why was anna mae killed: “No. I never believed nor took In the Lakota’s Fort Laramie treaty land, cor- porations found a good deal of gold, coal and ura- seriously rumors that Anna Mae nium. Some Lakota resisted (and still resist) the Aquash was an FBI informant. ensuing resource exploitation and even refused to take money for land that had already been stolen I believe instead that Anna Mae from them. FREE was killed because she was a skilled In the 1970’s, major uranium deposits were lo- cated on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The South Da- organizer & leader for our people.” kota and tribal governments sought to suppress the traditionals and the American Indian Movement - Leonard Peltier supporters in order to secure the land for profit. JOHN During the early 70’s a paramilitary group Support John Graham! called the GOONS (Guardians of the Oglala Na- Court begins November 29, tion), funded by the tribal government and sup- 315 St. Joseph St, Rapid City. ported by the FBI, shot up people’s homes and cars GRAHAM and engaged in other acts of brutality, intimidation The Indian Wars continue and murder. While the FBI orchestrated the Oglala shoot-out, 133,000 acres of the Pine Ridge Reservation (trea- ty land) was signed away in Washington D.C. The shoot-out followed nearly three years of extreme violence against the traditional Lakotas and AIM. Over 60 leaders and supporters were murdered in this period of political violence referred to as the “Reign of Terror”. This was the context of the death of Anna Mae Aquash. She was a respected warrior whose life was dedicated to fighting for the land and people. Responding to her arrest and interrogation by FBI agents on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, September, 1975, Anna Mae said: “They offered me my freedom and money if I’d testify the way they wanted. I have those two choices now. I choose my kind of freedom, not their kind, even if I have to die.” Mural painted on a wall in Victoria, BC, Lekwungen Territory FREE JOHN GRAHAM n 2003, the US government In the 1990’s, John Graham was visited four flict with the interests of profit. The railroading of charged Vancouver resident, times by law enforcement officials at his home in John Graham is just another attempt to cover up JohnI Graham with the 1970’s ex- the Yukon. He says they asked him to sign false crimes committed by the State. ecution style killing of his friend and statements implicating AIM leaders in the death of comrade in the American Indian Movement (AIM), Anna Mae. When he refused, he was told he would Anna Mae Aquash. He was extradited from Van- face the murder charges himself. Support John Graham! couver in 2007 to stand trial in South Dakota. Court begins November 29, The trial begins November 29, 2010. In an affidavit sent to Graham’s extradi- He is facing life in prison. He tion hearing in Vancouver, Canada, Leonard 315 St. Joseph St, Rapid City. maintains his innocence. Peltier stated that he was offered release from prison if he agreed to sign false state- about the case: ments implicating John Graham in Anna resources: Books: John Graham is a Tuchone Mae’s death. Leonard refused. native from the Yukon, Cana- In 2004, a Lakota man, Arlo Look- The Life and Death of Anna Mae Aquash, by Johanna Brand da. Among other things, he is ing Cloud was convicted for the murder of Lakota Woman, by Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdos a father to eight, a pipe layer Anna Mae. Looking Cloud “admitted” to the and a community organizer. murder in interview with law enforcement Blood of the Land, by Rex Weyler In the 1970’s, Graham was in- agents Abe Alonzo and Robert Ecoffey. Dur- Prison Writings: My Life is My Sundance, volved with AIM. ing the interview Looking Cloud also admits by Leonard Peltier The Trial of Leonard Peltier, by Jim Messershmidt In 1975, Anna Mae had confided in Graham and to being heavily intoxicated. other friends that she had been threatened by FBI At Looking Cloud’s trial, the prosecution called Websites: agent David Price who told her she would not live Darlene Nichols to the stand (the ex-wife of AIM Our Freedom out the year if she didn’t become an FBI informer. leader Dennis Banks). She said she was paid $43,000 (A news site for John Graham and Leonard Peltier) She refused. to cooperate with the so-called investigation. Short- http://ourfreedom.wordpress.com When Anna Mae’s frozen body was discovered on ly after the trial she married lead investigator, Rob- Graham Defense Pine Ridge Reservation, FBI agent David Price was ert Ecoffey. One witness was called to the defense, http://grahamdefense.org one of the first to examine her body. Price claimed FBI Agent David Price. Free John Graham: Booklet anti-politics.net/distro/2009/freejohngraham-web.pdf he could not identify the body, despite having in- In April, 2010, Richard Marshall, former AIM terviewed her multiple times. Her hands were re- member and Lakota, was tried and acquitted as an Leonard Peltier Defense Committee http://whoisleonardpeltier.info moved and sent to Washington for “identification.” accomplice to the murder. His case was won largely The government coroner listed her cause of death as on the basis that the testimony of Looking Cloud The Tyee: Delivering a Framed John Graham http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/05/16/JohnGraham exposure and she was quickly buried as a Jane Doe was unreliable and the State’s evidence too weak. without a death certificate. The Case of John Graham John Graham is being targeted because he fought http://www.warriorpublications.com/?q=node/25 After the identity of her body was confirmed, for the survival of Indian ways of life, ways that are Transcript of Arlo Looking Cloud Trial a second autopsy by an independent coroner was in conflict with resource exploitation, thus in con- http://www.grahamdefense.org/200402cloud-transcript demanded. This autopsy determined her cause of death to be the obvious bullet wound in the back of her head. HONOR ANNA MAE AQUASH.