Vernon Bellecourt Passes

R.I.P.Vernon Bellecourt

Date: Oct 13, 2007 10:46 PM
AIM Leader Vernon Bellecourt Dies at 75

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Vernon Bellecourt, a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement who fought against the use of American Indian nicknames for sports teams, died Saturday his brother said. He was 75.

Bellecourt died at Abbott Northwestern Hospital of complications of pneumonia, according to Clyde Bellecourt, a founding member of the militant American Indian rights group. Just before he was put on the respirator, Vernon Bellecourt joked that the CIA had finally gotten him, his brother said.

"He was willing to put his butt on the line to draw attention to racism in sports," his brother said.

Vernon Bellecourt — whose Objibwe name WaBun-Inini means Man of Dawn — was a member of Minnesota's White Earth band and was an international spokesman for the AIM Grand Governing Council based in Minneapolis.Clyde Bellecourt helped found AIM as a militant group in 1968 and Vernon Bellecourt soon became involved, taking part in the 1973 occupation of the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. He was present only briefly during the 71-day standoff with federal agents, serving mostly as a spokesman and fundraiser, Clyde Bellecourt said.

He was active in the campaign to free AIM activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout in 1975 on the Pine Ridge reservation.He was also involved as a negotiator in AIM's 1972 occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington as part of the Trail of Broken Treaties caravan.In recent years, Bellecourt had been active in the fight against American Indian nicknames for sports teams as president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media.

He was arrested in Cleveland during the 1997 World Series and again in 1998 during protests against the Cleveland Indians' mascot, Chief Wahoo. Charges were dropped the first time and he was never charged in the second case.After Wounded Knee, Vernon Bellecourt became a leader of AIM's work abroad, meeting with presidents such as Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his brother said. He said they plan to list them as honorary pallbearers.

Clyde Bellecourt said his brother had been in Venezuela about four weeks ago to meet with President Hugo Chavez to discuss Chavez' program for providing heating assistance to American Indian tribes. He fell ill around the time of his return, Clyde Bellecourt said.

*PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FAMILY OF VERNON BELLECOURT*

Vernon Bellecourt (WaBun-Inini)

SERVICES:

MONDAY, October 15, 2007

PMALL NATIONS CHURCH

1515 East 23rd Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota

TUESDAY, October 16, 2007

Circle of Life School, White Earth, Minnesota

WEDNESDAY

Funeral, White Earth, Minnesota

For further information contact Clyde Bellecourt at 612-251-5836

Donations needed and accepted

American Indian lawsuit sparked by Montana woman being heard
Oct 10, 2007 07:26 AM CDT
Reporting from KPAX in Missoula

Some 11 years ago a woman from Montana sued the federal Interior Department over money owed to Native Americans and over time that suit by Elouise Cobell of Browning became the largest class action ever filed against the U.S. government.

Come Wednesday Cobell will be in a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C. as her case goes to trial for the second time. At issue is whether or nit the government can provide an accounting for money that it held in trust for half a 500,000 people.

Cobell believes that if she wins it could be the key to ending the lawsuit.

"Then we can come up with an amount that is due Indian beneficiaries. Actually it's called the remedy. And then we would be able to come up with a rough justice figure about how much is owed. I think we're a huge step closer to people getting their money."

Cobell and her lawyers believe the government could owe Native Americans hundreds of billions of dollars in principal and interest dating back to the 1800's.

Two years ago Cobell's legal team offered to settle the case for $27 billion.

For a full list of documents that have been produced in this ongoing (since 1996) litigation:
see Indian Trust: Cobell v. Kempthorne

Tribal Defense Attorney Group

The following message was forwarded to me by Lori Guevara, who serves as a Trustee for the Washington State Bar Association's Indian Law Section. She wanted me to get the word out about this group - so feel free to pass the following information on to whomever may be interested. Thank you.

We are pleased to announce the creation of a new national web page and listserve for attorneys, law students and lay advocates who represent native defendants in criminal proceedings before tribal courts! So far we have over 30 individuals participating from across the county ( i.e. Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado, and Minnesota), which includes public defenders from such tribes as Swinomish, Lummi, Tulalip, Umatilla, Pascua Yaqui, Navajo, Gila River, Tohono O'odham, Southern Ute, Sault Ste Marie, Bay Mills, Mississippi Choctaw and attorneys from Indian legal aid offices that provide criminal representation in tribal courts. We have had discussions concerning such things as the ICRA, mental competency hearings, and funding sources. The web site is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tribaldefenseattorneys/. Because it is a "closed" group, it does required the approval of a moderator to join and have access. We would love to have all tribal public defenders and defense attorneys join us.
Thank you,
Cami


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Cameron Ann Fraser
Michigan Indian Legal Services
814 S Garfield Avenue, Suite A
Traverse City, MI 49686
(231) 947-0122
cfraser@mils.org