REPORT FROM ST. PAUL
Photo by Tom Sweeney/Minnesota Daily
£tit4Wn Ptg'
Eighty-Three Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and, managed by students at the University of Michigan
Their
Russell
By DAVID STOLL continue
THE WHEELS of courtroom jus- ties have
tice were grinding slowly last heavy se
week in St. Paul at the trial of floor of
American Indian Movement (AIM) building,
leaders Dennis Banks and Russell accessibl
Means. Although the first of the points an
Wounded Knee trials packs dyna- marshall
mite, the defense and federal judge tectors,r
Fred Nichol were learning to live knowsu
with each other at least tempor- around t
arily. are whis
Thanks largely to the exhaus- :":." r:
tive cross-examination of defense
counsel William Kunstler last "The
week's progress for the prosecu-
tion totalled disposal of one of 1 868
their witnesses, a Roman Catholic
priest who is the fourteenth to
testify thus far out of the hund- SOCLO
red or so which the government
expects to call to the stand.
Progress for the defense w a s one with
more tangible. After a two-day darker s
wrangle over a piece of sloppiness arms-in-t
on the part of an FBI agent, de- LASTN
fense counsel managed to wangle the featu
an order from Judge Nichol fore- room wa
ing the FBI to open its Minneapolis all seem
files on Wounded Knee to the de- spectator
fense. packedv
THE TRIAL has been ignored so sympathi
far by the national media, but paper cu
plenty of time remains for court- when the
room tumult to bring it to the at- their feel
tention of the country. Wearing ter-objec
now into its third month, the trial relief fr(
is likely to last until summer. The jur
Banks and Means are charged in male and
ten-count indictments which range with thea
from arson and larceny to assault staller R
on a federal officer and conspiracy. Chicano.r
Like four other AIM leaders who so painfu
will go on trial after them, teir bit thej
cases were moved from Siowx ed. Dur
Falls, S.D., to St. Paul in order of those
to getanunbiased jury. sympathi
The defendants plan to rest their tion and
ounded
Means,
Knee t
Dennis
to make, federal aurhori-
e put the courtro m, under
curity. Located or the top
St. Paul's new federal
the Nichol coirtroom is
e only through two check-
nd a dozen and a half U.S.
s, equipped with metal de-
radios, revolvers and God
what firepower tucked
he corner. Whl p r e s s
ked right through, every-
I'm one of the a"o-neys fir the
defendants." In the courtroon no
one matches Mr. Kuastler. A man
of national reputation with a na-
tural Tresence to match. he is so
sure )f himself that even when he
is over-ruled he makei the state-
ments of judge and prosec otor
sound apologetic.
WHEN KUNSTLER rises to
make an objection nis voice is
veritably that of iniaeo reason,
e defendants plan to rest their case on the
8 Sioux Treaty, a thoroughly neglected docu-
,which would shae the foundations of the
d order if it were recognized."
d::Y?:}%F 1S":}i iit^,iYi4:iv}.};j.}i.{}"n"r:2;;"'r'ii}Y{:' mii"{; r"":v"::m::'':': i-:}}:' i "
* his knowledge of tr;lditional
Sioux religion.
* his alleged opposition to the
Sun Dance, a Plains Indian ritual
which has been branded as "pag-
an" by Hauhart's bishop.
* his alleged complicity in trad-
ing-post exploitation of Indians. and
alleged beating of Indian children
at a mission school with which he
is associated.
9 allged exploitation of the
Wounded Knee massacre site as a
tourist attraction by the Catholic
church, upon whose property the
mass grave of the victims is lo-
cated.
The epitomy of inoffensive priest-
liness, Father Manhart wore siiv-
er-rimmed spectacles, parted his
silver hair and had a sm.v)h face
and boyish smile. Although he pr"_v-
ed skillful at parrying the thrust
of Kunstler's questions - to the
great annoyance and contempt of
Pine Ridge AIM members in the
courtroom - at times nis skill
at hedging became very obvious.
"DIDN'T YOU attempt to hring
the Indians of the Pine Ridge re-
servation into the Catholic relig-
ion?" Kunstler asked in a lethal
tone.
"What you are asking is too much
for me to answer," the priest re-
plied mildly. "As a priest I'm in-
r
to stand watch over then?" asked
one. "A U.S. marshall The files
were to have been ins lected Sa-
tjrday.
GLADYS BISSONEI TE loks
like any other little old lady in
white tennis sneakers, except that
she's an Oglala Indian and a de-
clared member of AIM on the
Pine Ridge reservation. She said
her sons have been beaten up by
BIA police and her house searched
illegally twice.
