What Constitutes a Political Prisoner? The Ongoing Suppression of American Indian Activism

WHAT CONSTITUTES A POLITICAL PRISONER?

The Ongoing Suppression of American Indian Activism


By Lawrence Sampson


Political activism is the highest form of spiritual consciousness - Oren Lyons


Some might argue the point, but Indians, by our very nature, are
political beings. The word politics and political conjure up complex
imagery that tends to be different for every individual, and therefore
can be confusing. Even as Indians, these contexts tend to be defined in
entirely non-Indian terminology. This is especially curious, in that so
many Indians declare themselves non-political these days. Of course,
throughout Indian history, from time immemorial, Indians had no choice
but to be active in our communities. Therefore, by most definitions,
Indians were historically politically active.

So how do we reconcile our natural and historical community involvement
as Indigenous people, with a non-political sensibility? Perhaps the
words themselves are at the heart of this confusion. In this writer's
opinion, the murkiness about just what constitutes politics and all
things political in the Indian way, could be cleared away in one simple
step. If we replace the word POLITICAL with TRIBAL, it might make the
idea of social and community activism easier to palate for some. If it
is indeed a tribal value to share one's life and to be active in one's
community, it follows that this type of activism is traditional, at
least to most Indians. Therefore, it could accurately be said that
Indians are in fact, traditionally speaking, political people, at least
with the most common understandings of the word political. Perhaps the
schism is in the choice of words. Maybe if we started defining activism
as a tribal ethic, more folks would not get so caught up in semantics.
Would any self-respecting Indian person readily claim to not be tribal?
Imagine Crazy Horse, Osceola, Tsali, Dull Knife, Geronimo, or Sitting
Bull saying I'm not tribal, or I'm not political. It begins to take on
humorous overtones. Being active in one's community today is just as
necessary, and just as relevant, as in the "old" days.

If we agree that Indians are political in nature, we can then move on to
the issue of political prisoners. While the U.S. government publicly
proclaims that America has no political prisoners, hopefully few in
Indian country believe this. To be sure, there are many folks
languishing in prison cells in this country for political reasons, both
Indian, and non-Indian.

So what constitutes a political prisoner? In this day and age of
oppression of dissent, rollbacks of civil liberties, and legalized
COINTELPRO practices, perhaps no question is as relevant to a people who
are by their very nature, political. The Patriot Act is filling cells
and prisons with hundreds if not thousands of folks, for political
reasons-even if those reasons have nothing at all to do with politics.


Webster's defines the following:

Political: Pronunciation: po-li-ti-kul

Function: adjective

Etymology: Latin politicus

1 a : of or relating to government, a government, or the conduct of
government b : of, relating to, or concerned with the making as
distinguished from the administration of governmental policy

2 : of, relating to, involving, or involved in politics and especially
party politics

3 : organized in governmental terms

4 : involving or charged or concerned with acts against a government or
a political system <political prisoners>


Definition number 4 is obviously the most relevant to this discussion,
but let's clarify: How does one become a political prisoner, given that
this means being "involved or charged or concerned with acts against a
government or a political system"? The answer is probably subjective,
but it is the very essence and purpose of this forum, to assign at least
a reasonable and tangible explanation of how one becomes a political
prisoner. Hopefully, by defining the process by which people find
themselves in a politically charged incarceration, we can all better
understand what constitutes a political prisoner.

It should be readily apparent, that by promoting and defending Indian
sovereignty and self-determination, that a case could be made that an
Indian is "involved or charged or concerned with acts against a
government or a political system". Does the defense of Indian treaty
rights constitute a political act? Most certainly! It is therefore a
small leap of logic to reason that by engaging in such a political act,
that one could in fact become a political prisoner.

In the paradigm of political repression, we should clarify that
determining whether a person is a political prisoner could be
accomplished with the following criteria:

I. Justifications for incarceration, legal and otherwise

1. Convictions for defying unjust laws such as restrictions on free
speech, public assembly, or freedom of worship.

2. Conviction of defying laws in order to draw attention to some
inequity, such as an occupation, blockade, or protest.

3. Being falsely convicted of a crime

4. Being convicted of a “crime” committed during the act of defending
oneself from the unnecessary threat of brutality from authorities.


II. Length of incarceration

Receiving a longer than average sentence, due to factors such as
political views, race, or religion

III. Treatment of a prisoner once he/she is incarcerated

Unreasonably harsh punishment for advocacy behind bars. For example, a
person of a minority race and religion is incarcerated, and once
incarcerated demands the right to worship as they see fit. Due to this
demand, said person goes to lock down, segregation, maximum-security
facilities, or some other cruel and unusual punishment, as they are
subsequently labeled a problem prisoner, violent, or a security risk.

To be sure, there are certainly other more inclusive definitions and
terminology, which could be applied in the defining of political
prisoners. To some, any unfortunate incarceration of a loved or
respected individual automatically translates into political repression,
regardless of the charge. But in an attempt to legitimately categorize
and identify Indian political prisoners, the aforementioned
classifications should do quite nicely. With these criteria in mind, I
ask that all review the following list of Indian political prisoners.


