When I Was Discouraged From Writing About Arlo Looking Cloud

I was robbed of my house and many personal belongings, including documents, building receipts, and credentials. I have no place to live. Yet the Tribe wants something more from me. They have issued me a subpoena to a Grand Jury to be held on 9-16-04. I do not know what it is about. I suspect it has something to do with my writing, but I don't know. To me, writing is like painting. I allow the idea to direct the words. And paint all around them. Very discouraging to be an artist these days. In the Bush/Ascroft world, there is no dreams to hang a dreary life on, no justice for the abused, only interrogations leading to greater oppression. This is not a good time to be an artist or a writer. So I brought out a story for you, one that I wrote for Arlo Looking Cloud, after I was told to quit writing. I have been agonizing over to write or not to write ever since I received several threats and a warning that my writing could cause Arlo more harm, and that if Arlo goes to prison it will be my fault. As you may know, I have been taking up for Arlo Looking Cloud in his quest for justice in the Federal court system in the United States of America. Arlo was charged, tried, and convicted of the murder of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, a murder that took place 28 years ago on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Anna Mae was one of the American Indian Movement activists who vigorously defended Indians’ civil rights at the standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973. There were 2 sides: the American Indian Movement was invited to the Pine Ridge Reservation by the elders who were concerned that more Indian land and Indian civil rights were being lost under the extremely corrupt office of Dick Wilson and his Goon squad, the other side, the tribal government and tribal police who were illegally terrorizing Indians, stealing their land, and gunning down anyone who objected. A young man of 20 years of age, Arlo joined with AIM, as did many other Lakotas, when they stood their ground against the U.S. military at the site of the massacre at Wounded Knee, 1890. Indeed, people from all over American came to Wounded Knee to help Indians fight for their land, their civil rights, and for some measure of justice for the inhumane treatment they received from the U.S. government. Since someone has questioned my motives, I will come right out and say that I have lived on the Pine Ridge Reservation for 12 years now. I live a life of poverty with the rest of the Indians. Because of certain events in my life, I now know that I was chosen to speak out for those who would not otherwise have a voice in the corrupt, artificial system we live in. Back in 1987, my son, Damon, was brutally murdered when he dared to speak out against U.S. aggression in Central America. He said America had no business going down to Central America to kill poor Indians just to steal their bananas, and that Ollie North was no hero, that he ought to be executed. At this point a self-styled Rambo leaped up and stabbed my little Damon to death, just 17 years old. My life changed after that. Before that, I knew nothing about Indians, their culture or history. I was drawn to the reservation in ways that are totally unexplainable. I had to find out who these people are. I have lived with them, have endured all the prejudice and injustice that they endure. Now I know, beyond a shadow of doubt that I was chosen to speak up. For any of you who may be jealous hearted, all I can say is that, you would not want to be chosen. You would not want to pay the price. Furthermore, there is no way I could possible defend someone whom I thought might be guilty of murder. Back in ’73, it was not cool to be Indian. Everyone else had fought and won their civil rights, blacks and women , but Indians were supposed to be invisible, to be seen as entertainment in westerns. The self-esteem and pride of the Lakotas had reached an all time low in the 70’s. After enduring the brutal genocide of the 1800’s, almost extinguished along with the buffalo, the remaining few Indians were forced onto reservations, rough land that was deemed unusable for white settlers. Here the Indian was stripped of his weapons which he needed for hunting, and his horses, so he couldn’t escape from his new compound. Immediately, the U.S. government began an assault on the Lakota culture. Aided and abetted by the Catholic church and boarding schools, the government attempted to turn the Indian into a white man. The government ripped little Indian children from their parents and sent them far away to boading schools. Parents were not allowed to see their children. At school, the hair was shaved and clothes burned. Priests and nuns, schoolmasters, would whip little Indian children for speaking their language. There was much crying, and some children didn’t make it. They died. Not much was made of it. Not content to just destroy the language, the U.S. government attempted to destroy everything that was Indian, and force a totally foreign culture upon the Lakotas, who tell me they regarded themselves as prisoners-of-war. Early on, the government killed all the chiefs, anyone with powerful governing abilities was murdered by the U.S. government or incarcerated. Then a totally foreign type of government was forced upon Indians, one that would be totally subservient to the U.S., one where some Indians would learn graft and embezzlement was the new way of life. And the real Indian was shoved aside, told that he was no good. The message was if he didn’t do things the white way, he would get no help, This