"Most of them's so brake, afraid
and barely alive that tney won't
talk," said Gl~kdys of the Indians
on the Pine Ridge reservation
"They get a beating if they open
their mouth."
When AIM arrived In strength
at the Pine Ridge reservation last
February, it was at the invitation
of residents opposed to the regime
of tribal chairman Richard Wil-
son. In his first nine months of
office, it was nharged, Wilson had
put family members an i friends in
most of the key position- of tribal
government; sold favo-s to white
businessmen and ranchers at ?he
expense of Indians on the reserva-
tion; and harrassd and fired from
their jobs everyone who opposed
him.
SINCE Wounded Knee, AIM
charges that BIA police and vigi-
ial o
Banks
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1974
Contempt and the presidency
skin of an off-white or
shade is subjezted to an
he-air shake-down.
WEEK the atmosphere in
reless wood-panelled court-
s so even-tempered that it
ed beside the point. The
rs' benches were usually
with AIM memoers and
.zers, the jury sat like
t-outs in the jury box, and
e attorneys all jumped to
t with objections and coun-
tions it was a welcome
m the boredom.
rors are predominately fe-
d young. They're all white
exception of telephone in-
Richard Garcia, who is a
The selection pro.:ess was
ul that it took a month,
juror's are not sequester-
ing the questioninl most
chosen revealed vagu-
4es for the Indian condi-
Seven vaguer- kn,)wled e
IMPEACHMENT OF THE President is a
wretched business, justifiable only
when the behavior of the incumbent is
such that tolerating it will set a prece-
dent which, if followed for any length of
time by any future Presidents, would
constitute a clear and present danger to
the survival of any form of democracy.
The long litany of charges against
Richard Nixon, if only one out of ten
prove true, would be more than enough
to make his removal from office,impera-
tive. For this reason, it is entirely just
and proper that Mr. Nixon not be judged
by the narrow standard of criminal right
and wrong, but also by the impact of his'
Presidency upon the future interpreta-
tion of the Constitution, the role of the
executive, and the conduct of public of-
ficials.
Yet greast care must be taken to en-
sure that the impeachment inquiry not
degenerate into a circus as it did against
Andrew Johnson. That fiasco consigned
impeachment of President into limbo for
a century, virtually ensuring the event-
ual emergence of such arrogance as has
characterized the present Administra-
tion.
ALTHOUGH THE majority of people
now regard Mr. Nixon with deserved
distrust, it is clearly bad policy to advo-
cate impeachment as a sop to volatile
public opinion, or to satisfy an intense
individual disliking of the person. Those
people who gave Mr. Nixon his landslide
-even if they are now disillusioned with
his utter ineptitude and possible crimi-
nality - will have every right to demand
that his ouster follow a full and public
accounting of the charges.
Unless it is perfectly clear that throw-
ing out Richard Nixon is not an arbitrary
and capricious act, the benefit to the
democracy which should derive f r o m
imposing the ultimate check upon White
House grandeur, will not come.
If the present impeachment inquiry
treats Mr. Nixon with anything like the
contempt with which Mr. Nixon has
treated it and the American people, we
would be almost as well off to forget
about it and absorb three more years.
-CLARKE COGSDILL
dignity and justice itse'f. After he
has addressed a question to a wit-
ness with whatever measure cf
menace or kindliness he cares to
put into it, he thrusts his lion's
head up with pursed lios w h il e
waiting for the answe-, hand fold-
ed into coat pocket. Then, taking
the answer with the faintest con-
traction of his brows, he strides
down the length of the bar to the
next question.
"Is this the second string?'.
quered one of the defense lawyers
of the government's men in cotrt
last week. Outclassed down to the
quality of his courtroom repartee,
the prosecution's work horse is as-
sistant U.S. Attorney for South
Dakota R. D. Hurd, who did vir-
t'iallytall the government's ques-
tioning and objecting last week.
With a baby face and worried eyes
sink into sockets under furrowed
brows, Mr. Hurd looks a lct hke
a Doonesbury character. T h e
government's four other men get
involved only in the battles royal,
THERE'S NOT much else they
can do after the defense h a s
launched into cross examination,
which in this trial cus'ornaril tak-
es three or four timei as long as
direct questioning. When one of
Mr. Hurd's objections develop into
a three-sided argument between
bench, defense and prosecution,
which they often do, Kunstler ha-
bitually complains that if Mr. Hurd
hadn't objected, the line of ques-
tioning would be finis ied already.
Then Kunstler launches into a new
and oblique avenue of examination,
if not the same one under another
guise. The jurors smile faintly, he's
their media star.