Leonard Peltier

The most famous of all American Indian political prisoners, Leonard is
in his 28th year of incarceration. An American Indian Movement member
convicted of murdering two FBI agents during a shootout on the Pine
Ridge reservation, his trial was replete with perjured testimony,
falsified documents, and withheld evidence. According to some, the
government then tried to have him assassinated while behind bars. (i)



Standing Deer Wilson

American Indian prisoner who was approached and offered a deal to lose
30 years of his sentence if he killed Leonard Peltier. He refused and
befriended Leonard, eventually serving out every day of his sentence. He
was murdered in Houston under very suspicious circumstances only 18
months after his release. (ii)



Norma Jean Croy

Norma Jean Croy is serving time for the alleged crime of "conspiracy to
murder" Bo Hittson, a Yreka, California, deputy sheriff. Norma Jean Croy
is a Shasta Native American Indian and a lesbian, who has been
incarcerated since July 1978. She was sentenced to life in prison. Norma
Jean Croy never conspired with anyone to commit murder; in fact, she
never carried nor fired the gun that killed officer Bo Hittson. (iii)



Louis Rodriguez

Illegal, irresponsible, unethical, biased, and sloppy investigation
procedures were used to manufacture this criminal case around him and to
acquire his conviction and death sentence. The chief prosecution witness
against Rodriguez was mentally unreliable and known to have lied
numerous times to police and while testifying under oath at Rodriguez´
preliminary hearing and trial.(iv)



Eddie Hatcher

First achieving fame by taking over a North Carolina newspaper in order
to draw attention to local government corruption, Eddie would many years
later be convicted of murder. A nineteen-year-old was shot once in the
shoulder and once in the head, and died soon afterward. The next day,
Eddie Hatcher was arrested at an intersection in Hamlet, NC. He was
charged with 1st-degree murder for the drive-by shooting and other
weapons charges. In a desperate attempt to pin Eddie with the killing,
the state has fabricated a confession that Eddie supposedly made to a
police officer on the night of his arrest.



Red Carpitcher

American Indian Movement activist Red Carpitcher is serving 38 years for
sexual abuse - a crime his accuser now says never happened. The daughter
of Carpitcher's girlfriend says she fabricated a story of child
molestation to the Roanoke County jury that convicted him in 1999. A
jealous 10-year-old at the time, she says she was angry because
Carpitcher was spending too much time with her mother. She just wanted
the live-in boyfriend out of the house. She didn't realize her words
alone would put a 44-year-old man in a super-maximum security prison for
what amounts to a life sentence. (v)



Manuel Redwoman

Manuel Redwoman is a 35 year old Native American incarcerated at Montana
State Prison. His heritage is 1/2 Northern Cheyenne, 1/4 Lakota/ and 1/4
Arapaho. He is in prison for having fatally shot a recidivist child
molester who was after a very young boy (the boy was a relative of
Manuel). His own people, the Northern Cheyenne, have honored him for
protecting his family, as a warrior is supposed to do. Despite the fact
that the dead man’s mother pleaded to the judge that her son was
mentally ill, and Manuel should not be sentenced to jail for protecting
his family, Mr. Redwoman received a longer than normal sentence for his
conviction. When he advocated for spiritual rights behind bars, Manuel
became a “problem prisoner” and received several years in solitary
confinement. (vi)


As varied as the individual cases are, they all have very common
characteristics. All of the aforementioned were American Indian
activists well before their current incarcerations. Most of them
addressed directly or indirectly, federal and local government
corruption and mistreatment of Indians. Most of them received longer
than average sentences, and severely harsh treatment once incarcerated.
All of them have very curious aspects to their cases, which call into
question the legitimacy of their convictions. Pray for them, and their
families. If you believe their incarceration is unjust, please act
accordingly, and support the cause of justice. Perhaps most importantly,
recognize that their incarcerations exemplify the ongoing repression of
Indian people.

As an American Indian activist/organizer/educator, I can honestly say
that those who advocate for Indian people live with the constant threat
of incarceration and surveillance. Accordingly, we are faced with the
very real possibility of becoming political prisoners, “enemy
combatants” or some other Orwellian classification used to deny us our
human and civil rights. Understand that in the days of legalized
COINTELPRO/PATRIOT ACT subterfuge, we must remain diligent and committed
defenders of our people. Remember, the Indian wars are not over.

i See http://www.leonardpeltier.org

ii See http://geocities.com/standingdeer1/index.htm

iii See
http://www.sonic.net/~doretk/ArchiveARCHIVE/NATIVE%20AMERICAN/Norma%20Je
an%20Croy.html

iv See http://www.humanrights.de/doc_en/archiv/u/usa/luis/lr2.html

v See http://www.vadoc.com/stories/carpitcher.htm

vi See http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/manuel