Oppressing Ward Churchill for nearly a 25th of a century

Humor, Thy Name is Churchill

After a long day of wading hip-deep through the logorrheaic flood that is the Churchill story, we find it soothing to relax and read a few recent literary whacks at the Churchill pinata with the humor stick. Here're some of our favorites (in no particular order):

You knew somebody was going to do it, but the Dummocrat blog did it first:
Battle of the Churchills: Winston vs. Ward

University Of Colorado To Grant Ward Churchill Pilot's License

WARD CHURCHILL GRIEF-A-THON

Here's a couple of song parodies recorded by Don Wrege

Iowahawk's TV Classics: "Chutch"

Top Ten Quotations from Ward Churchill's "Original Writings"

And pretty much anything by Dennis the Peasant

Some people even dream Ward Churchill is after Your Girlfriend
Update: Joshua Beran is back with a second installment of 'Ward Churchill is after Your Girlfriend'

...and just to harsh your mellow, here's what a self-described "future educator" thinks you should be reading

Churchill's Personal History

Important Note: Today (11-3-2005) we received an email from Ward Churchill saying some of our dates and other info contained in this "History" were incorrect. We have asked him for the correct information, and will post it when it is received. Our data was taken from a variety of sources, all of which we felt were trustworthy, but we welcome the opportunity to correct any factual errors.

Update: Ward Churchill has called into question the veracity of a number of our sources, as well as many of the dates. In the interest of fairness, we are removing this history from our blog until we can verify our sources and facts. In the meantime, please refer to our Chronology, which features much of the same information, and which provides links to the sources we used so that the reader may determine for himself whether to believe the information.

Update (11-5-2005): We have found only one legitimate error (repeated once) in our "Personal History" of Churchill, and so we have reposted it with the following deletions: two instances of an allegation that Churchill worked for the South Dakota Highway Patrol, which we are unable to verify outside the AIM sources we linked to. We also removed a repetitive mini-chronology that, in hindsight, added nothing to the history.


Ward Leroy Churchill was born October 2, 1947 in Illinois. He attended high school (this link to the Peoria Journal Star article no longer works, nor does a search of the PJStar archives reveal any mention of Ward Churchill--lucky for us MSN cached a copy, and we've preserved it here); for a time as a teen he appears to have taken the surname Debo, which The Denver Post asserts was his stepfather's surname; his only other association with the name "Debo" seems to be Angie Debo, one of Churchill's fellow authors published by AK Press) in Elmwood, Illinois where he graduated in 1965. Churchill has two half-brothers and one half-sister.

About a year after graduating high school, Churchill was drafted into the Army (1966-1968) and served (take your pick) in the motor pool, as a public information specialist, or was a multi-decorated member of airborne-recon. He's also claimed to have gone to paratrooper school, and to have been a LRRP (long-range reconnaissance patrol--basically hunter-killer units that tracked North Vietnamese targets deep into enemy territory). The motor pool version of his military service is the only one supported by military records.

Churchill earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Sangamon State University in Illinois (you can get an idea of what sort of institution Sangamon was by reading this essay purportedly by two of its teachers).

His work history is sketchy but interesting: he worked for the Rapid City Police Department as an educational consultant, and he worked briefly for Soldier of Fortune magazine (which he claims he "infiltrated" and apparently wrote an article about it (mentioned in footnote 9) for the Covert Action Information Bulletin; we have it here). Somehow he also managed find time to train members of the Weather Underground in bomb-making and weapons handling, but he seems to have lost interest in the radical group when three Weather Underground members (Churchill's students?) accidentally blew themselves up in New York.

Update (12-17-2007): On its "Phonies" page, The POW Network claims (but doesn't provide documentation) that "DoD shows an E4 CHURCHILL, WARD L. MOS: 64B which was Heavy Vehicle Driver. 574th Trans Co while at Ft Riley and then the only unit he was in in Nam was 670th Trans Co, as a Hvy Trk Dvr."

He applied for and got a tenured associate professorship at the University of Colorado, Boulder, despite his lack of a doctorate. Listing himself as an American Indian, he prevailed over 38 other qualified applicants (including eleven other Indians—it's of mild interest that while there were 39 qualified applicants in all, and Indians represented less than half of the applicants, the only applicants interviewed for this position were three of the Indians. It's also of mild interest that while Churchill's hire date on the "Faculty Position Authorization Form" is 8-20-90, his hire date on the "Affirmative Action & Services Data Collection Form for Applicant Flow" is August 19, 1991—we prefer to see this as a simple typographical error rather than an indication of paperwork manufactured after the fact). He later received an honorary doctorate from Alfred University after serving there as a visiting professor in American Indian Studies.

We'd be pleased to provide a link to Churchill's curriculum vita, but we haven't found one on the internet--not on his CU webpages, not anywhere. If you find it, let us know.
Update (12-14-2007): Churchill's latest CV, courtesy the faceless drones over at wardchurchill.net.