Flare-ups continuall , erupt over
questioning which prosecution and
judge consider far afield. in one
celebrated exchange the week be-
fore last, defense attorney L a n e
asked a BIA policeman and al-
leged vigilante why he had been
transferred from the Pine Ridge
reservation to Winnebago, Nebra-
ska.
"Were you," Lane asked, 'trans-
ferred because you shot and killed
Little Spotted Horse, an Oglala,
and because you shot your brother
Wayne Randall in the leg, and be-
cause you struck a pregnant wo-
man, Mary Burns Prairie, in the
stomach with your biLy club, caus-
ing her to miscarry?
"MR. LANE! Mr. Lane!" shout-
ed Judge Nichol as prosecutor
Hurd jumped to his fret, speech-
less. "I am sick and tired of your
behavior," the judge 'old Lane as
he struck the question from the
record, adding that because Lane
had "abused his right of counsel'
he could not continue the cross-
examination. Typically, however,
Nichol quickly decided that t h e
counsel could continue if he asked
questions in another area.
"The defense wants to put the
treaty on a par witp the Consti-
tution," Hr. Hurd said in his of-
fice Thursday noon. *'We'll argue
that the treaty is on a par with
any other law of Congress. That's
Go Blue!
WE APPLAUD THE truly magnificent
performance of the University of
Michigan basketball team throughout
this Big Ten championship season. Pick-
ed to finish as low as eighth by some pre-
season prognosticators the scrappy Wol-
verines played tough basketball from the
outset and have thus far garnered an
impressive and well-deserved 21-4 re-
cord.
Under the tutelage of coach John Orr,
who has in one short season risen from
arch-villain to super-hero in the eyes
of many Wolverine fans, Michigan has
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steadily improved and is now among
only sixteen teams still in the running
for the coveted NCAA championship.
Showing surprising poise and matur-
ity for such a comparatively young team
(having only one senior), the Wolver-
ines defeated conference co-champion
Indiana on Tuesday night in front of a
clearly hostile crowd at a "neutral"
court at Illinois.
Despite injuries to both starting
guards, the loss of All-American for-
ward Campy Russell on fouls in the sec-
ond half, and the near-loss of front-
court men Wayman Britt and C. J. Ku-
pec also on fouls, they outlasted the
Hoosiers and will play Notre Dame in
the Mid-East regional on Thursday.
CONGRATULATIONS and best wishes
for continued success to coach Orr
and the Maize and Blue!
-RAY O'HARA
(n4S OBJEGr OF I1MA1
A "We C~PLACE '
w*46e I16 -.RIUN NUMQE le~iuGN
'WIn~trQutm BEING S e.)
A 2-UNIT HOUSING project is one
Wounded Knee occupation.
case on the 1868 Sioux Treatv, a
thoroughly neglected document
which would shake the foundations
of the social order if it were re-
cognized. Defense counsel will try,
to use the treaty, not only to es-
tablish the illegality of the federal
government's actions on the Pine
Ridge reservation last year, but
also to introduce the whole con-
text of the occupation into the
trial.
SUCH CONSCIOUS politicization
of the proceedings will put great
strain on Judge Nichol, who has
already displayed a dangerous tem-
per. The day the defendants pre-
sented their opening sta-ements
to the jury, Nichol ordered Kunst-
ler and two other defense counsel
thrown out of court for objecting
t his rulings. Unlike Judge Julius
J. Hoffman, however, Nichol is a
liberal, at heart. Twenty minutes
later he found it in himself to in
vite the attorneys back and apolo-
gize.
A lean-jawed man of 61 years
with an exasperated tone to his
voice, the judge was in good umor
most of last week. He received
the sallies of prosecution and de-
fense with toothsome, skeptical
smiles, settling disputes with care
and adding profuse explanations of
what he was doing. Defense at-
torneys openly distrust his ability
to control himself when court and
defense lock horns on the treaty,
however.
NICHOL has yet to rut: on the
extent he will admit the document
to the trial, but it's already peei-
ing out from between every ques-
tion the defense poses in ~ r o s s-
examination. The major battles
will probably be fought after the
defense opens its case in April or
May. Then counsel will try to pull
out of their own lengthy succes-
sion of witnesses all sorts of testi-
mony - concerning the history of
the Pine Rigde reservation, tradi-
tional customs and AIM attempts
to return to them, conditions on
the reservation and at *h-: Bureau
ofL T. .... /)T A Aff-- "s.. .1-k:..
of the more visible results of the
of the events at Wounded Knee.
