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{{Short description|American author and political activist (born 1947)}} | |||
] | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2012}} | |||
'''Ward LeRoy Churchill''' (born ], ]) is an ] writer, activist, and academic. He is a professor of ] at the ], and author of over a dozen books and many essays. | |||
{{Infobox person | |||
|name=Ward Churchill | |||
|image=Ward Churchill.jpg | |||
|imagesize=200px | |||
|caption=Churchill speaking at the Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair in May 2005. | |||
|birth_name=Ward LeRoy Churchill | |||
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1947|10|02}}<ref name="DOB">{{cite web |title=Curriculum vitae of Ward L. Churchill |url=http://wardchurchill.net/archived/churchill_full_CV.pdf |website=wardchurchill.net |access-date=1 April 2023}}</ref> | |||
|birth_place=], United States | |||
|alma_mater=] (BA, MA) | |||
|death_date= | |||
|death_place= | |||
|occupation=Author | |||
|spouse= | |||
|website= | |||
|footnotes= | |||
|children= | |||
}} | |||
'''Ward LeRoy Churchill''' (born October 2, 1947)<ref name="DOB" /> is an American activist and author. He was a professor of ] at the ] from 1990 until 2007.<ref name="wrongly fired">; ''New York Times''; Kirk Johnson and Katherine Q. Seelye; April 2, 2009</ref> Much of Churchill's work focuses on the historical treatment of political dissenters and Native Americans by the United States government, and he expresses controversial views in a direct, often confrontational style.<ref>Chapman Page 92–93</ref> While Churchill has claimed Native American ancestry, genealogical research has failed to unearth such ancestry and he is not a member of a tribe. | |||
In January 2005, Churchill's 2001 essay "]" gained attention. In the work, he argued the ] were a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful ] over the latter half of the 20th century; the essay is known for Churchill's use of the phrase "]" to describe the "technocratic corps" working in the ].<ref name="college-journalist-touched-off-firestorm">{{cite news |first=Charlie |last=Brennan |date=February 3, 2005 |title=College journalist touched off firestorm |work=Rocky Mountain News |url= http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2005/feb/03/college-journalist-touched-off-firestorm/ |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081016160806/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2005/feb/03/college-journalist-touched-off-firestorm/ |archive-date=October 16, 2008}}</ref> | |||
==Background== | |||
===Early life and education=== | |||
Churchill was born and grew up in a blue-collar family in ]. His parents, Maralyn and Jack Churchill, divorced while Ward was still a toddler. In March ], his mother married Henry Carlton Debo, an employee of ] in downstate ], as a result of which Churchill has two half-brothers, Tom and Danny, and a half-sister, Terry. When he enrolled in Elmwood High School, Churchill went by the name Ward Debo, taking his stepfather's surname, but when he graduated in ], he was listed in his yearbook, the ''Ulmus'', as Ward L. Churchill. | |||
In March 2005, the University of Colorado began investigating allegations that Churchill had engaged in research misconduct.<ref name="misconduct_report">{{Cite book |title=Report of the Investigative Committee of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct at the University of Colorado Boulder concerning Allegations of Academic Misconduct against Professor Ward Churchill |first1=Marianne |last1=Wesson |first2=Robert |last2=Clinton |first3=José |last3 =Limón |first4=Marjorie |last4=McIntosh |first5=Michael |last5=Radelet |date=May 9, 2006 |publisher=University of Colorado Boulder |url= http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/download/WardChurchillReport.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060523111342/http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/download/WardChurchillReport.pdf |archive-date=May 23, 2006}}</ref> Churchill was fired on July 24, 2007.<ref name="cu-regents-fire-ward-churchill">{{cite news|url= http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/jul/25/cu-regents-fire-ward-churchill/ |title=CU regents fire Ward Churchill |first=Berny |last=Morson |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=July 25, 2007}}</ref> Churchill filed a lawsuit against the University of Colorado for unlawful termination of employment. In April 2009, a Denver jury found that Churchill was unjustly fired, awarding him $1 in damages.<ref name="wrongly">{{cite news |title=Jury Says Professor Wrongly Fired |last1=Johnson |first1=Kirk |last2=Seelye |first2=Katharine Q. |work=] |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/us/03churchill.html?hp |date=April 3, 2009 |access-date=2009-04-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=John |first=Aguilar |date=April 2, 2009 |title=Churchill wins his case, awarded $1 in damages – Reinstatement at CU to be decided at future hearing |journal=Daily Camera |url= http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/apr/02/ward-churchill-trial-blog-jury-university-colorado/ |access-date=April 3, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090405174548/http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/apr/02/ward-churchill-trial-blog-jury-university-colorado/ |archive-date=April 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy}}</ref> In July 2009, however, a District Court judge vacated the monetary award and declined Churchill's request to order his reinstatement, holding that the university had "quasi-judicial immunity". Churchill's appeals of this decision were unsuccessful. | |||
He was drafted by the ] and saw active service in the ] from ] to ]. Military records through the ] show he was trained as a projectionist and light truck driver. Radio host ] published these military records to dispute alleged 1987 claims by Churchill that he had served as a ] trained in ].{{Inote|Newman, 11 February 2005|Newman20050211}} Churchill later received his ] and ] in ] from Sangamon State University, now the ]. | |||
==Early life and education== | |||
In ], he joined the ] as an assistant professor and was granted tenure the following year. | |||
Churchill was born in ], to Jack LeRoy Churchill and Maralyn Lucretia Allen. His parents divorced before he turned two. He grew up in ], where he attended local schools.<ref name="DP_Feb_13_2005">{{cite news | |||
|title=Questions stoke Ward Churchill's firebrand past |first1=Dave |last1=Curtin |first2=Howard |last2=Pankratz |first3=Arthur |last3=Kane |work=Denver Post |url= https://www.denverpost.com/2005/06/08/questions-stoke-ward-churchills-firebrand-past/ |date=June 9, 2005|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001000349/http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_0002709008|archivedate=October 1, 2007|accessdate=May 7, 2023|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
In 1966, Churchill was ] into the ]. On his 1980 resume, he claimed to have served as a public-information specialist who "wrote and edited the battalion newsletter and wrote news releases."<ref name="DP_Feb_13_2005" /> In a 1987 profile in the '']'', Churchill claimed to have attended ] and to have volunteered for a 10-month stint on ] in Vietnam. Churchill also claimed to have spent time at the Chicago office of the ] (SDS), and provided firearms and explosives training to members of the ].<ref name="LRRP"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070619192424/http://www.gnosis.cx/photos/news/Churchill-DenverPost-1987.gif |date=June 19, 2007 }}, January 18, 1987. Retrieved February 7, 2010</ref> In 2005, the ''Denver Post'' reported on fabrications in Churchill's service record. Department of Defense personnel files showed that Churchill was trained as a film projectionist and light truck driver, but they do not reflect paratrooper school or LRRP training.<ref name="DP_Feb_13_2005" /><ref name="DP_Feb_3_2005" /> | |||
===Writing=== | |||
As a scholar, Churchill has written on Native American history and culture, and is particularly outspoken about the ] inflicted on the ] peoples of North America by ]an settlers — repression that continues to this day. | |||
Churchill received his B.A. in technological communications in 1974 and his M.A. in ] in 1975, both from Sangamon State University (now the ]).<ref name="DP_Feb_13_2005" /> | |||
In ''Fantasies of the Master Race'' (1992), Churchill examines the portrayal of Native Americans and the use of Native American symbols in popular American culture. He focuses on such phenomena as ]'s mystery novels, the film '']'', and the ] movement, finding examples of cultural ] and exploitation. Churchill calls author ], who claims to reveal the teachings of a ] Indian ], the "greatest hoax since ]." <!--quote needs a reference--> | |||
==Career== | |||
Churchill's ''Indians 'R' Us'' (1993), a sequel to ''Fantasies of the Master Race'', further explores Native American issues in popular culture and politics. He examines the movie ''],'' the ] killings, ], sports ]s, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, and ], calling them tools of genocide. Churchill is particularly outspoken about ] exploitations of ] and Native American sacred traditions, and the "do-it-yourself Indianism" of certain contemporary authors. <!--reference--> | |||
===University of Colorado Boulder=== | |||
In 1978, Churchill began working at the ] as an ] officer in the university administration. He also lectured on issues relating to ] in the ] program. In 1990, the University of Colorado hired him as an ], although he did not possess the academic doctorate usually required for the position. The following year he was granted ] in the Communication department, without the usual six-year probationary period, after having been declined by the ] and ] departments.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/ConferenceReport.pdf|title=Conference report}}</ref> | |||
Churchill received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from ] in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.herr.alfred.edu/special/archives/histories/honorary/1990.shtml |title= Alfred University, Honorary Degrees, 1990–1999 |access-date= August 28, 2007 |archive-date= May 24, 2003 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030524095848/http://www.herr.alfred.edu/special/archives/histories/honorary/1990.shtml |url-status= dead }}</ref> | |||
''Struggle For The Land'' (reissued 2002) is a collection of essays in which Churchill chronicles the U.S. government's systematic exploitation of native land and the killing or displacement of the Native Americans who once inhabited it. He details Indian efforts in the ] and ] centuries to prevent defoliation and industrial practices such as ]. | |||
In 1994, then CU-Boulder Chancellor James Corbridge refused to take action on allegations that Churchill was fraudulently claiming to be an Indian, saying "it has always been university policy that a person's ] or ] is self-proving."<ref name="RMN 2005-02-17">{{cite news |title=Red-flagged career: Churchill's tenure at CU marked by warnings of trouble |first1=Charlie |last1=Brennan |first2=Stuart |last2=Steers |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=February 17, 2005 |url= http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2005/feb/17/red-flagged-career/}}</ref> | |||
Churchill's ''A Little Matter of Genocide'' (1998) is a survey of ] from ] to the present. He compares the treatment of North American Indians to a number of genocides in history, such as those in ] and ], and those of the ], ], and ] by the ]s. | |||
In 1996, Churchill moved to the new Ethnic Studies Department of the University of Colorado. In 1997, he was promoted to ]. He was selected as chairman of the department in June 2002.<ref>{{cite news |title=Churchill tenure questioned: Prof was granted job security without usual review process |first1=Berny |last1=Morson |first2=Charlie |last2=Brennan |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=February 16, 2005 |url= http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2005/feb/16/churchill-tenure-questioned/}}</ref><ref name="personnel_file">{{cite news |first=Jefferson |last=Dodge |title=Churchill's personnel files released by CU-Boulder |work=Silver & Gold Record |date=February 24, 2005 |url= https://www.cu.edu/sg/messages/4218.html |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060922112926/http://www.cu.edu/sg/messages/4218.html |archive-date=September 22, 2006 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Honorary Degrees, 1990–1999 |work=Special Collections & Archives |publisher=Herrick Memorial Library, Alfred University |url= http://www.herr.alfred.edu/special/archives/histories/honorary/1990.shtml |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030524095848/http://www.herr.alfred.edu/special/archives/histories/honorary/1990.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 24, 2003}}</ref> Documents in Churchill's university personnel file show that Churchill was granted tenure in a "special opportunity position".<ref name="personnel_file" /> | |||
In ''Perversions of Justice'' (2002), Churchill argues that the U.S. legal system was adapted to gain control over Native American people. Tracing the evolution of federal Indian law, Churchill argues that the principles set forth were not only applied to non-Indians in the U.S., but later adapted for application abroad. He concludes that this demonstrates the development of America's "imperial logic," which depends on a "corrupt form of legalism" to establish colonial control and empire. <!--quotes need references--> | |||
In January 2005, during the controversy over his 9/11 remarks, Churchill resigned as chairman of the ethnic studies department at the University of Colorado — his term as chair was scheduled to expire in June of that year.<ref name="resigns_chair"> {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060924200253/http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2005/44.html |date=September 24, 2006}}, University of Colorado Boulder, | |||
In ''Agents of Repression'' (1988), co-authored by Jim Vander Wall, the authors describe "the secret war" against the ] and ] carried out during the late ] and ] by the ] under the ] program. ''The COINTELPRO Papers'' (reissued 2002), also with Jim Vander Wall, examines a series of original FBI memos that detail the Bureau's activities against various leftist groups, from the ] in the ] to activists concerned with ]n issues in the ]. | |||
January 31, 2005</ref> | |||
In 2005, the University of Colorado's Research Misconduct Committee conducted a preliminary investigation into whether Churchill misrepresented his ethnicity to "add credibility and public acceptance to his scholarship".<ref name="preliminary_report" /> The committee concluded that the allegation was not "appropriate for further investigation under the definition of research misconduct".<ref>{{cite press release |title=Statement Regarding Decision Of Standing Committee On Research Misconduct |first=Pauline |last=Hale |publisher=CU-Boulder Office of News Services |date=September 9, 2005 |url= http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/standingcommittee.html |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071128124106/http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/standingcommittee.html |archive-date=November 28, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The university has said that it does not hire on the basis of ethnicity.<ref name="RMN 2005-02-17" /> | |||
=== Activism === | |||
Churchill has been active since at least 1984 as the co-director of the ]-based ], an autonomous chapter of the ]. In ], he and other local AIM leaders—including ], Glen Morris, Bob Robideau, and David Hill—broke with the national AIM leadership, including ], ] and Vernon Bellecourt, claiming that all AIM chapters are autonomous. The ] continues, with the AIM claiming that the local AIM leaders are tools of the government being used against Indians. | |||