Churchill has been married (actual and/or "common law") at least four times: Dora-Lee Larson, Marie Annette Jaimes (with whom Churchill allegedly attacked Carole Standing Elk, a grandmother and board member of the National American Indian Movement and Director of California AIM, resulting in arm and face lacerations and a broken wrist for Mrs. Standing Elk; Churchill allegedly took the opportunity to spit in her face), Leah Renae Kelly, a Canadian Ojibwe 23 years his junior (see Churchill's own account of his relationship with Kelly--for which the Ojibway Tribe officially denounced Churchill for "serious false allegations and insinuations[...] against Leah Kelly"), and Natsu Taylor Saito (a fellow professor in CU's Ethnic Studies department who has since resigned; here's her CV in pdf). He appears to have fathered no children; he presently has one step-daughter, Akilah Jenga (Saito's child from a previous marriage).

Here's a link to the 1994 News from Indian Country article covering the altercation between Jaimes, Churchill, and Standing Elk: Tribunal press conference ends with altercation

It’s a matter of court documents that he would have testified on Mumia Abu Jamal’s behalf had the judge not prohibited it.

Historical Documents:
KHOW Radio (registration required) in Denver obtained some interesting documents today (02-10-2005) pertaining to Churchill's employment at CU (our thanks to milehighretro for the tip):
His 1980 resume, which includes some interesting coursework
Affirmative Action Data Collection Form (showing 11 Indians applied, 2 were interviewed, 1 (presumably Churchill) hired
Faculty Position Authorization Form (putting Churchill on tenure track)
Colorado Affirmative Action Information Form, where Churchill lists highest educational level as 18
KHOW now (02-11-2005) has a portion of Churchill's service record scanned in.

Although newspaper accounts of Churchill's past cannot be trusted (nor can any others that do not reference original records), here's an interesting Denver Post take (02-13-2005):

"Churchill was born to Jack LeRoy Churchill and Maralyn Lucretia Allen in Urbana, Ill., in 1947 and named after his grandfather. His mother and father were divorced when he was 1 1/2, at a time when divorce was highly stigmatized.

"He felt that stigma, according to one of his high school friends, buddying up with someone who also came from a split home. He was raised by his mother and stepfather along with a number of stepbrothers and stepsisters.

"He was known as "Wardo" in high school, where he struck a clean-cut pose as a student-athlete and letterman at Elmwood Community High School in Elmwood, Ill., a town of 2,100 people 25 miles west of Peoria, where he had lived since he was a small boy. He also was known as Ward Debo for a time in high school, taking his stepfather's name. He graduated in 1965 in a class of 55 students."

Our own research has been unsuccessful in discovering any link to Indian blood in Churchill's lineage. This of course does not mean no link exists, only that we have yet to find that link. Other researchers have noted that, for his part, Churchill refuses to cooperate in any genealogical research, likening it to "pedigreeing a dog."

Ars Gratia Artis

And now Churchill can add charges of Art Fraud to his CV

Michelle Malkin has more on the breaking Churchill art fraud story (02-24-2005)

Denver CBS Affiliate reports: Churchill Art Piece Called Into Question (02-24-2005, thanks to LGFer MikalM for the link)

When CBS4 News tried to talk to Churchill about a possible copyright infringement, we received an angry response.

"Get that camera out of my face," Churchill said.

CBS4 News reporter Raj Chohan: "This is an artwork we've got called 'Winter Attack.' It looks like it was based on a Thomas Mails painting; it looks like you ripped it off. Can you tell us about that?"

That prompted Churchill to take a swing at Chohan.

If you want to own one of Churchill's "artworks" you can bid here on e-bay (02-24-2005) (thanks to LGFer theparson for this link)

Churchill speaks of Indian art, Indian artists, and somehow works in Nazi eugenics (note: this piece was "typed in" by a third party, and is not attributed to a specific publication; we have yet to verify that it is, indeed, Churchill's writing)

Interviews With/Articles By Churchill

Here's the essay that started it all!
"Some People Push Back" On the Justice of Roosting Chickens

A 1999 radio interview with Vernon Bellecourt and Ward Churchill; the interview demonstrates in a few pages the seething enmity between the two men and their respective AIMs (thanks to reader DWG for pointing it out to us).

The Anarchist Reading Circle has a PDF version of Churchill's Pacifism as Pathology (important note: numerous pages are missing from these files):
Chapter 1 (PDF, 93 kb)
Chapter 2 (PDF, 89 kb)
Chapter 3 (PDF, 466 kb)
Chapter 4 (PDF, 455 kb)
Chapter 5 (PDF, 349 kb)

ZMag publications of various Churchill's essays:
Resistance to War, Occupation, and Empire, 08/24/04
Wages of Cointelpro Still Evident, 03/10/99
Smoke Signals in Context, 01/1/96
The Crucible of American Indian Identity / Part 2, 01/1/96
The Crucible of American Indian Identity / Part1, 01/1/96
Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls reviewed by Churchill, 01/1/96
Holocaust Denial in Context, 01/1/96
Assaults on Truth and Memory: Holocaust Denial in, 01/1/96
Suppression of Indigenous Sovereignty, 01/1/96

News Links Archive

But the rights afforded those of us in the academic community to pursue our scholarly work come with a heavy responsibility to behave with integrity and professionalism and to meet the highest ethical standards our disciplines demand. These standards create the boundaries within which academic freedom rests. Our work does not happen in a vacuum, but rather is regularly put to the test of scholarly debate and dissection creating another set of boundaries within which our freedom to discover, research and write lies.

