bere lagunak, zerikusia ere
bazeukala. Une hartan jakin nuen biak Anna Maeren hilketan AIM estaltzen egon zirela.

Espaloiko gure elkarrizketa eta gero, liburu-dendan sartu nintzen eta Trudell publikoki gaitzetsi nuen,
“Anna Mae Aquashen heriotzaren erantzulea izateagatik”. Trudell-ek publikoki esan zuen “ni
neutralizatzeko ‘cointel’ operazio bat zuzendu da -itxaroten egon naizeneko erasoa. Orain nire bizitza
arriskuan dago” eta “oso interesgarria da Bob Robideau eta David Hill horren abangoardia izatea.”

(6) Espero dezagun John Boy Graham estraditatuko dutela AEBetara. Zer espero duzu gertatzea haren
epaiketan?

Oroz lehen, aurreikusten dut FBIk fiskal federalari eragingo diola Anna Mae Pictou Aquashen hilketan
Peltier gehiago inplikatzearren ahaleginduko diren lekukoak erabiltzeko. Nahi izango dute KaMook
Banks Ecoffey berriz tribunara jotzeko, Peltier-i buruz haren gezur berdinak testifikatzearren. Nire
esperantzarik handiena John Boy Graham epaiketara ez joatea da, eta fiskal federalak berari akordio
bat eskaintzea lege-hauste gutxirako alegatzeko, Anna Mae exekutatzeko berari agindu zio(te)n
AIMko buruzagi(ar)en aurkako lekukotasunaren ordez; Anna Maeren exekuziogatik Leonard Peltier
erruduna dela besteri sinestera eramanez parte hartzen egon diren buruzagiak; eta kasu honetan,
Oglala kasuan bezala, haren kontrako ebidentzia faltsua manipulatuz.

(7) Oso argi dago FBI egon dela Annie Maeren inguruko nahasketa hori erabili nahiz, baita Arlo
Looking Cloud-en epaiketa ere, Leonard Peltier zure lehengusuaren aurka. Zer deritzozu horri?

Looking Cloud-en epaiketaren ondoren, argi bilakatu zitzaidan FBIk Leonard Peltier-engana jo zuela.
Epaiketak FBIri beste aukera bat eman zion haiek espero zuten Leonard Peltier bere gainontzeko
bizitzan presondegian giltzapetuta mantentzeko erabil zitekeen lekukotasuna fabrikatzeko.

FBIk KaMook Ecoffey-ri 47.000 dolar ordaindu zizkion bere lekukotasunagatik; eta beste lekukoei
eragin zioten Peltier-en aurkako zin faltsuko lekukotasuna emateko. KaMook-en lekukotasunak, haren
[Peltier-en] ustezko aitortzari buruzkoak, ez dauka inongo zerikusirik Looking Cloud-en erruduntasun
zein errugabetasunarekin, baizik eta Leonard Peltier presondegian edukitzeko FBIren etengabeko
ahaleginekin. Looking Cloud-en epaiketan FBIren jardueren ondorio gisa, ahalegin bateratu bat egin
dut Leonard Peltier Defense Committee delakoan berriro sartzeko, Leonard Peltier-en aurkako
fabrikazio eta gezur horiek salatzean ahots indartsuago bilakatzeko.

Me-gwitch Bob, eskerrik asko.