On July 24, 2007, Churchill was fired for academic misconduct.<ref name="cu-regents-fire-ward-churchill" /> | |||
Churchill has been a leader of Colorado AIM's annual protests in Denver against the ] holiday and its associated parade. These protests have brought Colorado AIM's leadership into conflict with some leaders in the Denver ] community, the main supporters of the parade. Churchill and others have been arrested while protesting for acts such as blocking the parade. | |||
====Research misconduct investigation==== | |||
Initially, some local American Indian support and advocacy organizations in the Denver metro area believed that the activities of the Colorado AIM chapter damage the work of the Colorado Indian Commission and Denver Indian Center. This was back in the early 90's. Since then, thousands of local indians annually particpate in the protest. | |||
] | |||
The quality of Churchill's research had been seriously questioned by legal scholar John LaVelle and historian ].<ref name="lavelle_review">{{Cite journal |title=Review of "Indians Are Us?: Culture and Genocide in Native North America" |first1=John |last1=LaVelle |journal=The American Indian Quarterly |volume=20 |pages=109–118 |date=1999 |url=http://lawschool.unm.edu/faculty/lavelle/american-indian-quarterly.pdf |issue=1 |doi=10.2307/1184946 |first2=Ward |jstor=1184946 |last2=Churchill |access-date=February 14, 2007 |archive-date=December 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208144926/http://lawschool.unm.edu/faculty/lavelle/american-indian-quarterly.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=The General Allotment Act "Eligibility" Hoax: Distortions of Law, Policy, and History in Derogation of Indian Tribes |first=John |last=LaVelle |journal=Wíčazo Ša Review |date=Spring 1999 |pages=251–302 |url=http://lawschool.unm.edu/faculty/lavelle/allotment-act.pdf |doi=10.2307/1409527 |volume=14 |issue=1 |jstor=1409527 |access-date=February 14, 2007 |archive-date=December 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208144451/http://lawschool.unm.edu/faculty/lavelle/allotment-act.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | |||
In April 1983, Churchill traveled to ] and ] as a representative of the AIM and the International Indian Treaty Council to meet Colonel ] of ] while a U.S. travel ban to that country was in place. The visit was intended to seek support from al-Qaddafi regarding the U.S. government's violation of Indian treaties. | |||
| title=Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide? |first=Guenter |last=Lewy |work=] |date=November 22, 2004| url=http://hnn.us/articles/7302.html}}</ref> Additional critics were sociologist Thomas Brown, who had been preparing an article on Churchill's work; and historians R. G. Robertson and ], who said that Churchill had misrepresented their work.<ref>{{cite news |title=A New Ward Churchill Controversy |first=Scott |last=Jaschik |work=Inside Higher Ed |date=February 9, 2005 |url= http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/02/09/churchill2_9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Did the U.S. Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians? Fabrication and Falsification in Ward Churchill's Genocide Rhetoric |first=Thomas |last=Brown |journal=Plagiary: Cross-Disciplinary Studies in Plagiarism, Fabrication, and Falsification |volume=1 |date=2006 |pages=1–30 |url= http://www.plagiary.org/smallpox-blankets.pdf |issue=9 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070712044609/http://www.plagiary.org/smallpox-blankets.pdf |archive-date=July 12, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> | |||
In 2005, ] administrators ordered an investigation into seven allegations of ] against Churchill.<ref name="preliminary_report">{{Cite book |title=Report on Conclusion of Preliminary Review in the Matter of Professor Ward Churchill |first1=Philip |last1=DiStephano |first2=Todd |last2=Gleeson |first3=David |last3=Getches |date=March 24, 2005 |publisher=University of Colorado Boulder |url= http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/report.html |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120629204440/http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/report.html |archive-date=June 29, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The allegations included three allegations of ], allegations of fabrication or falsification regarding the history of the ] and the ], and alleged claims that ] was intentionally spread to Native Americans by ] in 1614 and by the United States Army at ] in ]. | |||
]]] | |||
On May 16, 2006, the university released its findings; the Investigative Committee unanimously concluded that Churchill had engaged in "serious research misconduct", including falsification, fabrication, and ].<ref name="misconduct_report" /> The committee was divided on the appropriate level of sanctions.<ref name="misconduct_report" /> Following further deliberations by university bodies,<ref name="standing_ctte_report">{{Cite book |title=Report and Recommendations of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct Concerning Allegations of Research Misconduct by Professor Ward Churchill |first1=Joseph |last1=Rosse |first2=Sanjai |last2=Bhagat |first3=Mark |last3=Bradburn |first4=Harold |last4=Bruff |first5=Judith |last5=Glyde |first6=Steven |last6=Guberman |first7=Bella |last7=Mody |first8=Linda |last8=Morris |first9=Uriel |last9=Nauenberg |first10=Cortlandt |last10=Pierpont |date=June 13, 2006 |publisher=University of Colorado Boulder |url= http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/download/ChurchillStandingCmteReport.pdf}}</ref><ref name="cu-regents-fire-ward-churchill" /><ref name="sgr-regents-dismiss-churchill">{{cite news |title=Regents dismiss Ward Churchill |first=Jefferson |last=Dodge |work=Silver & Gold Record |date=July 26, 2007 |url= https://www.cu.edu/sg/messages/5704.html |access-date=2008-01-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070928080322/https://www.cu.edu/sg/messages/5704.html |archive-date=September 28, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> on July 24, 2007, the university regents voted seven to two to uphold all seven of the findings of research misconduct. The regents voted eight to one to fire Churchill.<ref name="cu-regents-fire-ward-churchill" /><ref name="sgr-regents-dismiss-churchill" /> | |||
=== Artwork === | |||
Apart from his academic position and writing, since the 1970s, Churchill has attained a certain notoriety as a visual artist. Works by Churchill, such as lithographs, woodcuts, and drawings are fairly widely exhibited in galleries of the American Southwest, and to some degree elsewhere. As with the work "Winter Attack", discussed below, Churchill frequently takes as subject matter of visual compositions historical photographs or other past works, particularly ones associated with Native American figures. Screen prints and other signed works by Churchill are . The online journal ] . | |||
The next day, Churchill filed a lawsuit in state court claiming that the firing was retribution for his expression of politically unpopular views.<ref>{{cite web |title=First amended complaint & jury demand |work=Ward Churchill v. University of Colorado |url= http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/pdf/complaint.pdf |date=July 25, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930210803/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/pdf/complaint.pdf |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The jury in Churchill's suit for reinstatement weighed the university's claims of academic misconduct per jury instructions it received in the case. On April 1, 2009, the jury found that Churchill had been wrongly fired, and awarded $1 in damages.<ref name="wrongly" /> On July 7, 2009, Judge Larry Naves found that the university was entitled to ] as a matter of law, vacated the jury verdict, and determined that the university did not owe Churchill any financial compensation.<ref name="DP_July_7_2009">{{cite news |title=No job, no money for Ward Churchill |first=Tom |last=McGhee |work=Denver Post |date=July 7, 2009 |url= http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12769291 |access-date=2009-07-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite court |url= http://domainnameattorney.com/ward-churchill.pdf |litigants=Churchill v. University of Colorado |opinion=Order Granting Defendants' Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law and Denying Plaintiff's Motion for Reinstatement of Employment |date=2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701000000*/http://domainnameattorney.com/ward-churchill.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Churchill appealed, but Judge Naves's decision was upheld by a three-judge panel of the ]<ref name="appeal">{{cite web |url= http://www.lawweekonline.com/2010/11/ward-churchill-wont-get-job-back-appeals-court-rules/ |title=Ward Churchill Won't Get Job Back, Appeals Court Rules|publisher= ] |date= November 24, 2010 |access-date=2010-11-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite court|litigants=Churchill v. University of Colorado at Boulder |vol=293|reporter=P.3d|opinion=16 |pinpoint= |court=Colo. App.|date=November 24, 2010 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1476399561735171689|access-date= January 10, 2023|quote= |postscript= }}</ref> and by the Colorado Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-september-idUSBRE9300AL20130401 |title=Supreme Court declines to hear controversial professor's appeal |publisher=Reuters |date=2013-01-04|access-date=2013-01-04}}</ref> | |||
==9/11 essay controversy== | |||
<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Churchill v. University of Colorado at Boulder |vol=285 |reporter=P.3d |opinion=986 |pinpoint= |court=Colo. |date=September 10, 2012 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1164974651751151550 | |||
===The essay=== | |||
|access-date= January 10, 2023|quote= |postscript= }}</ref> On April 1, 2013, the ] declined to hear Churchill's case.<ref name="2013_Supreme_Court_Appeal_Rejected">{{cite news |title=Ex-university professor Ward Churchill won't get Supreme Court appeal on firing |work=FoxNews.com |date=April 1, 2013 |url= https://www.foxnews.com/us/ex-university-professor-ward-churchill-wont-get-supreme-court-appeal-on-firing/}}</ref><ref>{{cite court|litigants=Churchill v. University of Colorado at Boulder |vol=569|reporter=U.S.|opinion=904 |pinpoint= |court=|date=April 1, 2013 |url= | |||
] | |||
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11655396224721484042|access-date= January 10, 2023|quote= |postscript= }}</ref> | |||
A 2011 report by the Colorado Committee to Protect Faculty Rights of the Colorado Conference of the ] investigating academic freedom at the University of Colorado - Boulder determined that Churchill's termination was unjustified.<ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://www.westword.com/news/cus-treatment-of-ward-churchill-phil-mitchell-makes-it-questionable-employer-report-finds-5899889 |title=CU's treatment of Ward Churchill, Phil Mitchell makes it questionable employer, report finds |magazine=Westword |date=2011-11-09|access-date=2018-07-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |title=CCPFR Reports on the University of Colorado's Terminations of Phil Mitchell and Ward Churchill |publisher=Colorado Conference of the American Association of University Professorsdate=2011 |url= https://www.scribd.com/document/71999087/Mitchell-Churchill-Report?ad_group=725X1265248Xcd0a796752f362dd987b1e0e5000507e&campaign=SkimbitLtd&keyword=660149026&medium=affiliate&source=hp_affiliate}}</ref> | |||
Churchill wrote an essay <!--when did he write it?-->called "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" about the ], in which he argued that American foreign policies provoked the attacks, describing the "technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire" working in the ] as "little ]." | |||
===Writing=== | |||
Churchill argued that the impact on the population of ] of decade-long economic sanctions, together with the ] policies of President ], and the history of ] against the ] world, had contributed to a climate in which 9/11 was what he called a "natural and inevitable response." | |||
According to the University of Colorado investigation, Churchill's academic publications "are nearly all works of synthesis and reinterpretation, drawing upon studies by other scholars, not monographs describing new research based on primary sources." The investigation also noted that "he has decided to publish largely in alternative presses or journals, not in the university presses or mainstream peer-reviewed journals often favored by more conventional academics."<ref name="misconduct_report" /> Historian ] criticized Churchill for "numerous errors reflecting sloppy or hasty scholarship".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosenfeld |first1=G. D. |title=The Politics of Uniqueness: Reflections on the Recent Polemical Turn in Holocaust and Genocide Scholarship |journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies |date=1999 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=28–61 |doi=10.1093/hgs/13.1.28}}</ref> | |||
In 1986, Churchill wrote the essay "Pacifism as Pathology: Notes on an American Pseudopraxis" criticizing ] politics within the U.S. left as being hypocritical, ''de facto'' ] and ineffectual.<ref>{{cite web |last=Churchill |first=Ward |title=Pacifism as Pathology: Notes on An American Pseudopraxis |url= http://zinelibrary.info/files/pap_imposed.pdf |work=Zine Library |access-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120914103542/http://zinelibrary.info/files/pap_imposed.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=oaiJp3EoXWAC&q=%22Pacifism+as+Pathology%22&pg=PA35 |title=Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence |last=Orosco| first=José-Antonio |date=2008-01-01 |publisher=UNM Press |isbn=9780826343758 |pages=35–37}}</ref> In 1998, ] published the essay in a book entitled ''Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America'', listing Ward Churchill as the author. The book included a preface by Ed Mead (of the ]), a new introduction to the essay by Churchill and a commentary by Michael Ryan. The book sparked much debate in ] circles and inspired more aggressive tactics within the ] movement in the following few years.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kauffman |first=L. A. |title=Who were those masked anarchists in Seattle? |url= http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/12/10/anarchists/print.html |work=] |date=December 10, 1999 |access-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080304153844/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/12/10/anarchists/print.html |archive-date=March 4, 2008}}</ref> ], a co-founder of the pacifist ], published a detailed response in 2001 titled "Nonviolent Action as the Sword that Heals: Challenging Ward Churchill's 'Pacifism As Pathology{{' "}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lakey |first=George |author-link=George Lakey |title=The Sword that Heals: Challenging Ward Churchill's 'Pacifism as Pathology' |date=2001 |publisher=Training for Change |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VVCLGwAACAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lakey |first=George |author-link=George Lakey |title=Nonviolent Action as the Sword that Heals |url= http://trainingforchange.org/nonviolent_action_sword_that_heals |work=TrainingForChange.org |publisher=Training for Change |access-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090208223743/http://trainingforchange.org/nonviolent_action_sword_that_heals |archive-date=February 8, 2009 |date=March 1, 2001}}</ref> The 2007 edition published by ] includes a preface by ].<ref>{{cite book |title=Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America |isbn=978-1904859185 |last1=Churchill |first1=Ward |date=2007|publisher=AK Press }}</ref> A third edition was published in 2017 by ] with updates by Churchill and Ryan, and a foreword by Dylan Rodríguez.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rai |first=Milan |title=Ward Churchill & Michael Ryan, ''Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America'' |url= https://peacenews.info/node/8908/ward-churchill-michael-ryan-pacifism-pathology-reflections-role-armed-struggle-north-ameri |work=] |issue=2612–2613 |date=December 2017 |access-date=August 23, 2019}}</ref> | |||