When faculty members meet the measure and the moral and ethical boundaries of their disciplines they do and should expect the full support of their university. This relationship between the faculty member and his or her university creates the environment necessary for the nurture of groundbreaking research, essential scholarship and educational advancement that modern society relies upon.

True higher education the process of debate, discovery and learning only functions when both sides of this equation uphold their responsibilities. It is my pledge to you today that this administration will do its part. [emphasis ours]

Eastern Washington Univesity to host O'Reilly-Churchill Debate? (02-26-2005)

Excellent editorial at Arma Virumque discusses the real victim of the Churchill debacle: True Academic Freedom (02-26-2005)
Excerpt:

It also follows (and here what Shils has to say is relevant to the case of Ward Churchill) that academic freedom is limited in certain ways. For example, "An academic is not free to falsify the record of his observations; he is not free to forge or misrepresent the contents of documents and inscriptions."

Full-Page Ad to run in Monday's Daily Camera:
200 faculty members call for halt to investigation (02-26-2005)

Well, it's not like they have cause to fire him....
CU weighs buyout for firebrand prof (02-26-2005)

CBS4 has an online poll where you can vote on what punishment Churchill should receive for copyright infringement (02-25-2005, thanks to LGFer Malleus Dei for this tip):

Michelle Malkin has more on the breaking Churchill art fraud story (02-24-2005)

Churchill can add charges of Art Fraud to his CV (02-24-2005, thanks to LGFer MikalM for the link)
Churchill Art Piece Called Into Question

When CBS4 News tried to talk to Churchill about a possible copyright infringement, we received an angry response.

"Get that camera out of my face," Churchill said.

CBS4 News reporter Raj Chohan: "This is an artwork we've got called 'Winter Attack.' It looks like it was based on a Thomas Mails painting; it looks like you ripped it off. Can you tell us about that?"

That prompted Churchill to take a swing at Chohan.

DECIDE FOR YOURSELF: The Hawaiian Reporter has posted an audio clip of Churchill's "I'm not" an Indian speech (02-24-2005) (If you're unable to get the file from that site, try this location)
...and here's a slowed-down version of the quote in question ("cut to the chase....I'm not/on that" courtesy of LGFer jake

'Occupied Iraq' Agrees With Churchill (02-24-2005)

CU Regents meet in Colorado Springs (about 100 miles from Boulder), and extend 30-day investigation period on Churchill to consider 'confidential new information' (02-24-2005)

Churchill scheduled to speak March 26 at San Francisco anarchist bookfair (02-24-2005)

Indian Country Today editorial Blasts Churchill (02-24-2005)
Questionable identity and questionable scholarship
Excerpt:

Churchill does not now, nor has he ever, represented Indians. His complex, overly-academic rhetoric clarifies how little he has in common with Native people. His acid tongue, dirty-mouthed sarcasm, self-important posturing, and preachy fanaticism contribute nothing to the challenge Indians face to establish a satisfying position in contemporary society.

Michelle Malkin: Churchill advocates terrorism on tape (02-24-2005)
from the transcript:

Churchill: I’m gonna repeat that, tell me if I got that right: Why shouldn’t we do something and how do you you move so they don’t see you coming.

As to the first part, not a reason in the world that I could see. I can’t find a single reason that you shouldn’t in a principled way there may be some practical considerations, such as do you know how (laughter from audience) you know, often these things are processes. It’s not just an impulse. And certainly it’s not just an event. And the simple answer, although it probably should be more complicated, but I’m not being flip and giving the simple answer, is: You carry the weapon. That’s how they don’t see it coming.

You’re the one They talk about ‘color blind or blind to your color.’ You said it yourself.

You don’t send the Black Liberation Army into Wall Street to conduct an action.
You don’t send the American Indian Movement into downtown Seattle to conduct an action. Who do you send? You. Your beard shaved, your hair cut close, and wearing a banker’s suit.

There’s probably a whole lot more to it, you know that. But there’s where you start.

Well now, don't WE feel foolish: Hawaiian newspaper retracts story (02-24-2006)
Churchill did NOT say "I am not an indian"
The correction:

The story about Churchill's Tuesday night speech at the University of Hawaii-Manoa said the professor noted that his "white Republican" critics were asking, "Is he an Indian? Do we really care?"

"Let's cut to the chase, I'm not," the quote in yesterday's [Honolulu Star-Bulletin] continued.

But a review of video and audio tapes of the speech shows that Churchill actually said: "Is he an Indian? We really care. We're trying to protect the rights of Indians to divine for themselves, say this circle of flies in the form of white reporters circling a manure pile like it's of all consequential importance. Cut to the chase on that."