quickly created a class division within Lakota society, the haves and have-nots. It created a bitter tension between the two groups. Nothing new for the U.S. though. Colonize. Kill the leaders. Subjugate the people with a compliant puppet government, and allow big business to have a free hand in stealing the resources. This insidious practice continued well into the 50’s and 60’s. As a matter of fact, it still goes on today. The sad situation is that Lakota people, indeed all Native people, are on the verge of loosing their culture totally, which would please the U.S. government no end because maybe everyone could then forget about all the genocide and the theft that went into the founding of America. Last week, I had a dream of seven coyotes running. I thought they were very pretty. I tried to stop one to ask where they were going. He kept on, saying he had no time to stop. That he couldn’t tell me. I woke up, and realized that the coyotes had come to me, not someone else. So I go forward now, and will not turn aside. I realize that before history is totally rewritten, someone has to tell the truth of what happened. I promise you, in the memory of Damon and all those dead Indians, I will leave no stone unturned in getting at the truth. I talked with Tony Black Feather, respected elder, and asked him what my responsibility was. He said, “When you start to argue, you violate your rights. The elders have always said, be careful when speaking; you create the world around you with your words. Life works in cycles. We are each responsible for our actions. It will come back on you. I always think how the Spirit moves.” I asked Barry Bachrach, lawyer for Leonard Peltier from the law firm of of Bowditch & Dewey, if he thought I was harming Arlo with my writing. He said, “I find that someone told not to write something demonstrates someone’s need to keep the writer from exposing truth and injustice. Plain and simple, Arlo got railroaded so our government could smear Leonard Peltier and AIM. And Arlo will end up rotting in federal prison. Why? Because he was a pawn in a larger chess game. What about the other sixty deaths on the reservation during the reign of terror? No offense to Anna Mae, but why is her death on Pine Ridge the only one looked into with any seriousness? What about Jancita Eagle? Pedro Bissonnette? And so many others? The answer can be found in these rhetorical questions. If we are eliminated, so be it, but we should never be told what not to write or scared off from exposing the truth. These are my views. Don’t let anyone squelch your free speech, certainly speech that must be revealed to balance the twisted history which has been reported by the mainstream media.” I am not a journalist, nor am I a politician. I am an artist. It is with the artist’s mind that I come asking questions. After all, any artist worth his salt has always been in search of the truth. So, I will keep on exposing what is false, and revealing what is true. Every time I hear the truth, I am not diminished by it. It is not enough that Arlo was convicted; now they want to keep the truth from coming out. I have been told to stop writing or my web site will be shut down and complaints will be filed against me. I cannot in good conscience, and abide with that. I will keep telling the Indian’s side of the story for as long as I have breath in my body. What I have found is that Indians have a culture that is different from America, in every way. There can be no blending of the cultures without destroying the Lakota (Indian) culture. America from the beginning has always been trying to destroy the Indian, his culture, even his history. What does this have to do with Arlo? Everything. In my next article I hope to show you what the American culture is and what the Indian culture is. In the meantime, I take responsibility for everything I say and I speak for myself and my views. Should anyone wish to contact me, you may do so at jlschmidt@gwtc.net For those of you wondering what you can do, you can start researching the true history of the settlement of America. You might look up Red Jacket, chief of the Senecas. You will have to discard everything you learned in school. The government’s side of the story has been drilled into you. It is time you heard the Indian’s side. When a deep, deep wrong such as this has been committed, the only thing thing left for you to do is to discover the truth of the past. There is no other way. Indians do not what you to mimic them or imitate them. Hollywood has a long and shameful history of doing that. Let us boldly discard any New Age nirvana. Such activity is both a mockery to Indians and a disgusting character trait. Don’t do that. You are in no position to free anyone until you free yourself. Get together with a few people, and ask yourself, am I living my life fully, and freely? Am I living a genuine life or an artificial life as a spectator with my only duty is to be a consumer? What isfreedom? Do I want it? What is a just society? How can we live together without killing each other? What is my relationship to murder? What do I owe all the innocent dead? To go one step further, go to my web site www.lakotaperspectives.com Look under gallery. You will find 2 prints for sale there. If you want to contribute to the cause for justice and receive something in return, I will autograph the print that you support truth and justice in the white margin below the print. In addition to supporting the truth, your specially signed print will only increase in value as an investment. Your support will help restore my faith in humanity, and help in the fight for justice. You may contact me at jlschmidt@gwtc.net