The "roosting chickens" phrase comes from ]'s comment about the ] of U.S. president ] that Kennedy "never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon." | |||
Churchill's ''Indians Are Us?'' (1994), a sequel to ''Fantasies of the Master Race'', further explores Native American issues in popular culture and politics. He examines the movie '']'', the ] killings, the prosecution of ], sports ]s, the ], and ], calling them tools of ]. Churchill is particularly outspoken about ] exploitations of ] and American Indian sacred traditions, and the "] Indianism" of certain contemporary authors. John P. LaVelle of the ] published a review of ''Indians Are Us?'' in ''The American Indian Quarterly''. Professor LaVelle, an enrolled member of the ], states that ''Indians Are Us?'' twists historical facts and is hostile toward Indian tribes.<ref name="lavelle_review" /> It was in this book that Churchill first made the assertion that the United States distributed "smallpox-infested blankets" to Indian tribes, an assertion which he repeated several times over the next decade. The assertion has been criticized as a falsification.<ref>{{Cite journal|url= http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.5240451.0001.009|title=Did the U.S. Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians? Fabrication and Falsification in Ward Churchill's Genocide Rhetoric|first=Thomas|last=Brown|date=August 3, 2006|journal=Plagiary: Cross-Disciplinary Studies in Plagiarism, Fabrication, and Falsification|hdl=2027/spo.5240451.0001.009}}</ref> | |||
Churchill explained what he meant in a February 2005 interview with '']'': | |||
Churchill argues that in the American continent the Indigenous populations were subjected to a systematic campaign of extermination by settler colonialism: "For Churchill, the greatest series of genocides ever perpetrated in history - in terms of magnitude and duration - occurred in the Americas...".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Curthoys |first1=Ann |last2=Docker |first2=John |date=2001 |title=Introduction: Genocide: definitions, questions, settler-colonies |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45135468 |journal=Aboriginal History |volume=25 |pages=1–15 |issn=0314-8769 |jstor=45135468 |quote=Churchill argues that settler-colonies around the world established during European expansion post-1492 in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina, are not only potentially but inherently genocidal...In Churchill's view, settler-colonies involve genocide in their very being.}}</ref> He discusses American policies such as the ] and the forced assimilation of Indigenous children in ] operating in the mid-1800s to early 1900s.<ref name="ChurchillLittle">], ''A Little Matter Of Genocide: Holocaust And Denial In The Americas 1492 To The Present'' (San Francisco CA: ], 1998) pages 1-17. {{ISBN|978-0-87286-323-1}} (paperback); {{ISBN|978-0-87286-343-9}} (hardcover).</ref> He has called ] an ideology used to justify dispossession and genocide against Native Americans, and compared it to ] ideology of ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Churchill |first=Ward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Q30HcvCVuIC&q=manifest+destiny+genocide&pg=PA437 |title=Encyclopedia of Genocide |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-87436-928-1 |editor-last=Charny |editor-first=Israel W. |page=437 |quote=The size of the aggregate native North American population in 1500 is currently estimated at about 15 million. By 1890 it had been reduced by some 97.5 percent, to less than a quarter-million. That year, it was announced that "aboriginal land-holdings" amounted to only 2.5 percent of US territory. Anglo-America's professed "manifest destiny" to acquire "living space" by liquidating the "inferior" peoples who owned it had been fulfilled.}}</ref> | |||
<blockquote>If you want to avoid September 11s, if you want security in some actual form, then it's almost a ] framing, you have to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. As long as you're doing what the U.S. is doing in the world, you can anticipate a natural and inevitable response of the sort that occurred on 9/11. If you don't get the message out of 9/11, you're going to have to change, first of all, your perception of the value of those others who are consigned to domains, semantic domains like ], then you've really got no complaint when the rules you've imposed come back on you. </blockquote> | |||
==== Blood quantum ==== | |||
In an allusion to ]'s depiction of Nazi war criminal ] as an ordinary person promoting the activity of an evil system, Churchill referred to the "technocrats" working at the World Trade Center as "little Eichmanns." He wrote: | |||
Churchill argues that the United States instituted ] based upon rules of descendancy in order to further goals of personal enrichment and political expediency.<ref name="The charge: Mischaracterization">{{cite web|url= http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0%2C1299%2CDRMN_15_3838645%2C00.html |title=The charge: Mischaracterization |access-date=2017-05-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051225071656/http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0%2C1299%2CDRMN_15_3838645%2C00.html |archive-date=December 25, 2005}}, ''The Rocky Mountain News;'' June 7, 2005</ref> For decades in his writings, Churchill has argued that blood quantum laws have an inherent genocidal purpose. He says: "Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence".<ref>Churchill, Ward, '']'', San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 2004, p. 88</ref> | |||
Churchill's assertions about the blood quantum were raised when research-misconduct allegations were brought against him in 2005 {{crossreference|printworthy=y|(])}}. He has been accused of using his interpretation of the Dawes Act to attack tribal governments that would not recognize him as a member.<ref name="The charge: Mischaracterization" /> | |||
<blockquote>As for those in the World Trade Center, well, really, let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break. They formed a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire, the "mighty engine of profit" to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved and they did so both willingly and knowingly. </blockquote> | |||
====September 11 essay==== | |||
He wrote that the victims were: | |||
Churchill wrote an essay in September 2001 entitled '']''. In it, he argued that the ] were provoked by U.S. foreign policy. He described the role of financial workers at the ] as an "ongoing genocidal ]" comparable to the role played by ] in organizing the ]. In 2005, this essay drew attention after ] invited Churchill to speak.<ref name="college-journalist-touched-off-firestorm" /> This led to both condemnations of Churchill and counter-accusations of ] by Churchill and his supporters. Following the controversy, the University of Colorado interim ] Phil DiStefano said, "While Professor Churchill has the constitutional right to express his political views, his essay on 9/11 has outraged and appalled us and the general public."<ref name="resigns_chair" /> | |||
<blockquote>... too busy braying, incessantly and self-importantly, into their cell phones, arranging power lunches and stock transactions, each of which translated, conveniently out of sight, mind and smelling distance, into the starved and rotting flesh of infants. If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I'd really be interested in hearing about it. </blockquote> | |||
==Art== | |||
Churchill compared the American people to the "good Germans" of ], claiming that the vast majority of Americans had ignored the civilian suffering caused by the sanctions on Iraq during the ], which he characterized as a policy of ]. | |||
Churchill's subjects are often ] figures and other themes associated with ]. He uses historical photographs as source material for works.<ref name="artnet">{{cite web |url= http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/news/artnetnews2/artnetnews3-15-05.asp |title=Artnet News: Art Troubles for WTC "Little Eichmanns" Critic |work=] |date=March 15, 2005 |access-date=2007-07-26}}</ref> In the early 1990s at ], Churchill protested the passage of the ]. It requires that, to identify and exhibit works as being by a Native American, artists and craftsmen must be enrolled in a Native American tribe or designated by a tribe as an artisan.<ref>Croteau 220–221</ref> | |||
Churchill's 1981 ] ''Winter Attack'' was, according to Churchill and others, based on a 1972 drawing by the artist Thomas E. Mails.<ref name="CBS4">{{cite web |last=Chohan |first=Raj |title ='Original' Churchill Art Piece Creates Controversy |publisher=KCNC-TV (CBS Broadcasting) |date=February 24, 2005 |url =http://cbs4denver.com/local/ward.churchill.raj.2.541927.html |access-date =2008-01-16|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080906185147/http://cbs4denver.com/local/ward.churchill.raj.2.541927.html|archive-date=September 6, 2008}}</ref> Churchill printed 150 copies of ''Winter Attack'' and sold at least one of them. Other copies are available online for purchase. Churchill says that, when he produced ''Winter Attack'', he publicly acknowledged that it was based on Mails's work.<ref name="CBS4" /> The online journal '']'' mentions Churchill's artwork and the controversy surrounding its originality.<ref name="artnet" /> | |||
The essay was later expanded into a book, ''],'' which won Honorable Mention for the Gustavus Myer Human Rights Award in 2004. | |||
== |
==Personal life== | ||
In 1977, Churchill began living with Dora-Lee Larson. The relationship was later described in divorce documents as a common-law marriage. Larson filed for divorce in 1984 and asked to have her address kept secret because of “past violence and threats” from Churchill.<ref name="DP_Feb_13_2005" /> | |||
National attention was drawn to the essay in January 2005, when Churchill was invited to speak at ] as a member of a panel during a debate entitled "Limits of Dissent". | |||
Churchill later married Marie Annette Jaimes, who also worked at the University of Colorado. Their marriage ended in 1995.<ref name="DP_Feb_13_2005" /> | |||
The text of the essay was quoted on the ], ] edition of the ] program ''].'' ] initiated a campaign against Churchill, imploring his viewers to e-mail the college to cancel Churchill's invitation. A flood of 6,000 e-mails resulted. In the ensuing uproar, the lecture was changed to a larger venue, but was ultimately cancelled by the college's president, Joan Stewart, because of what were called "credible threats of violence". <!--quote needs a reference--> Churchill has written that he received threats against his life as a consequence of the news coverage. | |||
In response to what he called "grossly inaccurate media coverage concerning analysis of the September 11, 2001 attacks," Churchill clarified his views: | |||
Churchill's third wife was Leah Kelly. On May 31, 2000, the 25-year-old Kelly was hit by a car and killed. Churchill has written that Kelly's death left a "crater" in his soul.<ref name="DP_Feb_13_2005" /> | |||
<blockquote>I am not a "defender" of the September 11 attacks, but simply pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned. I have never said that people "should" engage in armed attacks on the United States, but that such attacks are a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. policy. As ], quoting ], said, "Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable."</blockquote> | |||
As of 2005, Churchill was married to Natsu Saito, a professor of ethnic studies.<ref name="DP_Feb_13_2005" /> | |||
He continued: | |||
===Ancestry=== | |||
<blockquote>It is not disputed that ] was a military target, or that a ] office was situated in the World Trade Center. Following the logic by which ] spokespersons have consistently sought to justify target selection in places like ], this placement of an element of the American "command and control infrastructure" in an ostensibly civilian facility converted the Trade Center itself into a "legitimate" target. Again following U.S. military doctrine, as announced in briefing after briefing, those who did not work for the CIA but were nonetheless killed in the attack amounted to no more than "collateral damage". If the U.S. public is prepared to accept these "standards" when they are routinely applied to other people, they should not be surprised when the same standards are applied to them. </blockquote> | |||
In 2003, Churchill stated, "I am myself of ] and ] descent on my father's side, ] on my mother's, and am an enrolled member of the ]."<ref name="american_holocaust">{{cite journal |first=Ward |last=Churchill |title=An American Holocaust? The Structure of Denial|journal=Socialism and Democracy |date=2003 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=25–76 |url= http://www.sdonline.org/33/ward_churchill.htm |doi=10.1080/08854300308428341|s2cid=143631746 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050206103859/http://www.sdonline.org/33/ward_churchill.htm |archive-date=February 6, 2005 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="ethnicstudies">{{cite web|title=Ward Churchill |work=Ethnic Studies |publisher=University of Colorado |url= http://www.colorado.edu/EthnicStudies/faculty/churchill.html |access-date=2008-01-09 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080107003916/http://www.colorado.edu/EthnicStudies/faculty/churchill.html |archive-date=January 7, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy}}</ref> In 1992, Churchill wrote elsewhere that he is one-eighth Creek and one-sixteenth Cherokee.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Federal Indian Identification Policy: A Usurpation of Indigenous Sovereignty in North America |title=The State of Native America: Genocide, Colonization and Resistance |last=Jaimes |first=M. Annette |editor-last=Jaimes |editor-first=M. Annette| publisher=] |location=Boston |date=1992 |isbn=0-89608-424-8 |pages=123–138 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rgO3XR2MRSsC}} Churchill told the University of Colorado investigative committee that he wrote this essay in its entirety.</ref> | |||
In 1993, Churchill told the '']'' that "he was one-sixteenth Creek and Cherokee."<ref>{{cite news |first=Jodi |last=Rave |title=Free Speech for Fake Indian |url= http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/02/12/news/opinion/opin338.txt |work=Rapid City Journal |date=February 12, 2005 |access-date=2008-07-27}}</ref> Churchill told the '']'' in February 2005 that he is three-sixteenths Cherokee.<ref name="DP_Feb_3_2005">{{cite news | |||
| title=CU prof affirms Indian heritage: Tribe says he's not full member |first=Howard |last=Pankratz |work=Denver Post |url= https://www.denverpost.com/2005/06/08/cu-prof-affirms-indian-heritage/ |date=February 3, 2005}}</ref> | |||
In a statement dated May 9, 2005, and posted on its website, the ] said: "The United Keetoowah Band would like to make it clear that Mr. Churchill is ''not'' a member of the Keetoowah Band and was only given an honorary 'associate membership' in the early 1990s because he could not prove any Cherokee ancestry". The Band added that Churchill's claims of Keetoowah enrollment were deemed fraudulent by the United Keetoowah Band.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tribe snubs prof: Cherokee band says Churchill's claim of membership a fraud |first=Charlie |last=Brennan |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=May 18, 2005 |url= http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3786590,00.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126175832/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3786590,00.html|archivedate=November 26, 2005|url-status=dead|accessdate=May 7, 2023}}</ref> | |||