Blasts from the Past:
Boulder's Daily Camera article (02-02-2005) quotes a 1987 Denver Post article as saying Churchill taught Weather Underground members how to make bombs (thanks to Joshua Sharf for this tip)

...and a scan of the 1987 Denver Post article itself, courtesy of KHOW radio (registration may be required, if so, click here) (again, thanks to Joshua Sharf for this tip, who thanks the Daily Camera for the link)) (Note that this article has much information that contradicts claims Churchill has made over the years, including his alleged "Long-range reconnaissance patrol" membership, which seems to contradict his 1980 resume assertion that his military service was as a "Public Information Specialist")
...and courtesy of LGFer Axiom, here's a TEXT version of the above-noted 1987 Denver Post article

From the Rocky Mountain News: Churchill met with Gadhafi (02-11-2005)
and from the AP, a 1983 story about the Gahafi meet (thanks go to LGF's zombie for this)

... and (again thanks to LGFer zombie) here's a 1999 Indian Country Today article where Churchill is accused of being a cop.

... and zombie checks in with yet another 1984 article covering a protest of Leonard Peltier's incarceration from Soviet scientists that favorably quotes Ward Churchill as a "journalist"

(more)

Scholarly (and Not So Scholarly) Refutations

Excellent evisceration of Ward Churchill's "Mandan smallpox" fraud

CU's investigating subcommittee's report on Ward Churchill's academic offenses

The Genocide That Wasn’t: Ward Churchill’s Research Fraud

The General Allotment Act "Eligibility" Hoax: Distortions of Law, Policy, and History in Derogation of Indian Tribes [PDF]

A scathing review of Churchill's Indians Are Us? originally published in the peer-reviewed American Indian Quarterly in 1996 (thanks to Joshua Sharf for this)

Anarchist writer Bob Black weighs in on Churchill (a very long essay, found originally at this url and attributed to an indymedia article that appears to no longer be available--or perhaps never existed)

Reason magazine debunks Churchill's claim (though not directed at him specifically) of "500,000 [Iraqi] kids lost to-date" which he blames on the US. Thanks to Joust the Facts, from whom we stole this link.

There's even some dispute about the authenticity of a "Crazy Horse" photograph Churchill used in his book Agents of Repression (pp.110) which he maintains is of Crazy Horse ("The picture is authentic, okay?"), but others in the Lakota community say is not owing to Crazy Horse's well-known refusal to allow himself to be photographed. [thanks to Diana for this link]

More on Churchill's acquaintance with "facts" (thanks to Dianna for this link):
Ward's world, part 10: the Black Panthers

Men's News Daily Expert:
Ward Churchill's Military Claims False (02-11-2005)

Churchill's Indian Lineage Questioned and/or Repudiated

Unless otherwise noted, the following documents were first discovered by Sarah D., who posted them on LGF)

Interesting article from a 1994 issue of WestWord concerning the fight between Ward Churchil & friends vs. AIM (thanks to sbprice for the tip) One good quote (out of many): "There are hundreds, if not thousands, of good, sincere white people working with us. They just don't pretend to be something they're not."

While lambasting Churchill's ersatz "confederation of autonomous AIM" organization, the real AIM hints that Churchill is either an anti-Indian government agent, co-conspirator, collaborator, a pawn, or a dupe. AIM has, in fact, has repudiated Churchill in no uncertain terms.

... and (thanks to LGFer zombie) here's a 1999 Indian Country Today article where Churchill is accused of being a cop.

International Indian Treaty Council's (IITC) letter to Churchill officially removing him and Glenn Morris from affiliation with the IITC:
http://www.aimovement.org/csi/Churchill/churchill_means_9_23_86.jpg
...and Churchill's snidely pompous response:
http://www.aimovement.org/csi/Churchill/means_churchill_10_6__86_01.jpg
http://www.aimovement.org/csi/Churchill/means_churchill_10_6__86_02.jpg

AIM's editorial cartoon of Churchill

Brief but interesting discussion on NativeNet concerning Churchill's lineage

General Churchill Discussions of Interest

Here are some of the more noteworthy editorials concerning Churchill:

American Thinker says:
"Churchill listed the names of over fifty Indians who had died in a three year period at Pine Ridge, site of the Leonard Peltier shoot-out. He suggested that the murdered were all supporters of the radical American Indian Movement and that the murders were not investigated because they were carried out by and for the federal government. He is refuted here, he argues back here and is further answered here."

Students of Hamilton College, one of Churchill's erstwhile speaking venues, have started a blog--HOOPLA--about the Churchill controversy.

Here’s a speaking schedule of Ward Churchill, along with topics he covers:
http://www.speakersandartists.org/People/WardChurchill.html

Here’s Churchill's ZNet page:
http://www.zmag.org/bios/homepage.cfm?authorID=62

Interesting press release (02-02-2005) from the American Indian Movement of Colorado ("COAIM", not to be confused with the national American Indian Movement), of which Churchill is a member of the Leadership Council.

