2003 Archives

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2003 Native American News Archive

Native American news and events that occurred in Indian Country in 2003.

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2003 Native American News Highlights

—Anna Mae Aquash (also known as Anna Mae Pictou Aquash or, legally, Anna Mae Pictou; first name also spelled Annie Mae; Mi’kmaq name Naguset Eask) (March 27, 1945 – mid-December 1975) was a Mi’kmaq activist from Nova Scotia, Canada who became the highest-ranking woman in the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the United States during the mid-1970s.

She was murdered in 1976. After decades of investigation and the hearing of testimony by three federal grand juries, in March 2003, Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham (also known as John Boy Patton) were indicted for the murder of Aquash.

Looking Cloud was eventually convicted in 2004 and Graham in 2010; both received life sentences. Thelma Rios was indicted along with Graham, but she pled guilty to charges as an accessory to the kidnapping.

In 2008 Vine Richard “Dick” Marshall was charged with aiding the murder, but was acquitted of providing the gun. As of 2011, authorities continue to investigate the murder, as they believe that higher ranking AIM leader(s) ordered the execution in the mistaken suspicion that Aquash was an informant.

Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy Exposes Federal State & Local Government in Crime

MAY 21, 2003: United Nations Headquarters 1st & 44th Street in New York, NY, a scheduled press conference on front steps of United Nations Headquarters May 22, 2003 at 11AM est A Citizen of the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy, exposes Federal State & Local Government in Criminal & Civil rights violations presently occurring in central NY State and asks the United Nations to give her asylum from the United States government and those placed in control of her…

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Discovery in Wisconsin stirs scientific debate: Did two different cultures meet?

The Howling Moon - Right

Nestled in a beautiful, verdant valley along the Mississippi River, a great feast took place nearly 1,000 years ago.

In what appears to be something like an ancient Thanksgiving dinner - albeit with dog meat instead of turkey - people of two different cultures met, exchanged food, ideas and possibly gave birth to an entirely new cultural tradition.

Continue to Discovery in Wisconsin stirs scientific debate: Did two different cultures meet? →

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Statement of the Tetuwan Oyate, Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council

In the fall of 1875, the United States government issued an ultimatum to a nation of people that stood in the way of their advancement across the North American continent. The Lakota people were given a few weeks to leave their own country and return to a reservation established by the Americans “or be considered ‘hostiles’ subject to forced removal.” The Lakota refusal to heed the ultimatum resulted in a war that included the charge of the 7th Cavalry under…

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American Indian dance documentary coming to NBC on April 19th

THE WORLD OF AMERICAN INDIAN DANCE PREMIERES ON NBC TELEVISION NETWORK SATURDAY, APRIL 19 AT 3 P.M. (EST)/NOON PT One Hour Documentary Is Produced By Four Directions Entertainment, An Enterprise Of Oneida Indian Nation Los Angeles, CA: March 21, 2003 — The World of American Indian Dance, a one-hour documentary produced by Four Directions Entertainment, an enterprise of the Oneida Indian Nation, will premiere on the NBC Television Network on Saturday, April 19th at 3 P.M. (EST); Noon (PT). Check…

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Ft. Belknap man finds Columbia data recorder

AUTHOR: Jan-Mikael Patterson, Tribune Staff Writer FORT BELKNAP — A firefighter from Fort Belknap found what is potentially the most important piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia. Chauncy Birdtail, 25, found the data recorder last Wednesday near Hemphill, Texas, about 60 miles east of Nacogdoches. An early look at the tape offered hope that it was in good enough shape to yield some information, a NASA spokesman said Monday. Birdtail is a member of Robert Earth Boy’s Fort…

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When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History – Is it about to repeat itself?

AUTHOR: Thom Hartmann The 70th anniversary wasn’t noticed in the United States, and was barely reported in the corporate media. But the Germans remembered well that fateful day seventy years ago – February 27, 1933. They commemorated the anniversary by joining in demonstrations for peace that mobilized citizens all across the world. It started when the government, in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis, received reports of an imminent terrorist attack. A foreign ideologue had launched feeble attacks on…

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