On ], ], Churchill resigned as chairman of the Ethnic Studies department at the ], but remains a tenured professor. | |||
Two days later, the United Keetoowah Band replaced its earlier statement with the following: "Because Mr. Churchill had ] information regarding his alleged ancestry", and because he was willing "to assist the UKB in promoting the tribe and its causes, he was awarded an 'Associate Membership' as an honor". The Band clarified that Churchill "was not eligible for tribal membership due to the fact that he does not possess a '] (CDIB)", and added that associate membership did not entitle an individual to voting rights or enrollment in the tribe. The Band's spokesperson, Lisa Stopp, stated the tribe enrolls only members with certified one-quarter American Indian blood.<ref name="Charlie Brennan" /><ref name="Herdy" /> While the United Keetoowah Band voted to stop awarding associate memberships in 1994,<ref name="Charlie Brennan" /><ref name=areclaimsvalid>{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Flynn |title=The Churchill files; Are Ward Churchill's claims of American Indian ancestry valid? |url= http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/news/churchill/indexDay5.shtml |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=June 9, 2005 |access-date=2007-07-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071001015344/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/news/churchill/indexDay5.shtml |archive-date=October 1, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> the Band indicated in 2005 that Churchill still held an associate membership.<ref name="Clark-Keetoowah">{{cite news |title=Keetoowah Band says Churchill is honorary, Indian tribe states membership is not recognized |last=Clark |first=Elizabeth Mattern |publisher=Daily Camera.com |date=May 19, 2005 |url= http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2005/may/19/keetoowah-band-says-churchill-is-honorary |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090223203415/http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2005/may/19/keetoowah-band-says-churchill-is-honorary/ |archive-date=February 23, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>The Tahlequah Daily Press, February 4, 2005</ref> | |||
Colorado ] governor ] and other ] and ] state lawmakers publicly called for Churchill's dismissal.<!--I removed the sentence that was here about allegations, because we haven't mentioned any allegations yet.--> The Colorado House of Representatives, with unanimous support from Republicans and Democrats, adopted a resolution condemning Churchill's statements. | |||
Churchill has never asked for CDIB certification, and has said that he finds the idea of being "vetted" by the US government offensive.<ref name="Charlie Brennan">{{cite news |title=Tribe clarifies stance on prof: Milder statement explains Churchill's 'associate' label |first=Charlie |last=Brennan |work=Rocky Mountain News |date=May 21, 2005 |url= http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2005/may/21/tribe-clarifies-stance-on-prof/}}</ref><ref name="Herdy">{{cite news |title=Tribe shifts stand, acknowledges Churchill's alleged Cherokee ancestry |first=Amy |last=Herdy |work=Denver Post |date=May 20, 2005 |url= http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_2746403 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050522003926/http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_2746403 |archive-date=May 22, 2005}}</ref> | |||
The Board of Regents of the University of Colorado, meeting in executive session on ] 2005, adopted a resolution apologizing to the American people for Churchill's statements, and ratifying interim chancellor Phil DiStefano's review of Churchill's actions. DiStefano was directed to investigate whether Churchill had overstepped his bounds as a faculty member, whether his actions were cause for dismissal, and whether his writing is protected by the ]. The university's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct agreed that his words were protected by the First Amendment, but agreed to investigate subsequent charges made against Churchill of ], falsification, fabrication and ] fraud (see ]). | |||
In June 2005, the '']'' published an article about Churchill's genealogy and family history. The newspaper's research "turned up no evidence of a single Indian ancestor" among 142 direct ancestors identified from records.<ref name=areclaimsvalid/> The ''News'' reported that both Churchill's birth parents were listed as white on the 1930 census, as were all but two of his great-great-grandparents listed on previous census and other official documents.<ref name=areclaimsvalid/> The ''News'' found that some of Churchill's accounts of where his ancestors had lived did not agree with documented records. Nevertheless, numerous members of Churchill's extended family have longstanding family legends of Indian ancestry among ancestors.<ref name=areclaimsvalid /> | |||
In response to the cancellation of Churchill's speech at Hamilton, Hawaiian Studies professor Dr. Haunani-Kay Trask invited him to speak at the ] on ], 2005, where Churchill responded to his critics. | |||
Some of Churchill's Native American critics, such as ] (]) and ] (]-]), argue that without proof, his assertion of Native American ancestry might constitute misrepresentation.<ref name="RMN 2005-02-17" /> | |||
=== A "new McCarthyism"? === | |||
In a 2005 interview in ''The Rocky Mountain News'', Churchill said, "I have never been confirmed as having one-quarter blood, and never said I was. And even if are absolutely right, what does that have to do with this issue? I have never claimed to be goddamned ]."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2005/dec/24/year-in-quotes/ |work=Rocky Mountain News |title=Year in quotes |date=December 25, 2005}}</ref> | |||
When Churchill's comparison of the 9/11 victims to a notorious Nazi was first widely publicized in early 2005, a media firestorm erupted, driven by Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly and other conservative pundits. A number of academics and activists on the left mounted a counter-offensive. One of Churchil's fellow professors in the Ethnic Studies department at the University of Colorado, Emma Perez, alleges that the attacks on Churchill are an organized "test case" by ]s to stifle liberal criticism of the ], and to undermine the funding of ] departments nationwide. . ] and many other organizations have similarly characterized the efforts to negatively characterize Churchill, and anyone who defends him, as a "witch hunt". For example, | |||
===Activism=== | |||
<blockquote> | |||
Churchill has been a leader of Colorado AIM's annual protests in Denver against the ] holiday and its associated parade.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.transformcolumbusday.org/media/20050924-rm.htm|title=Rocky Mountain News: Columbus parade could see less strife|work=Transform Columbus Day}}</ref> | |||
Hoffman went on to express her support for academic freedom. She said she feared a "new McCarthyism" in the uproar over Ward Churchill, and added, "We are in dangerous times again," to the applause of the faculty. | |||
</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote> | |||
This was enough. A cry arose for her to resign. | |||
</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote> | |||
After all, this campaign against Ward Churchill has been endorsed and given official legitimacy by the governors of Colorado and New York and other elected officials at every level, from one end of the country to the other. It has been promoted by the prominent Republican strategist Newt Gingrich, by the editorial pages of many major newspapers, and by the screeching Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, and by the whole rightwing radio and TV talkshow circuit. | |||
</blockquote> | |||
==Works== | |||
The conservative Denver newspaper, ] has run numerous and ongoing articles alleging misconduct. Supporters of Churchill's academic free speech take the frequency, content and tone of these articles as evidence of Churchill's having become a political among Colorado conservatives. See ]. | |||
'''Books, as editor''' | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=1984 | |||
|title=Marxism and Native Americans | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=Boulder, Colorado | |||
|isbn=978-0-89608-178-9 | |||
|url-access=registration | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/marxismnativeame0000unse | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|editor=Sharon Venne | |||
|date=1997 | |||
|title=Islands in Captivity: The International Tribunal on the Rights of Indigenous Hawaiians | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=Boulder, Colorado | |||
|isbn=978-0-89608-568-8 | |||
}} Re-released as {{cite book | |||
|editor=Sharon Venne | |||
|first=Ward | |||
|last=Churchill | |||
|date=2005 | |||
|title=Islands in Captivity: The Record of the International Tribunal on the Rights of Indigenous Hawaiians | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=Boulder, Colorado | |||
|isbn=978-0-89608-738-5 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|editor=Natsu Saito | |||
|date=2006 | |||
|title=Confronting The Crime of Silence: Evidence of U.S. War Crimes in Indochina | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-1-904859-21-5 | |||
}} | |||
'''Books, as author and co-author''' | |||
In the spring of 2005, Ward Churchill received a majority of votes from the students at the University of Colorado at Boulder who voted for its Teaching Recognition Award. The University of Colorado Alumni Association, which sponsors the award, announced that they would withhold the award from Churchill until the investigation on the charges that he committed research misconduct had been concluded. Given annually for 44 years, this is the first time the award's was withheld from the person who won it., | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|author=with Elisabeth Lloyd | |||
|date=1984 | |||
|title=Culture versus Economism: Essays on Marxism in the Multicultural Arena | |||
|publisher=] | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|author=with Jim Vander Wall | |||
|date=1988 | |||
|title=Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=Boulder, Colorado | |||
|isbn=978-0-89608-294-6 | |||
|url-access=registration | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/agentso_chu_1988_00_5587 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|author=with Jim Vander Wall | |||
|date=1990 | |||
|title=The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret War Against Domestic Dissent | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=Boulder, Colorado | |||
|isbn=978-0-89608-359-2 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=1992 | |||
|title=Fantasies of the Master Race: Literature, Cinema, and the Colonization of American Indians | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/fantasiesofmaste00chur | |||
|url-access=registration | |||
|publisher=Common Courage Press | |||
|isbn=978-0-87286-348-4 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|editor=Jennie and Jim Vander Wall | |||
|first=Ward | |||
|last=Churchill | |||
|date=1992 | |||
|title=Cages of Steel: The Politics of Imprisonment in America | |||
|edition=Activism, Politics, Culture, Theory, Vol. 4 | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-0-944624-17-3 | |||
}} Re-released as {{cite book | |||
|editor-first=Jim |editor-last=Vander Wall | |||
|first=Ward | |||
|last=Churchill | |||
|date=2004 | |||
|title=Politics of Imprisonment in the United States | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-1-904859-12-3 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=1993 | |||
|title=Struggle for the Land: Indigenous Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Expropriation in Contemporary North America | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/struggleforlandi0000chur | |||
|url-access=registration | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-1-56751-001-0 | |||
}} Revised and expanded edition: {{cite book | |||
|date=2002 | |||
|title=Struggle for the Land: Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Colonization | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=San Francisco CA | |||
|isbn=978-0-87286-415-3 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=1994 | |||
|title=Indians Are Us?: Culture and Genocide in Native North America | |||
|publisher=Common Courage Press | |||
|isbn=978-1-56751-021-8 | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/indiansareus00ward | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=1995 | |||
|title=Since Predator Came: Notes from the Struggle for American Indian Liberation | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-1-883930-03-5 | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/sincepredatorcam00chur | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|first=Ward | |||
|last=Churchill | |||
|date=1996 | |||
|title=From a Native Son: Selected Essays on Indigenism 1985–1995 | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=Boulder, Colorado | |||
|isbn=978-0-89608-553-4 | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/fromnativeson00ward | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|author=with Mike Ryan (introduction by Ed Mead) | |||
|date=1998 | |||
|title=Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America | |||
|publisher=Arbeiter Ring | |||
|isbn=978-1-894037-07-5 | |||
|title-link=Pacifism as Pathology: Notes on an American Pseudopraxis | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=1998 | |||
|title=A Little Matter of Genocide | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=San Francisco CA | |||
|isbn=978-0-87286-343-9 | |||
| title-link=A Little Matter of Genocide | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=2000 | |||
|title=Draconian Measures: The History of FBI Political Repression | |||
|publisher=Common Courage Press | |||
|isbn=978-1-56751-059-1 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=2002 | |||
|title=Acts Of Rebellion: The Ward Churchill Reader | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-0-415-93156-4 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=2002 | |||
|title=Perversions of Justice: Indigenous Peoples and Angloamerican Law | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=San Francisco CA | |||
|isbn=978-0-87286-416-0 | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/perversionsofjus00chur | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=2003 | |||
|title=On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: Reflections on the Consequences of U.S. Imperial Arrogance and Criminality | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-1-902593-79-1 | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/onjusticeofroost00chur | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=2004 | |||
|title=Kill the Indian, Save the Man: The Genocidal Impact of American Indian Residential Schools | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|location=San Francisco CA | |||
|isbn=978-0-87286-434-4 | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/killindiansavema00chur | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=2004 | |||
|title=Speaking Truth in the Teeth of Power: Lectures on Globalization, Colonialism, and Native North America | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-1-904859-04-8 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=2005 | |||
|title=To Disrupt, Discredit And Destroy: The FBI's Secret War Against The Black Panther Party | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-0-415-92957-8 | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
|date=2017 | |||
|title=Wielding Words like Weapons: Selected Essays in Indigenism, 1995–2005 | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|isbn=978-1-629-63101-1 | |||