And a series of discussions on NativeNet re Churchill, AIM, and COAIM:
http://www.native-ne...
http://www.native-ne...
http://www.native-ne...
http://www.native-ne...
http://www.native-ne...


And, to offset the grim reality of Churchill's perfidy, here's an article that seriously discusses the possibility of a link between Churchill's AIM and the Jon Benet Ramsey murder. Yes, you read that right.

Offsetting grim reality seems to be a growth industry. Here, the Raelians name Churchill an honorary Priest

Churchill's Publications & Publishers

Even though some have said that Churchill has been published only in "the vanity press," it appears that he has, in fact, mostly been published by non-peer-reviewed publishers. It is clear with even the most cursory inspections of the various backlists, that with the possible exception of Routledge, Churchill's publishers cannot be considered academic or scholarly publishers, but rather radical leftist agenda-driven publishers.

The format is:
Title(s)
Publisher
URL
Publisher's "about us" blurb

On the Justice of Roosting Chickens : Reflections on the Consequences of U.S. Imperial Arrogance and Criminality
Perversions of Justice : Indigenous Peoples and Anglo-american Law
Life in Occupied America
Speaking Truth in the Teeth of Power : Lectures on Globalization, Colonialism, and Native North America
Confronting The Crime Of Silence: Evidence Of U.s. War Crimes In Indochina (co-author)
AK Press
http://www.akpress.org/
"AK Press Distribution is part of AK PRESS, Inc., the American branch of AKA Books Co-Operative Ltd., a workers’ co-operative wholly owned by its members. All decision-making, including which titles we distribute and what we publish, is made collectively[....]
"Our goal is to make available radical books and other materials, titles that are published by independent presses, not the corporate giants, titles with which you can make a positive change in the world. The sorts of books we stock are less and less available from the corporate publishers, booksellers & websites."

Pacifism As Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America (Ward Churchill, Co-Author)
Arbeiter Ring
www.arbeiterring.com [ed. note: link returned "server not found" at time of this writing]
[note: info provided from MSN Search cached page] "Arbeiter Ring ("Worker's Circle") borrows its name from the radical Jewish fraternal organization. A century ago, socialist and anarchist locals of the Arbeiter Ring were active on the political and cultural level in Winnipeg, including participating in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike and organizing Emma Goldman's visits to the city. ARP is not-for-profit (likely a redundancy in Canadian book publishing these days), and organized as a workers' collective. Our understanding of workplace democracy is heavily informed by "participatory economics" (parecon), a model developed by Arbeiter Ring author Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel. Parecon is a type of economy proposed as an alternative to contemporary capitalism; its underlying values are equity, solidarity, diversity, and participatory self management."

A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present
Perversions of Justice : Indigenous Peoples and Anglo-american Law
Kill the Indian, Save the Man : The Genocidal Impact of American Indian Residential Schools
Struggle for the Land : Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide, and Colonization
Fantasies of the Master Race: Literature, Cinema and the Colonization of American Indians (second edition)
City Lights Books
http://citylights.com/
"Welcome to City Lights! Co-founded by poet/painter Lawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights is a landmark independent bookstore and publisher that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics."

Culture versus economism: Essays on Marxism in the multicultural arena
Indigena Press
No website found, though there is a reference to Indigena Press in a bibliography of "Studies in American Indian Literature"

Indians 'R' Us: Culture & Genocide
Between the Lines Books
http://www.btlbooks.com/
"Some call us left-wing, feminist, queer positive, and anti-racist. We like that. One time somebody also called us a "tenacious publisher." We'll stick with that too."

Acts of Rebellion: A Ward Churchill Reader
Routledge
http://www.routledge.com/
[ed. note: This is an actual scholarly publisher with a vast backlist of what appears to me mainly "progressive to radical" titles]

The Cointelpro Papers: Documents from the Fbi's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States
Agents of Repression: The Fbi's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement
From a Native Son: Selected Essays on Indigenism, 1985-1995
Marxism and Native Americans (edited by Ward Churchill)
Islands In Captivity: The International Tribunal On The Rights Of Indigenous Hawaiians
South End Press
http://www.southendpress.org/
"South End Press is a nonprofit, collectively run book publisher with more than 200 titles in print. Since our founding in 1977, we have tried to meet the needs of readers who are exploring, or are already committed to, the politics of radical social change."

Since Predator Came: Notes from the Struggle for American Indian Liberation
Aigis Publications
http://www.aigis.com/ap/
"Aigis Publications aims to inform a movement for a free, democratic and ecological society and infuse the popular debate with the knowledge of alternatives that can help us conceive of and create the future in which we want to live."

Indians Are Us?: Culture and Genocide in Native North America
Draconian Measures: The History of FBI Political Repression
Fantasies of the Master Race: Literature, Cinema and the Colonization of American Indians
Common Courage Press
http://www.commoncouragepress.com/
"By publishing books for social justice, Common Courage Press helps progressive ideas to find a place in our culture. The press provides a platform to spread these ideas to activists and ordinary citizens alike."

