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26 Years, Her Hands, Lies and Foundations Shifting

by Jordan S. Dill, NAV Editor

February 24, 2002

For me it was Her hands. The fact that they cut them off. That they buried her as a Jane Doe. That they missed the bullet hole. And that they lied, lied and lied. That they continue to lie. These, the Storm Trooping FBI.

Aquash's 5-foot, 2-inch frozen body was found February 24, 1976, by Roger Amiotte, a South Dakota rancher. An autopsy listed the cause of death as "exposure." Before anyone could, or would, identify her, she was buried as "Jane Doe" in a Catholic cemetery on the reservation. But not before both her hands were cut off and sent to a lab for FBI identification. The procedure is "highly irregular" according to law enforcement officials involved with homicide investigations. The usual procedure involves severing the finger tips and placing them in surgeon's gloves.

I imagine there are vast amounts of people who have never heard of Anna Mae. Perhaps never even have heard of the American Indian Movement in which she was a ranking member until her assassination. We must continue our efforts to bring Anna peace and justice and to educate those unfamiliar with Her plight.

In keeping with this we must not forget that the Storm Troopers are not the only liars. For without a doubt there are those within the American Indian Movement who know who did what. Can anyone in their right mind not imagine that Dennis Banks, lover to Anna, did not get to the bottom of this way back then? I think not. Was it an accident that NO ranking member of AIM attended her funeral?

Anna at Wounded Knee II

If you are innocent, Dennis, say so to the world, and give us the exact names, places, dates, and all the details of these terrible tragedies we are still suffering from. It means nothing to show up for marches at White Clay and Mobridge and Rapid City if you have lost the trust of the grassroots oyayes and tiyospayes, which you have. AIM is not trusted on our Reservations-Concentration Camps anymore, because of the deceit and double-dealing, and the many stories of your corruption with our young girls, violence to our men, millions of dollars of donations that have never trickled down to the People....The Lakota Oyate speaks regarding Anna Mae and the American Indian Movement

Some hearts are heavily weighed and the Truth will out:

Whoever killed Anna Mae Aquash, whoever did the dirty work for the FBI, I think they were duped. Those guys were tricked into doing this and I don't believe that they had any personal dislike for her or just wanted to hurt her, I think these people were just misled. There was such hysteria about people being FBI agents and we knew that the FBIs put out shit about Anna Mae. You know, you can tell an informer.

All of this information that these people are going around this country with is the same information that we had through our investigation back in the seventies. Right after it was revealed that the body they buried as ŒJane Doe' was Anna Mae Aquash we immediately began organizing and trying to get an investigation going, and all of the evidence that we uncovered from that time is what these people are going around the country using...Leonard Peltier

The First Nations have an obligation to Honor the hunt for Anna Mae's killers. This must be done or there will be no Peace. Either for The Nations or for Anna.

Some say it does not matter who pulled the trigger. That it does not matter who raped Her. That what matters is determining those who prompted the pillage of Anna.

I say that it does matter who pulled the trigger. That it does matter who raped Her. That it does matter that all involved, top to bottom, are dragged into the Light.

It does matter that a debt be paid.

It does matter...