}} | |||
'''Articles''' | |||
The University of Colorado has reaffirmed Churchill's right to academic free speech, and has declined to pursue any actions against him based on his controversial statements about the 9/11 victims. | |||
*{{cite journal|first=Ward |last=Churchill |date=July–September 1992 |title=I Am Indigenist: Notes on the Ideology of the Fourth World |journal=Z Papers |volume=1 |issue=3 |url= http://www.zmag.org/Chiapas1/wardindig.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url= http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20010916092312/http://www.zmag.org/chiapas1/wardindig.htm |archive-date=September 16, 2001}} | |||
*{{cite web | |||
|first=Ward | |||
|last=Churchill | |||
|date=1994 | |||
|title=Let's Spread the Fun Around | |||
|publisher=American Indian Movement of Colorado, Denver/Boulder Chapter <!-- might be more of a "via" --> | |||
|url= http://www.coloradoaim.org/Wardchurchillspreadthefunaround.htm | |||
|url-status=dead | |||
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070912073326/http://coloradoaim.org/Wardchurchillspreadthefunaround.htm | |||
|archive-date=September 12, 2007 | |||
|df=mdy-all | |||
}} First published as "''Crimes Against Humanity''" in {{cite book | |||
|first=Margaret |last=Anderson |editor-first=Patricia |editor-last=Hill | |||
|title=Race, Class and Gender: An Anthology | |||
|url= https://archive.org/details/raceclassgendera00ande |url-access=registration |date= 1994 |publisher=Wadsworth |location=Belmont, CA |pages=–73 | |||
|isbn=9780534247683 }} Also published under the titles "''The Indian Chant and the Tomahawk Chop''" and "''Using Indian Names as Mascots Harms Native Americans''". | |||
*{{cite journal | |||
|first=Ward | |||
|last=Churchill | |||
|date=November 1998 | |||
|title=Smoke Signals: A History of Native Americans in Cinema | |||
|journal=] | |||
|url= http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/revichurchill_35.htm | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite journal | |||
|first=Ward | |||
|last=Churchill | |||
|date=Winter–Spring 2003 | |||
|title=An American Holocaust? The Structure of Denial | |||
|journal=Socialism and Democracy | |||
|volume=17 | |||
|issue=2 | |||
|pages=25–76 | |||
|url= http://www.sdonline.org/33/ward_churchill.htm | |||
|doi=10.1080/08854300308428341 | |||
|s2cid=143631746 | |||
|url-status=dead | |||
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050206103859/http://www.sdonline.org/33/ward_churchill.htm | |||
|archive-date=February 6, 2005 | |||
|df=mdy-all | |||
}} | |||
*{{cite journal|first=Ward |last=Churchill |date=Spring 2005 |title=The Ghosts of 9-1-1: Reflections on History, Justice and Roosting Chickens |journal=] |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=45–56 |url= http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=352&page=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061002092543/http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=352&page=1 |archive-date=October 2, 2006}} | |||
*{{cite journal | |||
|first=Ward | |||
|last=Churchill | |||
|date=July–August 2007 | |||
|journal=Left Turn | |||
|volume=25 | |||
|pages=25–29 | |||
|title=The Fourth World: Struggles for Traditional Lands and Ways of Life | |||
|url= http://www.leftturn.org/?q=node/695 | |||
}} | |||
'''Audio and video''' | |||
== Allegations against Churchill == | |||
*''Doing Time: The Politics of Imprisonment'', audio CD of a lecture, recorded at the Doing Time Conference at the ], September 2000 (AK Press, 2001, {{ISBN|978-1-902593-47-0}}) | |||
As a result of the controversy over the essay, additional allegations became the subject of debate in the media and on Internet ]s. These included disputes over his claim of partial ] heritage, and allegations of ] and ]. University of Colorado administrators ordered an investigation, which is currently underway, into the allegations of research misconduct, which include plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification. He has also been accused of intimidating his colleagues, and has allegedly made remarks advocating that soldiers kill their commanding officers. <!--Which remarks? Source?--> | |||
*''Life in Occupied America'' (AK Press, 2003, {{ISBN|978-1-902593-72-2}}) | |||
*''In a Pig's Eye: Reflections on the Police State, Repression, and Native America'' (AK Press, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-902593-50-0}}) | |||
*''US Off the Planet!: An Evening In ] With Ward Churchill And Chellis Glendinning'', VHS video recorded July 17, 2001 (Cascadia Media Collective, 2002) | |||
*'']'', 2003 audio CD recorded at an AK Press warehouse in Oakland (AK Press Audio) | |||
* August 10, 2003 and earlier | |||
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219133641/http://www.fsrn.org/news/20050209_news.html |date=February 19, 2005 }} – Free Speech Radio News February 9, 2005 | |||
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050315010641/http://www.fsrn.org/news/20050203_news.html |date=March 15, 2005 }} – Free Speech Radio News, February 3, 2005. | |||
* The Network Show, from February 18, 2005, features extended Audio/Video exclusive interview with Churchill. | |||
*, recorded in ], on March 19, 2005 | |||
*Debate with ] and Ward Churchill at ] April 6, 2006 | |||
**{{cite web | |||
|title=Full two-hour audio of debate with David Horowitz | |||
|work=rightalk.listenz.com | |||
|url=http://rightalk.listenz.com/!ARCHIVES/ChurchillVSHorowitz2-64-44M.mp3 | |||
|access-date=2006-07-02 | |||
|archive-date=June 19, 2007 | |||
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070619192424/http://rightalk.listenz.com/!ARCHIVES/ChurchillVSHorowitz2-64-44M.mp3 | |||
|url-status=dead | |||
}} | |||
**{{cite web | |||
|title=David Horowitz vs. Ward Churchill — Round 1 | |||
|work=Young Americans Foundation | |||
|url= http://media.yaf.org/latest/03_21_06.cfm | |||
|access-date=2006-07-02 | |||
|url-status=dead | |||
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060428033206/http://media.yaf.org/latest/03_21_06.cfm | |||
|archive-date=April 28, 2006 | |||
|df=mdy-all | |||
}} Video and audio (excerpt) | |||
**{{cite web | |||
|title =David Horowitz vs. Ward Churchill | |||
|work=insidehighered.com | |||
|url= http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/04/07/debate | |||
|access-date=2006-07-02 | |||
}} | |||
== See also == | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==References== | |||
Churchill has said that he is less than one-quarter Indian , and that he was an associate member of the Keetoowah tribe. In an article in ''Socialism and Democracy'' magazine, he stated, "I am myself of Muscogee and Creek descent on my father's side, Cherokee on my mother's, and am an enrolled member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians." | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
'''Further reading''' | |||
The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, on May 19, 2005, issued a ''Final Statement from the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians Regarding Ward Churchill'' which indicates that he is a not a current member of their tribe, but was formerly an honorary associate member: | |||
*Brown, Thomas. University of Michigan, 2006. ( also available.) | |||
*Chapman, Roger. . Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-7656-1761-3}}. | |||
*Croteau, Susan Ann. . University of California, Los Angeles, 2008. | |||
{{American Indian Movement}} | |||
<blockquote>Ward Churchill received an “Associate Membership” from the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (UKB) council in May, 1994. He was not eligible for tribal membership due to the fact that he does not possess a “Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood” (CDIB) which is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Interior / Bureau of Indian Affairs. Because Mr. Churchill had genealogical information regarding his alleged ancestry, and his willingness to assist the UKB in promoting the tribe and its causes, he was awarded an ‘Associate Membership’ as an honor. However, Mr. Churchill may possess eligibility status for Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, since he claims 1/16 Cherokee. </blockquote> | |||
{{Authority control}} | |||
'']'' reported that a review of Churchill's matrilineal genealogy on ] shows no evidence of Native American ancestry going back to his great-great-grandparents. Based on ] and ] records all matrilineal ancestors of Ward Churchill are listed either as "White" or as "race unknown." | |||
''The ]'' did a similar a review of Churchill's family records and reached the conclusion that Churchill's claims of American Indian ancestry are not supported, writing that "an extensive genealogical search by the Rocky Mountain News identified 142 direct forebears of Churchill and turned up no evidence of a single Indian ancestor among them." | |||
In an interview in ''The Rocky Mountain News'', Churchill stated: "I have never been confirmed as having one-quarter blood, and never said I was. And even if (the critics) are absolutely right, what does that have to do with this issue? I have never claimed to be goddamned ]". | |||
Moreover, it is not unusual for Americans who have some Native American blood, but whose families live within the mainstream community, and who know their heritage only from family tradition, to encounter difficulty proving their ethnicity to the satisfaction of administrators of ] programs. Many universities use membership in a recognized tribe as the legitimate marker of Indian identity for AA purposes. | |||
Some members in the Native American community also question Churchill's claim of partial Indian heritage. Indian activist ] indicated that Churchill could not name his family members that are enrolled in the Creek Tribe. Creek-Cherokee historian Robert W. Trepp did not find Churchill's family members on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation rolls. ] a co-founder of the ], and opponent of the breakaway ] which Churchill and fellow AIM co-founder ] founded, has stated that Churchill does not represent the American Indian Movement and is not an Indian. | |||
==== Effects on career ==== | |||
Churchill's critics argue that his assertion of Native American ancestry without the ability to prove it might constitute misrepresentation and grounds for termination. | |||
The University has stated in response that they do not hire on the basis of ethnicity: | |||
<blockquote>iven the fact that equal opportunity is the law of the land and that positions in the public sector are to be awarded to all persons regardless of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, and based only on their ability to do the job, the university does not believe that any attempt to remove Mr. Churchill because of his ethnicity or race would be appropriate.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>Even if Mr. Churchill is not an American Indian, as he claims, Title VII protects Caucasians as well as persons of color. Further, it has always been university policy that a person's race or ethnicity is self-proving. </blockquote> | |||
However, there is indication that Churchill's asserted ethnicity indirectly influenced his hiring. Communications chair Michael Pacanowsky, in an email on Jan. 10, 1991 wrote: "Ward's file was circulated to sociology and political science, and they did not agree to roster him in their departments. Because Ward's graduate degree, an MA, was in communications, we were contacted next." Pacanowsky characterizes Churchill's work as not being part of the "mainstream in our discipline," then argues that by appointing Churchill, the department would be "making our own contribution to increasing the cultural diversity on campus (Ward is a native American)." (Rocky Mountain News, Febrary 19, 2005) | |||
The University of Colorado's Research Misconduct Committee conducted a preliminary investigation into whether Churchill misrepresented his ethnicity in order to "make his scholarship more widely accepted." However, the Committee declined to pursue ethnic fraud charges against Churchill, as such issues are not covered in the official definition of "research misconduct." | |||
===Research Misconduct=== | |||
Federal regulations that define "research misconduct" specify three types of misconduct: fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. Churchill is currently under investigation by CU for all three types of misconduct. In the article "The Genocide That Wasn't: Ward Churchill's Research Fraud", sociology professor Thomas Brown accused Churchill of fabrication and falsification based on several books by Churchill in which he wrote about an incident in which Churchill accuses the U.S. Army with deliberately infecting ] Indians with ] in ]. Brown's article argues that Churchill has fabricated the incident and falsified the sources he cited to substantiate his claims. Historian and political scientist Guenter Lewy agrees that Churchill has mischaracterized his sources, and calls Churchill's claim of 100,000 deaths from the alleged smallpox incident "obviously absurd". One of Churchill's sources—the Cherokee scholar Russell Thornton, who is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at UCLA—has publicly objected to Churchill's citation of his book in support of the smallpox genocide hypothesis. Thornton characterized Churchill's claim that the U.S. Army perpetuated a smallbox blanket genocide against the Mandans as "out-and-out fabrication. It depends on how you want to look at it, but in one sense, it's just making up of data, and that kind of thing shouldn't be tolerated in scholarship or science." In two articles published in the 1990s, ] law professor John LaVelle alleged that Churchill made false claims about the General Allotment Act. | |||
Allegations also reappeared that Churchill had plagiarized the work of Fay G. Cohen of ], ]. An internal Dalhousie University report concludes that "he article ... is, in the opinion of our legal counsel, plagiarism," Dalhousie spokesman Charles Crosby said, summarizing the report's findings in an interview with the ''Rocky Mountain News''. Cohen also accused Churchill of telephoning her and threatening her after she made the complaint. | |||
There are allegations that "Winter Attack", a 1981 ] signed by Ward Churchill, may be a copyright infringement of a 1972 drawing by Thomas E. Mails. , . Churchill has responded that "he whole issue is utterly contrived." He said he spoke to Mails about adapting the imagery before using it, an adaptation which he said "here was nothing unusual about." Ryan Mails, the son of the late Thomas Mails, said that he could not imagine that his father "would ever grant permission to anyone to copy one of his pieces." | |||
Three other authors have come forward to accuse Churchill of publishing | |||
their work without their permission. | |||
Robert T. Coulter, a lawyer and member of the Potawatomi Nation, has accused Churchill of taking a class that Coulter taught on the status of American Indian nations and having those notes published without written permission in a book of essays that Churchill had published. In addition, Churchill allegedly added endnotes to the article that were not in the original article. Coulter has not only criticized Churchill's use of the article without permission, but also the addition of the endnotes. He said: "I would never have permitted that — especially Ward Churchill. He's not a lawyer. He doesn't have the skill or expertise to add to a paper on my own subject." | |||
The University of Colorado's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct has declined to pursue the various charges of copyright violation related to Churchill's use of Thomas Mails' artwork, and to Churchill's republication of other scholar's work without their permission. The Committee has defined its jurisdiction narrowly in Churchill's case, limited to the three dimensions of research misconduct that are specified in the federal regulations. Copyright violations that do not meet the legal definition of "plagiarism" are not covered in the federal misconduct regulations. The Committe has appointed an investigative subcommittee to look into the various charges of plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification, brought by Professors Brown, Lavelle, and Cohen. The investigation is ongoing at present. | |||