Cages of Steel: The Politics of Imprisonment in the United States
Maisonneuve Press
http://www.maisonneuvepress.com/
"Maisonneuve Press began publishing in 1988 as a division of the Institute for Advanced Cultural Studies, a non-profit organization committed to progressive social change through cultural analysis and education."

Contact Information for CU Regents, Others

[editor's note: If you choose to correspond with the CU Regents (or any other officials listed, for that matter), please keep your correspondence brief, to the point, and above all civil. You have nothing to gain by acting foolish or vulgar.]

[added 3/21/05]

The U.S. Senators for Colorado are:
Allard, Wayne - (R - CO)- (202) 224-5941
Salazar, Ken - (D - CO) - (202) 224-5852

The U.S. House of Representatives for Colorado are:
Bob Beauprez: (202) 225-2645
Diana DeGette: (202) 225-4431
Joel Hefley: (202)225-4422
Marilyn Musgrave: (202) 225-4676
John T. Salazar: (202) 225-4761
Tom Tancredo: (202) 225-7882
Mark Udall: (202) 225-2161

R=Republican
D= Democrat

2001-2007
1995-2001
At Large
R
Dr. Peter Steinhauer (D.D.S.)
7492 Spring Drive
Boulder, CO 80303
303-499-1278 (fax 303-543-2351)
e-mail Peter.Steinhauer@colorado.edu

2003-2009
District 2
D
Ms. Cindy Carlisle
411 Spruce Street
Boulder, CO 80302
303-444-2606 (fax 303-444-0057)
e-mail Regent.Carlisle@colorado.edu

2003-2009
District 7
R
Ms. Patricia Hayes
12575 East Bates Circle
Aurora, CO 80014
303-369-0054 (fax 303-740-8409)
e-mail Regent.Hayes@colorado.edu
 
2005-2011
District 1
D
Mr. Michael Carrigan
555 Seventeenth Street, Suite 3200
Denver, CO 80202
(303)-295-8314 (fax 303-975-5489)
e-mail Carrigan@colorado.edu

1999-2005
District 4
R
Mr. Tom Lucero
P.O. Box 921
Johnstown, CO 80534
970-978-1142 (fax 970-587-0920)
e-mail Tommyjclay@aol.com
* Please send communications as an attachment to his email when possible
 
2005-2011
At Large
R
Mr. Steve Bosley
P.O. Box 270509
Louisville, CO 80027
303-604-2313 (fax 303-604-2313)
e-mail Regent.Bosley@colorado.edu
 
2001-2007
1995-2001
District 5
R
Mr. Jerry G. Rutledge, Chair
2745 Springmede Court
Colorado Springs, CO 80906-3716
719-527-8868 (fax 719-632-7694)
e-mail Jerryrutledge@adelphia.net

2003-2009
District 6
R
Mr. Paul Schauer
7255 South Jackson Court
Centennial, CO 80122
303-770-3872 (fax )
e-mail Regent.Schauer@colorado.edu
 
2001-2007
District 3
D
Ms. Gail Schwartz, Vice Chair
P.O. Box 6578
Snowmass Village, CO 81615
970-925-3013 (fax 970-544-4632)
e-mail Gail.Schwartz@colorado.edu

Is He or Isn't He?

Here we now come to the cut scene of this lovefest I'm having with the media, and here's the story:

A Denver reporter by the name of Klev--Kevin Flynn, who actually specializes in racism on the radical right (has a book on it which I would recommend; it's very good... so he knows what he's doing) is assigned this story. 

Rather than displaying the integrity of saying there is no story here, it's not relevant what his pedigree might be, it would be the same story if he was african-american, or african for that matter, asian- american, or asian, latino, or any other plaid sort of group on the face of the earth--any group of humanity. The issue is the substance of what was said, whether it's accurate or not, whether there's logic to it, whether it furthers the discourse. That's the issue. But no, Mister I-know-all-about-right-wing-racism takes a specifically racial assignment to call my band office to find out if I'm who I say I am. Well, fair. Stupid acceptance of an assignment. Anybody with principles woulda refused it, but this is reporterly procedure.
 
He called the band office. The band office said yeah, he's an associate member. Kevin called me back up and said "what the hell's an associate member?" [I] says an associate member is somebody who's been actually a member enrolled in the band whose genealogy has been vetted by the enrollment office. I can actually tell you who do-did that: it was an elder by the name of Louie ["Griffin" or "Griffith"][....]  [emphasis ours]

According to United Keetoowah Band tribal council Chairman, John Ross, associate members "are basically honorary members who can't vote and have no rights to tribal benefits."

Mr. Ross also pointed out that President Bill Clinton has been asked to become an associate member of the Keetoowah Band, "because we found out his mother had some Cherokee ancestry."

To date, President Clinton has not accepted membership in the Keetoowah Band, but he better hurry.

Because of cases like Mr. Churchill's, the United Keetoowah Band may soon cut off associate memberships. "Some tribal members are upset about it (the Churchill case), and others like it," and "there are too many people trying to get in," said Mr. Ross.

