"Am I a real Indian? No, but I once stayed at a Best Western Hotel."
Posted on 02/09/2005 4:40:36 PM PST by perfect stranger
If Ward Churchill loses his job teaching at the University of Colorado, he could end up giving Howard Dean a real run for his money to head the Democratic National Committee.
Churchill already has a phony lineage and phony war record – just like John Kerry! (Someone should also check out Churchill's claim that he spent Christmas 1968 at Wounded Knee.) In 1983, Churchill met with Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and later felt it necessary to announce that his group, the American Indian Movement, "has not requested arms from the Libyan government." In 1997, he was one of the "witnesses" who spoke at a "Free Mumia" event in Philadelphia on behalf of convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Come to think of it, Churchill could give Hillary a run for her money. All that's left for Churchill to do now is meet with Al Sharpton and kiss Suha Arafat.
Churchill's claim that he is an Indian isn't an incidental boast, like John Kerry pretending to be Irish. It is central to his career, his writing, his political activism. Churchill has been the co-director of the American Indian Movement of Colorado, the vice chairperson of the American Indian "Anti-Defamation" Council, and an associate professor and coordinator of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado.
By Churchill's own account, a crucial factor in his political development was "being an American Indian referred to as 'chief' in a combat unit" in Vietnam, which made him sad. This is known to con men everywhere as a "two-fer."
In addition to an absence of evidence about his Indian heritage, there is an absence of evidence that he was in combat in Vietnam. After the POW Network revealed that Churchill had never seen combat, he countered with this powerful argument: "They can say whatever the hell they want. That's confidential information, and I've never ordered its release from the Department of Defense. End of story." Maybe we should ask John Kerry to help Churchill fill out a form 180.
In one of his books, "Struggle for the Land," Churchill advances the argument that one-third of America is the legal property of Indians. And if you believe Churchill is a real Indian, he also happens to be part owner of the Brooklyn Bridge.
In his most famous oeuvre, the famed 9-11 essay calling the 9-11 World Trade Center victims "little Eichmanns," he said "Arab terrorists" – his quotes – had simply "responded to the massive and sustained American terror bombing of Iraq" by giving Americans "a tiny dose of their own medicine."
Having blurted out "Iraq" in connection with 9-11 in a moment of pique, Churchill had to backpedal when the anti-war movement needed to argue that Iraq had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Arab terrorism. He later attached an "Addendum" to the essay saying that the 9-11 attack was not only payback for Iraq, but also for various other of this country's depredations especially against "real Indians" (of which he is not one).
In light of the fact that Churchill's entire persona, political activism, curriculum vitae, writings and university positions are based on his claim that he's an Indian, it's rather churlish of him to complain when people ask if he really is one. But whenever he is questioned about his heritage, Churchill rails that inquiries into his ancestry are "absolutely indefensible."
Churchill has gone from claiming he is one-eighth Indian "on a good day" to claiming he is "three-sixteenths Cherokee," to claiming he is one-sixty-fourth Cherokee through a Revolutionary War era ancestor named Joshua Tyner. (At least he's not posing as a phony Indian math professor.) A recent investigation by the Denver Post revealed that Tyner's father was indeed married to a Cherokee. But that was only after Joshua's mother – and Churchill's relative – was scalped by Indians.
By now, all that's left of Churchill's claim to Indian ancestry is his assertion: "It is just something that was common knowledge in my family." (That, and his souvenir foam-rubber "tommyhawk" he bought at Turner Field in Atlanta.)
Over the years, there were other subtle clues the university might have noticed.
Churchill is not in the tribal registries kept since the 1800s by the federal government.
No tribe will enroll him – a verification process Churchill dismisses as "poodle papers" for Indians.
In 1990, Churchill was forced to stop selling his art as "Indian art" under federal legislation sponsored by then-representative – and actual Indian! – Ben Nighthorse Campbell, that required Indian artists to establish that they are accepted members of a federally recognized tribe. Churchill responded by denouncing the Indian artist who had exposed him. (Hey, does anybody need 200 velvet paintings of Elvis playing poker with Crazy Horse?)
In the early '90s, he hoodwinked an impecunious Cherokee tribe into granting him an "associate membership" by telling them he "wrote some books and was a big-time author." A tribal spokeswoman explained: He "convinced us he could help our people." They never heard from him again – yet another treaty with the Indians broken by the white man. Soon thereafter, the tribe stopped offering "associate memberships."
A decade ago, Churchill was written up in an article in News From Indian Country, titled, "Sovereignty and Its Spokesmen: The Making of an Indian." The article noted that Churchill had claimed membership in a scrolling series of Indian tribes, but over "the course of two years, NFIC hasn't been able to confirm a single living Indian relative, let alone one real relative that can vouch for his tribal descent claim."