=== The Governor calls it treason === | |||
In an April 2004 interview with '']'' magazine, Churchill said: | |||
<blockquote>If I defined the state as being the problem, just what happens to the state? I've never fashioned myself to be a ], but it's part and parcel of what I'm talking about. You can create through ] a situation of ], perhaps, in which something better can replace it. In instability there's potential. That's about as far as I go with revolutionary consciousness. I'm actually a de-evolutionary. I don't want other people in charge of the apparatus of the state as the outcome of a socially transformative process that replicates ]. I want the state gone: transform the situation to U.S. out of ]. U.S. off the planet. Out of existence altogether. </blockquote> | |||
Colorado governor Bill Owens called this comment "]," arguing that "Churchill has clearly called for violence against the state, and no country is required to subsidize its own destruction. That's what we're doing with Ward Churchill." On ], ], the ''Denver Post'' reported that this comment would be included by the university in its review of Churchill's tenure. Although there has been some suggestion that the constitutionally overturned ] should be invoked in order to prosecute Churchill for his remarks, the debate is mostly focused on whether the First Amendment protects the tenure of a professor of a public university. Many, including Governor Owen, argue that the ] (or any other public university) is not required to support faculty that support the overthrow of the government. | |||
On ], ], Churchill told an audience in ]: | |||
<blockquote>For those of you who do, as a matter of principle, oppose war in any form, the idea of supporting a ] who's already been inducted in his combat service in Iraq might have a certain appeal. But let me ask you this: Would you render the same level of support to someone who hadn't conscientiously objected, but rather instead rolled a grenade under their line officer in order to neutralize the combat capacity of their unit? ... Conscientious objection removes a given piece of ] from the fray. ] an officer has a much more impactful effect. </blockquote> | |||
When asked by a member of the audience about the officers' families, Churchill responded, "ow do you feel about Adolf Eichmann's family?" | |||
==Works== | |||
===Books=== | |||
*''Marxism and Native Americans'', edited by Churchill (], 1984, paperback: ISBN 089608177X, hardcover: ISBN 0896081788) | |||
*''Culture versus Economism: Essays on Marxism in the Multicultural Arena'' (Indigena Press, 1984) | |||
*''Agents of Repression: The ]'s Secret Wars Against the ] and the ]'', co-authored with Jim Vander Wall (], 1988, paperback: ISBN 0896082938, hardcover: ISBN 0896082946) | |||
*'']: Documents from the FBI's Secret War Against Domestic Dissent'', co-authored with Jim Vander Wall (], 1991, ISBN 0896083594) | |||
*''Struggle for the Land: Indigenous Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Expropriation in Contemporary North America'' (Common Courage Press, 1992, ISBN 1567510000, hardcover: 1993, ISBN 1567510019). Released in a revised and expanded edition as ''Struggle for the Land: Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide, and Colonization'' (City Lights Publishers, 2002, hardcover: ISBN 0872864154, paperback: ISBN 0872864146) | |||
*''Fantasies of the Master Race: Literature, Cinema, and the Colonization of American Indians'' (Common Courage Press, 1992, ISBN 0872863484) | |||
*''Cages of Steel: The Politics of Imprisonment in America'', co-edited by Jim Vander Wall (Activism, Politics, Culture, Theory, Vol. 4, Maisonneuve Press, 1992, ISBN 0944624170). Re-released as ''Cages of Steel: The Politics of Imprisonment in the United States'' (AK Press, 2004, ISBN 1904859127). | |||
*''Indians Are Us?: Culture and Genocide in Native North America'' (Common Courage Press, 1993, paperback: ISBN 1567510205, hardcover: ISBN 1567510213) | |||
*''Since Predator Came: Notes from the Struggle for American Indian Liberation'' (Aigis Press, 1995, ISBN 1883930030) | |||
*''From A Native Son: Selected Essays on Indigenism 1985-1995'' (South End Press, 1996, ISBN 0896085538) | |||
*''Islands in Captivity: The International Tribunal on the Rights of Indigenous Hawaiians'' (South End Press, 1997, paperback: ISBN 0896085678, hardcover: ISBN 0896085686, out of print). Re-released, co-edited by Sharon Venne (South End Press, 2005, hardcover: ISBN 0896087387). | |||
*''Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America'', with Mike Ryan, an introduction by Ed Mead (], 1998, ISBN 1894037073) | |||
*''A Little Matter Of Genocide: Holocaust And Denial In The Americas 1492 To The Present'' (City Lights Books, 1998, hardcover: ISBN 0872863433, paperback: ISBN 0872863239). | |||
*''Draconian Measures: The History of FBI Political Repression'' (Common Courage Press, 2000, out of print, hardcover: ISBN 1567510590, paperback: ISBN 1567510582) | |||
*''Acts Of Rebellion: The Ward Churchill Reader,'' (], 2002, paperback: ISBN 0415931568, library binding: ISBN 041593155X) | |||
*''Perversions of Justice: Indigenous Peoples and Angloamerican Law'' (City Lights Publishers, 2002, paperback: ISBN 0872864111, hardcover: ISBN 0872864162) | |||
*'']: Reflections on the Consequences of U.S. Imperial Arrogance and Criminality'' (AK Press, 2003, ISBN 1902593790) | |||
*''Kill the Indian, Save the Man: The Genocidal Impact of American Indian Residential Schools'' (City Lights Publishers, 2004, ISBN 0872864340). | |||
*''Speaking Truth in the Teeth of Power: Lectures on Globalization, Colonialism, and Native North America'' (], 2004, ISBN 1904859046) | |||
*''Confronting The Crime Of Silence: Evidence Of U.S. War Crimes In Indochina'', co-edited by Natsu Saito (AK Press, 2005, ISBN 1904859216) | |||
*''To Disrupt, Discredit And Destroy: The FBI's Secret War Against The Black Panther Party'' (], 2005, paperback: ISBN 041592958X, hardcover: ISBN 0415929571). | |||
===Audio and video=== | |||
*''Doing Time: The Politics of Imprisonment'', audio CD of a lecture, recorded at the Doing Time Conference at the ], September 2000 (AK Press, 2002, ISBN 1902593472) | |||
*''Life In Occupied America'' (AK Press, 2003, ISBN 1902593723) | |||
*''In A Pig's Eye: Reflections on the Police State, Repression, and Native America'' (AK Press, 2002, ISBN 1902593502) | |||
*''US Off The Planet!: An Evening In ] With Ward Churchill And Chellis Glendinning'', VHS video recorded July 17, 2001 (Cascadia Media Collective, 2002) | |||
*''Pacifism and Pathology in the American Left'', 2003 audio CD recorded at a AK Press warehouse in Oakland (AK Press Audio) | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* - Free Speech Radio News February 09, 2005 | |||
* - Free Speech Radio News, February 03, 2005 | |||
* The Network Show, from February 18, 2005 features extended Audio/Video exclusive interview with Churchill | |||
==External links== | |||
===General=== | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* by ] writing for ]. | |||
* (by John P. LaVelle) (PDF file) | |||
===Articles related to 9/11 essay=== | |||
* | |||
* (''Rocky Mountain News'') | |||
* | |||
* (''New York Times,'' February 2 2005) | |||
* (CNN, January 31, 2005) | |||
* (''Denver Post,'' February 01, 2005) | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* (by Jon Caldara, OpEd, February 27, 2005 | |||
* (''Capitalism Magazine'') | |||
* plus other links | |||
* | |||
* (a legal case for firing Churchill) | |||
* (Associated Press/''Denver Post,'' February 02, 2005) | |||
=== ] on the "Churchill affair" === | |||
*Churchill's essays lack originality, says N.M. law professor By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News February 11, 2005 | |||
*Red-flagged career Churchill's tenure at CU marked by warnings of trouble By Charlie Brennan And Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News February 17, 2005 | |||
*Churchill's quick rise 'doesn't compute' Former CU official who backed his hire surprised by tenure By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News February 17, 2005 | |||
*Shadows of doubt (Rocky Mountain) News finds problems in all four major areas before CU panel By Charlie Brennan, Kevin Flynn, Laura Frank, Berny Morson and Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News June 4, 2005 | |||
*The charge: Plagiarism Did Ward Churchill publish the work of others as his own? By Laura Frank, Rocky Mountain News June 7, 2005 | |||
*'Connect the dots' a wild goose chase By Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News June 9, 2005 Ward Churchill provided some cryptic directions 11 years ago when questions were raised on the University of Colorado campus about his Indian heritage. | |||
*CU asks for more info on professor Documents sought to pursue alleged research misconduct By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News July 27, 2005 | |||
*Complaints by former wife's family sent to Churchill panel By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News August 27, 2005 | |||
*''Charges of Research Misconduct at CU'', 7 of 9 charges forwarded to a more thorough investigation by experts, 2 charges deemed inappropriate, charge by former wife also considered outside the mandate of the initial investigating committee. Churchill claims to be unfazed, but will be denied sabbatical. September 10, 2005 | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
==References== | |||
*Cesarani, David. ''Adolf Eichmann: The Mind of a War Criminal'', (BBC.co.uk, ] ]) Retrieved ] ] | |||
*] 2005)]. Retrieved ] 2005. | |||
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Latest revision as of 04:36, 10 November 2024
American author and political activist (born 1947)
Ward Churchill | |
---|---|
Churchill speaking at the Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair in May 2005. | |
Born | Ward LeRoy Churchill (1947-10-02) October 2, 1947 (age 77) Urbana, Illinois, United States |
Alma mater | Sangamon State University (BA, MA) |
Occupation | Author |
Ward LeRoy Churchill (born October 2, 1947) is an American activist and author. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1990 until 2007. Much of Churchill's work focuses on the historical treatment of political dissenters and Native Americans by the United States government, and he expresses controversial views in a direct, often confrontational style. While Churchill has claimed Native American ancestry, genealogical research has failed to unearth such ancestry and he is not a member of a tribe.
In January 2005, Churchill's 2001 essay "On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" gained attention. In the work, he argued the September 11 attacks were a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. foreign policy over the latter half of the 20th century; the essay is known for Churchill's use of the phrase "little Eichmanns" to describe the "technocratic corps" working in the World Trade Center.
In March 2005, the University of Colorado began investigating allegations that Churchill had engaged in research misconduct. Churchill was fired on July 24, 2007. Churchill filed a lawsuit against the University of Colorado for unlawful termination of employment. In April 2009, a Denver jury found that Churchill was unjustly fired, awarding him $1 in damages. In July 2009, however, a District Court judge vacated the monetary award and declined Churchill's request to order his reinstatement, holding that the university had "quasi-judicial immunity". Churchill's appeals of this decision were unsuccessful.
Early life and education
Churchill was born in Urbana, Illinois, to Jack LeRoy Churchill and Maralyn Lucretia Allen. His parents divorced before he turned two. He grew up in Elmwood, Illinois, where he attended local schools.
In 1966, Churchill was drafted into the United States Army. On his 1980 resume, he claimed to have served as a public-information specialist who "wrote and edited the battalion newsletter and wrote news releases." In a 1987 profile in the Denver Post, Churchill claimed to have attended paratrooper school and to have volunteered for a 10-month stint on Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol in Vietnam. Churchill also claimed to have spent time at the Chicago office of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and provided firearms and explosives training to members of the Weather Underground. In 2005, the Denver Post reported on fabrications in Churchill's service record. Department of Defense personnel files showed that Churchill was trained as a film projectionist and light truck driver, but they do not reflect paratrooper school or LRRP training.
Churchill received his B.A. in technological communications in 1974 and his M.A. in communication theory in 1975, both from Sangamon State University (now the University of Illinois at Springfield).
Career
University of Colorado Boulder
In 1978, Churchill began working at the University of Colorado Boulder as an affirmative action officer in the university administration. He also lectured on issues relating to Native Americans in the United States in the ethnic studies program. In 1990, the University of Colorado hired him as an associate professor, although he did not possess the academic doctorate usually required for the position. The following year he was granted tenure in the Communication department, without the usual six-year probationary period, after having been declined by the Sociology and Political Science departments.
Churchill received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Alfred University in 1992.
In 1994, then CU-Boulder Chancellor James Corbridge refused to take action on allegations that Churchill was fraudulently claiming to be an Indian, saying "it has always been university policy that a person's race or ethnicity is self-proving."
In 1996, Churchill moved to the new Ethnic Studies Department of the University of Colorado. In 1997, he was promoted to full professor. He was selected as chairman of the department in June 2002. Documents in Churchill's university personnel file show that Churchill was granted tenure in a "special opportunity position".
In January 2005, during the controversy over his 9/11 remarks, Churchill resigned as chairman of the ethnic studies department at the University of Colorado — his term as chair was scheduled to expire in June of that year.
In 2005, the University of Colorado's Research Misconduct Committee conducted a preliminary investigation into whether Churchill misrepresented his ethnicity to "add credibility and public acceptance to his scholarship". The committee concluded that the allegation was not "appropriate for further investigation under the definition of research misconduct". The university has said that it does not hire on the basis of ethnicity.
On July 24, 2007, Churchill was fired for academic misconduct.
Research misconduct investigation
The quality of Churchill's research had been seriously questioned by legal scholar John LaVelle and historian Guenter Lewy. Additional critics were sociologist Thomas Brown, who had been preparing an article on Churchill's work; and historians R. G. Robertson and Russell Thornton, who said that Churchill had misrepresented their work.
In 2005, University of Colorado Boulder administrators ordered an investigation into seven allegations of research misconduct against Churchill. The allegations included three allegations of plagiarism, allegations of fabrication or falsification regarding the history of the Dawes Act and the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, and alleged claims that smallpox was intentionally spread to Native Americans by John Smith in 1614 and by the United States Army at Fort Clark in 1837.