It is also not necessary to prove any degree of Indian blood in order to be accepted as an associate member of the United Keetoowah Band. Applicants for associate membership need only to assert that they are descendants of someone who claimed Cherokee blood at any time in the past. Witness the case of President Clinton, where associate membership was offered solely on the basis of a news story about alleged Indian ancestry.
[emphasis ours]

According to UKB historian and former tribal secretary Ernestine Berry, Churchill was granted associate membership status in the tribe in the early 1990s, but is no longer listed as such.

"After he got his associate membership, we never saw him again," said Berry. "He got that card and he was gone, gone, gone."

Berry said that from the mid-'80s until about 1990, the UKB granted associate membership to tribal members' children who didn't have enough certified Indian blood to be members. The UKB requires voting members to be at least one-fourth Cherokee. Berry said associate members have no voting rights, and receive no benefits from the tribe.

About 100 such memberships were granted, according to Berry. She said Churchill's associate membership was granted to him around 1993 by then-chief John Ross.

"[Churchill] claimed to be part Cherokee, but he couldn't prove it; when I first met him, I didn't like him, and I didn't trust him," said Berry. "I told the chief, 'Don't do this, John; it will damage the integrity of the [tribal] roll,' but they went ahead and made him an associate member. He has since used that to promote his own purposes, and he has not helped the United Keetoowah Band at all."

Berry said associate membership is no longer granted, and "the reason it's not is Ward Churchill."

The former chairman of the Keetoowah band of Cherokee Indians says University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill was given an honorary membership that required no proof of Cherokee heritage.

John Ross led the tribe for several years in the 1990s. He says the Keetoowah established an "associate member" program to recognize friends of the tribe.

"If somebody helped out in a certain way, to honor them they'd give them an associate membership," Ross said Thursday. "There were 300 or 400 associate members."

Former President Clinton also was given an honorary membership in the tribe.

To be a full-fledged member of the Keetoowah, a person has to prove he or she is at least one-fourth Cherokee. Churchill has never had such a membership. Only full members are allowed to vote, hold office and receive tribal privileges.

Churchill has cited his associate membership in the tribe as proof of his Cherokee roots. He told The Denver Post on Wednesday he is three-sixteenths Cherokee. In the past, he has described himself as one-sixteenth Cherokee and also claimed to have Creek Indian blood.

Ross said Churchill came to several Keetoowah celebrations in the early 1990s and befriended tribal members, who decided they wanted to give him the associate membership.

"He told the tribal council that if they needed him to lend a hand, he would," Ross said. He recalls Churchill offering to represent the tribe at an academic forum sponsored by the University of Arkansas.

Eventually, Ross came to feel the associate membership program was being abused, and he asked the tribal council to abolish it. The Keetoowah haven't given out any new associate memberships since 1994.

"There were a lot of people coming in and trying to use the associate memberships to elevate themselves," he said. "We decided we shouldn't give them out anymore and did away with it."

Ross said some of the associate members were people who started claiming to be Keetoowah artisans. He says Churchill is also misusing his associate membership status.

"In a sense, he's misleading people," Ross said. "He's like the others - that's what he's done."

"[the United Keetoowah Band] has no association with Churchill in any capacity whatsoever and considers his comments offensive[.]"

Churchill Plagiarizes Self

(And No, This Is Not Parody)

UPDATE: A much more detailed and annotated version of this article is available here

The list of Ward Churchill's apparent perfidies, lies, and fraud grows exponentially every day. He's currently accused of being a race fraud, an academic fraud, an art fraud, and a plagiarizer. Ah, plagiarism. Plagiarism, it seems, even to the point of plagiarizing himself. Attend:

Here is a portion of an interview with Ward Churchill conducted by Jodi Rave in 1993 (the underlined text is Rave's questioning, the non-underlined text is Churchill answering):

What is then, one of the most difficult moments or situation?

Waking up in the morning in what was called Indian Country in 1968 and finding out I was a member of the 7th Calvary. Not literally, there was a 7th Calvary.

 Waking up?

In the morning in what they called Indian Country, this is what hostile territory is called in Viet Nam, yaa know, I figured I was a member of the Calvary and not the Indians.

 Ooh. Ok.

That experience kind of changed my life.

 in which way?

I decided to get on the right side, which isn't with the Calvary, it wasn't with the United States. And just about everything I've done since then was drawn from that experience and all kinds of things have added on. But everything has been very, I can make sense of it, [i]t's been very consistent in that way.

Then, I'm always engaged, I never stop, I'm never unplugged.