When real Indians complained to Colorado University in 1994 that a fake Indian was running their Indian Studies program, a spokeswoman for the CU president said the university needed "to determine if the position was designated for a Native American. And I can't answer that right now." Apparently it was answered in Churchill's favor since he's still teaching.
If he's not an Indian, it's not clear what Churchill does have to offer a university. In his book, "A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present," Churchill denounces Jews for presuming to imagine the Holocaust was unique. In the chapter titled "Lie for Lie: Linkages between Holocaust Deniers and Proponents of the Uniqueness of the Jewish Experience in World War II," Churchill calls the Third Reich merely "a crystallization" of Christopher Columbus' ravages of his people (if he were an Indian).
His research apparently consisted of watching the Disney movie "Pocahontas," which showed that the Indians meant the European settlers no harm. (That's if you don't count the frequent scalpings.)
Even the credulous Nation magazine – always on red alert for tales of government oppression – dismissed Churchill's 1988 book "Agents of Repression" about Cointelpro-type operations against the American Indian Movement, saying the book "does not give much new information" and "even a reader who is inclined to believe their allegations will want more evidence than they provide." If The Nation won't buy your anti-U.S. government conspiracy theories, Kemosabe, it's probably time to pack up the old teepee and hit the trail of tears.
In response to the repeated complaints from Indians that a phony Indian was running CU's Indian Studies program, Churchill imperiously responded: "Guess what that means, guys? I'm not taking anyone's job, there wouldn't be an Indian Studies program if I wasn't coordinating it ... They won't give you a job just because you have the paper." This white man of English and Swiss-German descent apparently believes there are no actual Indians deserving of his position at CU. (No wonder the Indians aren't crazy about him.)
As long as we're all agreed that there are some people who don't deserve jobs at universities, why isn't Churchill one of them?
In short, they are good for a laugh in small doses. There is a certain sadness that apparently sentient human beings take this twaddle seriously.
Congressman Billybob
Click for latest, "Was Howard Dean behind a Daring Art Theft?"
His tribal name is "Walking Eagle" - a birdbrain that's so full of s*** that he can't fly.
"His tribal name is "Walking Eagle" - a birdbrain that's so full of s*** that he can't fly".
Would you object to a ornithological modification?
How about "Big Eared Buzzard" (look at the size of his ears & my well established tag line;)!!!!!!
My Grandmother was 1/2 Cherokee and my Grandfather was full Cherokee (both on my Mother's side) what percentage does that make me? Maybe I can become a Cherokee and get some of that casino money? :)
Check her website or HumanEvents or WND.com they should have an archive of her previous work. For me it's fun to look back at an event that happened a few years ago and read her column about it.
She's got an impressive resume, and she takes no crap from liberals when she's on TV. She dabated a writer from New Republic at Amherst college on C-SPAN a few months ago and she ripped him apart. Ha-ha
You owe me a new keyboard for that comment.
"My Grandmother was 1/2 Cherokee and my Grandfather was full Cherokee (both on my Mother's side) what percentage does that make me? Maybe I can become a Cherokee and get some of that casino money? :)"
That is some difficult math!!!!!!!! looks like 3/4ths to me;)
And we need your help to determine how to check this phony's heritage.
What type of birth records has the Cherokee tribe maintained? How far back might they go? Where would you begin to check his bona fides? Must be on his mother's side and I would also like to know if he really is a Churchill on his father's side. I hate that he gets to use this revered name.
Kind thoughts
... why do you ask, two dogs #######?
I'm not familiar with FreeSpeech TV, but just by the name it sounds insipid.
They proclaim to be independent, but they're not. Think of it as Pacifica Radio with pictures.
I did try to research Churchill in the Dawes list which is one of the databases for Cherokees living on reservations. Without his genealogy I couldn't find anything.
This rat lowlife, Ward Churchill, has managed to slur to good names at one time............ "Churchill" and "Cleaver".
Gee, Wally!
It was with Lincoln.
I think your mother then would have been 3/4ths Cherokee and that would make you 3/8ths. Given there was no Cherokee on your father's side. I had one full blooded Cherokee great grandmother. I've seen the pictures. I've heard it said that so many people have Cherokee ancestry because they were attractive people and the old timers often took them as wives above any other tribes. I think one could be purchased for a horse or two or a good rifle.
Amen brother.
This guy could pass as Janet Reno's ugly sister.
HAhahaha!!...Ann Steyn...I mean Mark Coulter...I mean...oh man, with the two of them writing it keeps my tear ducts open...from laughing.
FMCDH(BITS)
ok I'll go with "TWO BEAGLES"
LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.