On May 16, 2006, the university released its findings; the Investigative Committee unanimously concluded that Churchill had engaged in "serious research misconduct", including falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism. The committee was divided on the appropriate level of sanctions. Following further deliberations by university bodies, on July 24, 2007, the university regents voted seven to two to uphold all seven of the findings of research misconduct. The regents voted eight to one to fire Churchill.
The next day, Churchill filed a lawsuit in state court claiming that the firing was retribution for his expression of politically unpopular views. The jury in Churchill's suit for reinstatement weighed the university's claims of academic misconduct per jury instructions it received in the case. On April 1, 2009, the jury found that Churchill had been wrongly fired, and awarded $1 in damages. On July 7, 2009, Judge Larry Naves found that the university was entitled to quasi-judicial immunity as a matter of law, vacated the jury verdict, and determined that the university did not owe Churchill any financial compensation. Churchill appealed, but Judge Naves's decision was upheld by a three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals and by the Colorado Supreme Court. On April 1, 2013, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear Churchill's case.
A 2011 report by the Colorado Committee to Protect Faculty Rights of the Colorado Conference of the American Association of University Professors investigating academic freedom at the University of Colorado - Boulder determined that Churchill's termination was unjustified.
Writing
According to the University of Colorado investigation, Churchill's academic publications "are nearly all works of synthesis and reinterpretation, drawing upon studies by other scholars, not monographs describing new research based on primary sources." The investigation also noted that "he has decided to publish largely in alternative presses or journals, not in the university presses or mainstream peer-reviewed journals often favored by more conventional academics." Historian Gavriel Rosenfeld criticized Churchill for "numerous errors reflecting sloppy or hasty scholarship".
In 1986, Churchill wrote the essay "Pacifism as Pathology: Notes on an American Pseudopraxis" criticizing pacifist politics within the U.S. left as being hypocritical, de facto racist and ineffectual. In 1998, Arbeiter Ring Publishing published the essay in a book entitled Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America, listing Ward Churchill as the author. The book included a preface by Ed Mead (of the George Jackson Brigade), a new introduction to the essay by Churchill and a commentary by Michael Ryan. The book sparked much debate in leftist circles and inspired more aggressive tactics within the anti-globalization movement in the following few years. George Lakey, a co-founder of the pacifist Movement for a New Society, published a detailed response in 2001 titled "Nonviolent Action as the Sword that Heals: Challenging Ward Churchill's 'Pacifism As Pathology'". The 2007 edition published by AK Press includes a preface by Derrick Jensen. A third edition was published in 2017 by PM Press with updates by Churchill and Ryan, and a foreword by Dylan Rodríguez.
Churchill's Indians Are Us? (1994), a sequel to Fantasies of the Master Race, further explores Native American issues in popular culture and politics. He examines the movie Black Robe, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation killings, the prosecution of Leonard Peltier, sports mascots, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, and blood quantum laws, calling them tools of genocide. Churchill is particularly outspoken about New Age exploitations of shamanism and American Indian sacred traditions, and the "do-it-yourself Indianism" of certain contemporary authors. John P. LaVelle of the University of New Mexico School of Law published a review of Indians Are Us? in The American Indian Quarterly. Professor LaVelle, an enrolled member of the Santee Sioux Nation, states that Indians Are Us? twists historical facts and is hostile toward Indian tribes. It was in this book that Churchill first made the assertion that the United States distributed "smallpox-infested blankets" to Indian tribes, an assertion which he repeated several times over the next decade. The assertion has been criticized as a falsification.
Churchill argues that in the American continent the Indigenous populations were subjected to a systematic campaign of extermination by settler colonialism: "For Churchill, the greatest series of genocides ever perpetrated in history - in terms of magnitude and duration - occurred in the Americas...". He discusses American policies such as the Indian Removal Act and the forced assimilation of Indigenous children in American Indian boarding schools operating in the mid-1800s to early 1900s. He has called manifest destiny an ideology used to justify dispossession and genocide against Native Americans, and compared it to Lebensraum ideology of Nazi Germany.
Blood quantum
Churchill argues that the United States instituted blood quantum laws based upon rules of descendancy in order to further goals of personal enrichment and political expediency. For decades in his writings, Churchill has argued that blood quantum laws have an inherent genocidal purpose. He says: "Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it and eventually Indians will be defined out of existence".
Churchill's assertions about the blood quantum were raised when research-misconduct allegations were brought against him in 2005 (see above). He has been accused of using his interpretation of the Dawes Act to attack tribal governments that would not recognize him as a member.
September 11 essay
Churchill wrote an essay in September 2001 entitled On the Justice of Roosting Chickens. In it, he argued that the September 11 attacks were provoked by U.S. foreign policy. He described the role of financial workers at the World Trade Center as an "ongoing genocidal American imperialism" comparable to the role played by Adolf Eichmann in organizing the Holocaust. In 2005, this essay drew attention after Hamilton College invited Churchill to speak. This led to both condemnations of Churchill and counter-accusations of McCarthyism by Churchill and his supporters. Following the controversy, the University of Colorado interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano said, "While Professor Churchill has the constitutional right to express his political views, his essay on 9/11 has outraged and appalled us and the general public."
Art
Churchill's subjects are often American Indian figures and other themes associated with Native American Culture. He uses historical photographs as source material for works. In the early 1990s at Santa Fe Indian Market, Churchill protested the passage of the 1990 Indian Arts and Crafts Act. It requires that, to identify and exhibit works as being by a Native American, artists and craftsmen must be enrolled in a Native American tribe or designated by a tribe as an artisan.
Churchill's 1981 serigraph Winter Attack was, according to Churchill and others, based on a 1972 drawing by the artist Thomas E. Mails. Churchill printed 150 copies of Winter Attack and sold at least one of them. Other copies are available online for purchase. Churchill says that, when he produced Winter Attack, he publicly acknowledged that it was based on Mails's work. The online journal Artnet mentions Churchill's artwork and the controversy surrounding its originality.
Personal life
In 1977, Churchill began living with Dora-Lee Larson. The relationship was later described in divorce documents as a common-law marriage. Larson filed for divorce in 1984 and asked to have her address kept secret because of “past violence and threats” from Churchill.
Churchill later married Marie Annette Jaimes, who also worked at the University of Colorado. Their marriage ended in 1995.
Churchill's third wife was Leah Kelly. On May 31, 2000, the 25-year-old Kelly was hit by a car and killed. Churchill has written that Kelly's death left a "crater" in his soul.
As of 2005, Churchill was married to Natsu Saito, a professor of ethnic studies.
Ancestry
In 2003, Churchill stated, "I am myself of Muscogee and Creek descent on my father's side, Cherokee on my mother's, and am an enrolled member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians." In 1992, Churchill wrote elsewhere that he is one-eighth Creek and one-sixteenth Cherokee. In 1993, Churchill told the Colorado Daily that "he was one-sixteenth Creek and Cherokee." Churchill told the Denver Post in February 2005 that he is three-sixteenths Cherokee.
In a statement dated May 9, 2005, and posted on its website, the United Keetoowah Band said: "The United Keetoowah Band would like to make it clear that Mr. Churchill is not a member of the Keetoowah Band and was only given an honorary 'associate membership' in the early 1990s because he could not prove any Cherokee ancestry". The Band added that Churchill's claims of Keetoowah enrollment were deemed fraudulent by the United Keetoowah Band.
Two days later, the United Keetoowah Band replaced its earlier statement with the following: "Because Mr. Churchill had genealogical information regarding his alleged ancestry", and because he was willing "to assist the UKB in promoting the tribe and its causes, he was awarded an 'Associate Membership' as an honor". The Band clarified that Churchill "was not eligible for tribal membership due to the fact that he does not possess a 'Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB)", and added that associate membership did not entitle an individual to voting rights or enrollment in the tribe. The Band's spokesperson, Lisa Stopp, stated the tribe enrolls only members with certified one-quarter American Indian blood. While the United Keetoowah Band voted to stop awarding associate memberships in 1994, the Band indicated in 2005 that Churchill still held an associate membership.
Churchill has never asked for CDIB certification, and has said that he finds the idea of being "vetted" by the US government offensive.
In June 2005, the Rocky Mountain News published an article about Churchill's genealogy and family history. The newspaper's research "turned up no evidence of a single Indian ancestor" among 142 direct ancestors identified from records. The News reported that both Churchill's birth parents were listed as white on the 1930 census, as were all but two of his great-great-grandparents listed on previous census and other official documents. The News found that some of Churchill's accounts of where his ancestors had lived did not agree with documented records. Nevertheless, numerous members of Churchill's extended family have longstanding family legends of Indian ancestry among ancestors.
Some of Churchill's Native American critics, such as Vernon Bellecourt (White Earth Ojibwe) and Suzan Shown Harjo (Southern Cheyenne-Muscogee Creek), argue that without proof, his assertion of Native American ancestry might constitute misrepresentation.
In a 2005 interview in The Rocky Mountain News, Churchill said, "I have never been confirmed as having one-quarter blood, and never said I was. And even if are absolutely right, what does that have to do with this issue? I have never claimed to be goddamned Sitting Bull."
Activism
Churchill has been a leader of Colorado AIM's annual protests in Denver against the Columbus Day holiday and its associated parade.
Works
Books, as editor
- Marxism and Native Americans. Boulder, Colorado: South End Press. 1984. ISBN 978-0-89608-178-9.
- Sharon Venne, ed. (1997). Islands in Captivity: The International Tribunal on the Rights of Indigenous Hawaiians. Boulder, Colorado: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-568-8. Re-released as Churchill, Ward (2005). Sharon Venne (ed.). Islands in Captivity: The Record of the International Tribunal on the Rights of Indigenous Hawaiians. Boulder, Colorado: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-738-5.
- Natsu Saito, ed. (2006). Confronting The Crime of Silence: Evidence of U.S. War Crimes in Indochina. AK Press. ISBN 978-1-904859-21-5.
Books, as author and co-author
- with Elisabeth Lloyd (1984). Culture versus Economism: Essays on Marxism in the Multicultural Arena. Indigena Press.
- with Jim Vander Wall (1988). Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement. Boulder, Colorado: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-294-6.
- with Jim Vander Wall (1990). The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret War Against Domestic Dissent. Boulder, Colorado: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-359-2.
- Fantasies of the Master Race: Literature, Cinema, and the Colonization of American Indians. Common Courage Press. 1992. ISBN 978-0-87286-348-4.
- Churchill, Ward (1992). Jennie and Jim Vander Wall (ed.). Cages of Steel: The Politics of Imprisonment in America (Activism, Politics, Culture, Theory, Vol. 4 ed.). Maisonneuve Press. ISBN 978-0-944624-17-3. Re-released as Churchill, Ward (2004). Vander Wall, Jim (ed.). Politics of Imprisonment in the United States. AK Press. ISBN 978-1-904859-12-3.
- Struggle for the Land: Indigenous Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Expropriation in Contemporary North America. Common Courage Press. 1993. ISBN 978-1-56751-001-0. Revised and expanded edition: Struggle for the Land: Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Colonization. San Francisco CA: City Lights Books. 2002. ISBN 978-0-87286-415-3.
- Indians Are Us?: Culture and Genocide in Native North America. Common Courage Press. 1994. ISBN 978-1-56751-021-8.
- Since Predator Came: Notes from the Struggle for American Indian Liberation. Aigis Press. 1995. ISBN 978-1-883930-03-5.
- Churchill, Ward (1996). From a Native Son: Selected Essays on Indigenism 1985–1995. Boulder, Colorado: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-553-4.
- with Mike Ryan (introduction by Ed Mead) (1998). Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America. Arbeiter Ring. ISBN 978-1-894037-07-5.
- A Little Matter of Genocide. San Francisco CA: City Lights Books. 1998. ISBN 978-0-87286-343-9.
- Draconian Measures: The History of FBI Political Repression. Common Courage Press. 2000. ISBN 978-1-56751-059-1.
- Acts Of Rebellion: The Ward Churchill Reader. Routledge. 2002. ISBN 978-0-415-93156-4.
- Perversions of Justice: Indigenous Peoples and Angloamerican Law. San Francisco CA: City Lights Books. 2002. ISBN 978-0-87286-416-0.
- On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: Reflections on the Consequences of U.S. Imperial Arrogance and Criminality. AK Press. 2003. ISBN 978-1-902593-79-1.
- Kill the Indian, Save the Man: The Genocidal Impact of American Indian Residential Schools. San Francisco CA: City Lights Books. 2004. ISBN 978-0-87286-434-4.
- Speaking Truth in the Teeth of Power: Lectures on Globalization, Colonialism, and Native North America. AK Press. 2004. ISBN 978-1-904859-04-8.
- To Disrupt, Discredit And Destroy: The FBI's Secret War Against The Black Panther Party. Routledge. 2005. ISBN 978-0-415-92957-8.
- Wielding Words like Weapons: Selected Essays in Indigenism, 1995–2005. PM Press. 2017. ISBN 978-1-629-63101-1.
Articles
- Churchill, Ward (July–September 1992). "I Am Indigenist: Notes on the Ideology of the Fourth World". Z Papers. 1 (3). Archived from the original on September 16, 2001.
- Churchill, Ward (1994). "Let's Spread the Fun Around". American Indian Movement of Colorado, Denver/Boulder Chapter. Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. First published as "Crimes Against Humanity" in Anderson, Margaret (1994). Hill, Patricia (ed.). Race, Class and Gender: An Anthology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. pp. 366–73. ISBN 9780534247683. Also published under the titles "The Indian Chant and the Tomahawk Chop" and "Using Indian Names as Mascots Harms Native Americans".