The defense table is a lively
place. Besides Kunstler, counsel
include Mark Lane, author of the
Kennedy asassination expose "Rush
to Judgment", and three attorneys
from the Twin Cities who have
worked with AIM be-ore.
NO PASSIVE spectator, Means
dashes off notes to his counsel
during cross-examination with
great vigour, rattling them in the
air to get attention. Several times
a day last week he visibly lo s t
patience with the proceedings,
slapping his pen down on the table
and muttering an "Gh Jesus" or
equivalent audible through the
courtroom. A heavy set, tightly'
belted man with a cruel ,mobile
mouth, Means looks the more dy-
Photo by Tom Sweeney/Minnesota Daily
William Kunstler
terested in sharing what i have
with others. Nobody becomes a
Christian by persuasion."
"But isn't is a part of your
duties to convert Indians to the
Catholic religion?" persisted Kunst-
ler heavily.
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept
the implication of your phrasing,'
answered Fr. Manhart, "It is not
my office to convert souls. Of my-
self I do nothing. It is only through
the grace of God that people are
brought into the faith." Whether
the jurors were impressed by or
ashamed of Fr. Manhart was un-
clear. Seven of the twelve a r e
Catholic.
The government never loked
more inept last week than in the
two-day brush-fire which led to the
opening of the FBI files to the de-
fense.
ALTHOUGH Judge Nichol h a d
ordered copies of all documents the
government would use in c ou r t
handed over to the defense 1 a s t
October, Tuesday morning Hurd
off-handedly passed a new docu-
ment over to the defense table- a
petition signed by a number of peo-
ple in Wounded Knee early in the
siege, asking that the U.S. mar-
shalls be .withdrawn.
Under cross-examination Fr.
Manhart promptly labelled several
of the signatures forgeries, on the
grounds that the designation "resi-
dent" or "non-resident" entered
next to each name was incorrect.
During the lengthy dispute which
developed, it turned out, that the
document in the hands of the court
was not the original peti*.on In-
stead it was a copy which had been
scribbled on by Bureau of Indian
Affairs policemen and FBT agents,
sent over by mistake acc )ding to
Mr. Hurd.
"I used to think the'FBI wis one
of the greatest bureaus that ever
came down the pike," flared Nich-
ol Wednesday morning as he or-
lantes under Wilson's direction
have instigated a reign of terror
on thedreservation, beating up su-
spected AIM sympathizers. a n d
firebombing and shooting at their
homes. Last month, Wilson w a s
apparently re-elected tribal chair-
man, however, defeating Means by
123 votes. AIM immediately cried
fraud, charging that the tally for
Wilson had been bought with
money and alcohol, coerced by in-
timidation, and supplemented with
the votes of whites and non-re-
servation Indians.
According to AIM, a total of
275 people, mostly Indians, face
charges stemming from the Wound-
ed Knee siege in a variety of fed-
eral, state and tribal courts.
Of the five leaders scheduled to
stand trial in St. Paul after Banks
and Means, one is dead and and-
ther has been "banished and'cen-
sured" from AIM.
PEDRO BISSONETTE, an offi-
zer of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights
Association on Pine Ridge, w a s
killed last October by BIA police
who say he moved for a weapon
while they were trying to arrest
him. Defense attorney Lane, who
was able to inspect the body, says
the BIA story is false and that
Bissonette was murdered.
Although Carter Camp shot in-
dicted AIM leader Clyde Belle-
court in the belly last summer, he
was not formally repudiated by the
rest of the AIM leadership until a
month ago, when a letter he had
written was intercepted by the
FBI. The content of the letter'has
not been revealed, but Banks term-
ed it "potentially damaging" to the
rest of the 'defendants. Last week
AIM members expressed the fear
that he might turn up in court to
testify °against Banks and Means.
In Sioux Falls, S.D., where the
federal government is prosecuting
the bulk of its Wounded Knee ;n-
95-.1- -rI
' f ~ ass..
* t
4* It.
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THE TRADING POST at Wounded Knee, now just a pile of rub-
ble, was destroyed during the AIM occupation last year.
namic of the two defendants in
court but has been accused of
swagger.
Banks is leaner, quieter, and
looks more Indian. wicti a sadness
in his expression which could be
taken for defeat. In the hall out-
s>de .he courtroom. tho'h. iye
the way Indian treaties have been
interpreted by the courts in the
past. Insofar as treaty provisions
conflict, later acts of Congress pre-
vail."
Last week was spent in cross-
examination - chiefly by Kunstler
- of Jesuit Father Paul Manhart,