Now, here is a portion of Ward Churchill's review of the 1996 book Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls, Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War, by Tom Holm:

Or, as another veteran, a Creek-Cherokee, put it: "I went into the army and to Vietnam because I’d seen the same John Wayne movies as everybody else and thought I was doing an honorable thing, that war was the ‘Indian way’. And, of course, the government was saying at the time that we had this treaty—the SEATO treaty—to uphold. So I went... But when I got to Vietnam, I found that my job was to run missions into what everybody called ‘Indian country’. That’s what they called enemy territory... I woke up one morning fairly early in my tour and realized that instead of being a warrior like Crazy Horse, I was a scout used by the army to track him down. I was on the wrong side of everything I wanted to believe I was about... Then I found out the SEATO treaty never even required the United States to do what it was doing in Southeast Asia. It was all a total lie. Besides, by then I’d figured out that even if it did, it didn’t matter. Why was I fighting to uphold a U.S. treaty commitment halfway around the world when the United States was violating its treaty commitments to my own people and about 300 other Indian nations?... I was fighting the wrong people, pure and simple, and I’ve never gotten over it."

I know it's kinda late in this thread, but if there are any Psychologists out there, I'd be interested in hearing a pro's opinion of whether Churchill is a psychopath or a sociopath. I favor sociopath, myself.

Also, I can think of only three possible reasons he admitted he was not an Indian:

1. He honestly believed it would not make a difference (not my first choice)

2. He understood perfectly the fallout of such an admission, and wanted to self-destruct (a possibility, I think)

3. He believes he is indestructible, and that he can say anything (which his history has pretty much borne out, I'm sad to say) and get away with it.

The third possibility is the one I favor most, and it's why I think he is a sociopath.

I document the systemic violence perpetrated by the U.S. government in the hope that Americans will take this responsibility to heart and use political means to change government policy. I would vastly prefer that this happen through nonviolent means. However, I cannot say that nonviolence is the only legitimate response to systemic violence. [emphasis ours]

Churchill: I’m gonna repeat that, tell me if I got that right: Why shouldn’t we do something and how do you you move so they don’t see you coming.

As to the first part, not a reason in the world that I could see. I can’t find a single reason that you shouldn’t in a principled way—there may be some practical considerations, such as do you know how (laughter from audience)—you know, often these things are processes. It’s not just an impulse. And certainly it’s not just an event. And the simple answer, although it probably should be more complicated, but I’m not being flip and giving the simple answer, is: You carry the weapon. That’s how they don’t see it coming. [emphasis ours]

You’re the one…They talk about ‘color blind or blind to your color.’ You said it yourself.

You don’t send the Black Liberation Army into Wall Street to conduct an action.
You don’t send the American Indian Movement into downtown Seattle to conduct an action. Who do you send? You. Your beard shaved, your hair cut close, and wearing a banker’s suit.

There’s probably a whole lot more to it, you know that. But there’s where you start.

"If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I'd really be interested in hearing about it."

...and....

"With that, [the 9/11 terrorists have] given Americans a tiny dose of their own medicine.. This might be seen as merely a matter of "vengeance" or "retribution," and, unquestionably, America has earned it, even if it were to add up only to something so ultimately petty." [emphasis ours]

Recourse to "ignorance" – a derivative, after all, of the word "ignore" – counts as less than an excuse among this relatively well-educated elite. To the extent that any of them were unaware of the costs and consequences to others of what they were involved in – and in many cases excelling at – it was because of their absolute refusal to see. More likely, it was because they were too busy braying, incessantly and self-importantly, into their cell phones, arranging power lunches and stock transactions, each of which translated, conveniently out of sight, mind and smelling distance, into the starved and rotting flesh of infants. If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I'd really be interested in hearing about it. [emphasis mine]

Ah, here, Churchill seemingly saves his hash. He finally defines the all-encompassing “they” as “this relatively well-educated elite.” Now, I’ve known plenty of janitors, even worked as one myself, and I believe I can speak for most people in that I never considered myself or any other janitor a member of “this relatively well-educated elite.” But does that phrase automatically exclude the janitors, et al? I’ve also known plenty of educated food service workers; many waitresses and cooks at restaurants are kids working their way through college. Surely Churchill, a college professor with over a decade of experience teaching would know this, as well. Also, it can reasonably be said of everyone in this country that they are “relatively well-educated.” So are the janitors okay, but the waiters and waitresses and bus-boys are little Eichmanns? r is it the other way around? Maybe we should just get the resumes of all of the World Trade Center dead, and have Churchill give us his pronouncement on the "little Eichmann-ity" of each on an individual basis.

No. Back on point, I don’t think Churchill gets a pass on this one. Let’s move on.

“[…]befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns[…]” Here we could pretend that the little Eichmanns he refers to are a new group, completely separate and different from the “they” and the “those” he refers to earlier, but no such luck. Construction of the sentence insists that the “little Eichmanns” are identical and one-and-the-same as the “their” in “their participation.”

One last minor weasel to deal with....Churchill has also pointed out that his essay was written "from the gut" in the 24-hour period immediately following the 9/11 tragedy. That he makes this statement implies strongly that he wants us to know that had he had more time, he might have constructed his reasoning better. But the man has published at least a dozen books, the footnotes of which alone would fill several more. Ask any reporter you meet if time constraints give them a free pass on grammar errors.

So, conclusion? Churchill meant exactly what he said, his later weaseling notwithstanding. And what he meant was that those in the World Trade Center were little Eichmanns who deserved “some penalty.” There's no other way to parse it.