- Churchill, Ward (November 1998). "Smoke Signals: A History of Native Americans in Cinema". LiP Magazine.
- Churchill, Ward (Winter–Spring 2003). "An American Holocaust? The Structure of Denial". Socialism and Democracy. 17 (2): 25–76. doi:10.1080/08854300308428341. S2CID 143631746. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005.
- Churchill, Ward (Spring 2005). "The Ghosts of 9-1-1: Reflections on History, Justice and Roosting Chickens". Alternative Press Review. 9 (1): 45–56. Archived from the original on October 2, 2006.
- Churchill, Ward (July–August 2007). "The Fourth World: Struggles for Traditional Lands and Ways of Life". Left Turn. 25: 25–29.
Audio and video
- Doing Time: The Politics of Imprisonment, audio CD of a lecture, recorded at the Doing Time Conference at the University of Winnipeg, September 2000 (AK Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-902593-47-0)
- Life in Occupied America (AK Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-902593-72-2)
- In a Pig's Eye: Reflections on the Police State, Repression, and Native America (AK Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-902593-50-0)
- US Off the Planet!: An Evening In Eugene With Ward Churchill And Chellis Glendinning, VHS video recorded July 17, 2001 (Cascadia Media Collective, 2002)
- Pacifism and Pathology in the American Left, 2003 audio CD recorded at an AK Press warehouse in Oakland (AK Press Audio)
- Z Mag Ward Churchill Audio August 10, 2003 and earlier
- Churchill Speaks About Academic Freedom Archived February 19, 2005, at the Wayback Machine – Free Speech Radio News February 9, 2005
- Ward Churchill Under Fire Archived March 15, 2005, at the Wayback Machine – Free Speech Radio News, February 3, 2005.
- The Justice of Roosting Chickens: Ward Churchill Speaks The Pacifica Network Show, Democracy Now! from February 18, 2005, features extended Audio/Video exclusive interview with Churchill.
- "A Little Matter of Genocide: Linking U.S. Aggression Abroad to the Domestic Repression of Indigenous Peoples", recorded in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, on March 19, 2005
- Debate with David Horowitz and Ward Churchill at George Washington University April 6, 2006
- "Full two-hour audio of debate with David Horowitz". rightalk.listenz.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2006.
- "David Horowitz vs. Ward Churchill — Round 1". Young Americans Foundation. Archived from the original on April 28, 2006. Retrieved July 2, 2006. Video and audio (excerpt)
- "David Horowitz vs. Ward Churchill". insidehighered.com. Retrieved July 2, 2006.
See also
References
- ^ "Curriculum vitae of Ward L. Churchill" (PDF). wardchurchill.net. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
- Jury Says Professor Was Wrongly Fired; New York Times; Kirk Johnson and Katherine Q. Seelye; April 2, 2009
- Chapman Page 92–93
- ^ Brennan, Charlie (February 3, 2005). "College journalist touched off firestorm". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008.
- ^ Wesson, Marianne; Clinton, Robert; Limón, José; McIntosh, Marjorie; Radelet, Michael (May 9, 2006). Report of the Investigative Committee of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct at the University of Colorado Boulder concerning Allegations of Academic Misconduct against Professor Ward Churchill (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2006.
- ^ Morson, Berny (July 25, 2007). "CU regents fire Ward Churchill". Rocky Mountain News.
- ^ Johnson, Kirk; Seelye, Katharine Q. (April 3, 2009). "Jury Says Professor Wrongly Fired". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
- John, Aguilar (April 2, 2009). "Churchill wins his case, awarded $1 in damages – Reinstatement at CU to be decided at future hearing". Daily Camera. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
- ^ Curtin, Dave; Pankratz, Howard; Kane, Arthur (June 9, 2005). "Questions stoke Ward Churchill's firebrand past". Denver Post. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- photostat of Denver Post article, Claire Martin and (name illegible), Denver Post Archived June 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, January 18, 1987. Retrieved February 7, 2010
- ^ Pankratz, Howard (February 3, 2005). "CU prof affirms Indian heritage: Tribe says he's not full member". Denver Post.
- "Conference report" (PDF).
- "Alfred University, Honorary Degrees, 1990–1999". Archived from the original on May 24, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2007.
- ^ Brennan, Charlie; Steers, Stuart (February 17, 2005). "Red-flagged career: Churchill's tenure at CU marked by warnings of trouble". Rocky Mountain News.
- Morson, Berny; Brennan, Charlie (February 16, 2005). "Churchill tenure questioned: Prof was granted job security without usual review process". Rocky Mountain News.
- ^ Dodge, Jefferson (February 24, 2005). "Churchill's personnel files released by CU-Boulder". Silver & Gold Record. Archived from the original on September 22, 2006.
- "Honorary Degrees, 1990–1999". Special Collections & Archives. Herrick Memorial Library, Alfred University. Archived from the original on May 24, 2003.
- ^ Ward Churchill Resigns Administrative Post Archived September 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, University of Colorado Boulder, January 31, 2005
- ^ DiStephano, Philip; Gleeson, Todd; Getches, David (March 24, 2005). Report on Conclusion of Preliminary Review in the Matter of Professor Ward Churchill. University of Colorado Boulder. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012.
- Hale, Pauline (September 9, 2005). "Statement Regarding Decision Of Standing Committee On Research Misconduct" (Press release). CU-Boulder Office of News Services. Archived from the original on November 28, 2007.
- ^ LaVelle, John; Churchill, Ward (1999). "Review of "Indians Are Us?: Culture and Genocide in Native North America"" (PDF). The American Indian Quarterly. 20 (1): 109–118. doi:10.2307/1184946. JSTOR 1184946. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 8, 2006. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
- LaVelle, John (Spring 1999). "The General Allotment Act "Eligibility" Hoax: Distortions of Law, Policy, and History in Derogation of Indian Tribes" (PDF). Wíčazo Ša Review. 14 (1): 251–302. doi:10.2307/1409527. JSTOR 1409527. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 8, 2006. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
- Lewy, Guenter (November 22, 2004). "Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide?". History News Network.
- Jaschik, Scott (February 9, 2005). "A New Ward Churchill Controversy". Inside Higher Ed.
- Brown, Thomas (2006). "Did the U.S. Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians? Fabrication and Falsification in Ward Churchill's Genocide Rhetoric" (PDF). Plagiary: Cross-Disciplinary Studies in Plagiarism, Fabrication, and Falsification. 1 (9): 1–30. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 12, 2007.
- Rosse, Joseph; Bhagat, Sanjai; Bradburn, Mark; Bruff, Harold; Glyde, Judith; Guberman, Steven; Mody, Bella; Morris, Linda; Nauenberg, Uriel; Pierpont, Cortlandt (June 13, 2006). Report and Recommendations of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct Concerning Allegations of Research Misconduct by Professor Ward Churchill (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder.
- ^ Dodge, Jefferson (July 26, 2007). "Regents dismiss Ward Churchill". Silver & Gold Record. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- "First amended complaint & jury demand" (PDF). Ward Churchill v. University of Colorado. July 25, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007.
- McGhee, Tom (July 7, 2009). "No job, no money for Ward Churchill". Denver Post. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
- Churchill v. University of Colorado, Order Granting Defendants' Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law and Denying Plaintiff's Motion for Reinstatement of Employment (2009), archived from the original on 1 July 2011.
- "Ward Churchill Won't Get Job Back, Appeals Court Rules". Law Week Colorado. November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
- Churchill v. University of Colorado at Boulder, 293 P.3d 16 (Colo. App. November 24, 2010).
- "Supreme Court declines to hear controversial professor's appeal". Reuters. January 4, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
- Churchill v. University of Colorado at Boulder, 285 P.3d 986 (Colo. September 10, 2012).
- "Ex-university professor Ward Churchill won't get Supreme Court appeal on firing". FoxNews.com. April 1, 2013.
- Churchill v. University of Colorado at Boulder, 569 U.S. 904 (April 1, 2013).
- "CU's treatment of Ward Churchill, Phil Mitchell makes it questionable employer, report finds". Westword. November 9, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- CCPFR Reports on the University of Colorado's Terminations of Phil Mitchell and Ward Churchill (Report). Colorado Conference of the American Association of University Professorsdate=2011.
- Rosenfeld, G. D. (1999). "The Politics of Uniqueness: Reflections on the Recent Polemical Turn in Holocaust and Genocide Scholarship". Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 13 (1): 28–61. doi:10.1093/hgs/13.1.28.
- Churchill, Ward. "Pacifism as Pathology: Notes on An American Pseudopraxis" (PDF). Zine Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 14, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- Orosco, José-Antonio (January 1, 2008). Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence. UNM Press. pp. 35–37. ISBN 9780826343758.
- Kauffman, L. A. (December 10, 1999). "Who were those masked anarchists in Seattle?". Salon.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- Lakey, George (2001). The Sword that Heals: Challenging Ward Churchill's 'Pacifism as Pathology'. Training for Change.
- Lakey, George (March 1, 2001). "Nonviolent Action as the Sword that Heals". TrainingForChange.org. Training for Change. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- Churchill, Ward (2007). Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America. AK Press. ISBN 978-1904859185.
- Rai, Milan (December 2017). "Ward Churchill & Michael Ryan, Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America". Peace News. No. 2612–2613. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- Brown, Thomas (August 3, 2006). "Did the U.S. Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians? Fabrication and Falsification in Ward Churchill's Genocide Rhetoric". Plagiary: Cross-Disciplinary Studies in Plagiarism, Fabrication, and Falsification. hdl:2027/spo.5240451.0001.009.
- Curthoys, Ann; Docker, John (2001). "Introduction: Genocide: definitions, questions, settler-colonies". Aboriginal History. 25: 1–15. ISSN 0314-8769. JSTOR 45135468.
Churchill argues that settler-colonies around the world established during European expansion post-1492 in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina, are not only potentially but inherently genocidal...In Churchill's view, settler-colonies involve genocide in their very being.
- Ward, Churchill, A Little Matter Of Genocide: Holocaust And Denial In The Americas 1492 To The Present (San Francisco CA: City Lights Books, 1998) pages 1-17. ISBN 978-0-87286-323-1 (paperback); ISBN 978-0-87286-343-9 (hardcover).
- Churchill, Ward (2000). Charny, Israel W. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Genocide. ABC-CLIO. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-87436-928-1.
The size of the aggregate native North American population in 1500 is currently estimated at about 15 million. By 1890 it had been reduced by some 97.5 percent, to less than a quarter-million. That year, it was announced that "aboriginal land-holdings" amounted to only 2.5 percent of US territory. Anglo-America's professed "manifest destiny" to acquire "living space" by liquidating the "inferior" peoples who owned it had been fulfilled.
- ^ "The charge: Mischaracterization". Archived from the original on December 25, 2005. Retrieved May 12, 2017., The Rocky Mountain News; June 7, 2005
- Churchill, Ward, Kill the Indian, Save the Man, San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 2004, p. 88
- ^ "Artnet News: Art Troubles for WTC "Little Eichmanns" Critic". Artnet. March 15, 2005. Retrieved July 26, 2007.
- Croteau 220–221
- ^ Chohan, Raj (February 24, 2005). "'Original' Churchill Art Piece Creates Controversy". KCNC-TV (CBS Broadcasting). Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
- Churchill, Ward (2003). "An American Holocaust? The Structure of Denial". Socialism and Democracy. 17 (2): 25–76. doi:10.1080/08854300308428341. S2CID 143631746. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005.
- "Ward Churchill". Ethnic Studies. University of Colorado. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- Jaimes, M. Annette (1992). "Federal Indian Identification Policy: A Usurpation of Indigenous Sovereignty in North America". In Jaimes, M. Annette (ed.). The State of Native America: Genocide, Colonization and Resistance. Boston: South End Press. pp. 123–138. ISBN 0-89608-424-8. Churchill told the University of Colorado investigative committee that he wrote this essay in its entirety.
- Rave, Jodi (February 12, 2005). "Free Speech for Fake Indian". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
- Brennan, Charlie (May 18, 2005). "Tribe snubs prof: Cherokee band says Churchill's claim of membership a fraud". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2005. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ Brennan, Charlie (May 21, 2005). "Tribe clarifies stance on prof: Milder statement explains Churchill's 'associate' label". Rocky Mountain News.
- ^ Herdy, Amy (May 20, 2005). "Tribe shifts stand, acknowledges Churchill's alleged Cherokee ancestry". Denver Post. Archived from the original on May 22, 2005.
- ^ Flynn, Kevin (June 9, 2005). "The Churchill files; Are Ward Churchill's claims of American Indian ancestry valid?". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
- Clark, Elizabeth Mattern (May 19, 2005). "Keetoowah Band says Churchill is honorary, Indian tribe states membership is not recognized". Daily Camera.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009.
- The Tahlequah Daily Press, February 4, 2005
- "Year in quotes". Rocky Mountain News. December 25, 2005.
- "Rocky Mountain News: Columbus parade could see less strife". Transform Columbus Day.
Further reading
- Brown, Thomas. "Did the U.S. Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians? Fabrication and Falsification in Ward Churchill's Genocide Rhetoric" University of Michigan, 2006. (PDF version also available.)
- Chapman, Roger. Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices, Volume 1. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7656-1761-3.
- Croteau, Susan Ann. "But it doesn't look Indian": Objects, archetypes and objectified others in Native American art, culture, and identity. University of California, Los Angeles, 2008.
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