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Ward LeRoy Churchill (born October 2 , 1947 ) is an American writer, activist, and academic. He is a tenured full professor of Ethnic Studies at the University Of Colorado At Boulder , and author of over twenty books and hundreds of essays. In addition to his academic writing, Churchill has written for several general readership magazines of political opinion. Churchill was widely discussed and criticized in the Mass Media during 2005, stimulated by publicity given to a 2001 essay in which Churchill questioned the innocence of many of the people killed in the World Trade Center Attacks , labeling them as " Technocrats " and "little Eichmanns ."A revised and expanded version of the essay ''Some People Push Back'' appears in 1 Background Early life and education Churchill was born in and M.A. in Communication from Sangamon State University, now the University Of Illinois At Springfield . He was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Alfred University after giving a lecture there about American Indian history. In 1990, he joined the University Of Colorado At Boulder as an assistant professor and was granted tenure the following year. He resigned as chairman of the Ethnic Studies department at the University of Colorado in January 2005, but remains as a tenured professor. Writing As a scholar, Churchill has written on Native American history and culture, and is particularly outspoken about what he describes as the Genocide inflicted on the Indigenous peoples of North America by Europe an settlers and the repression of Indigenous Peoples that he claims continues to this day. '' book cover]] '' book cover]] In ''Agents of Repression'' (1988), co-authored by Jim Vander Wall, the authors describe "the secret war" against the Black Panther Party and American Indian Movement carried out during the late 1960s and '70s by the FBI under the COINTELPRO program. '' The COINTELPRO Papers '' (1990; reissued 2002), co-authored with Jim Vander Wall , examines a series of original FBI memos that detail the Bureau's activities against various leftist groups, from the U.S. Communist Party in the 1950s to activists concerned with Central America n issues in the 1980s. 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 Tony Hillerman 's mystery novels, the film '' Dances With Wolves '', and the New Age movement, finding examples of cultural Imperialism and exploitation. Churchill calls author Carlos Castaneda 's claims of revealing the teachings of a Yaqui Indian Shaman , the "greatest hoax since Piltdown Man ." '' Struggle For The Land '' (1993; 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 19th and 20th centuries to prevent defoliation and industrial practices such as Surface Mining . 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 Mascot s, 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 Native American sacred traditions, and the "do-it-yourself Indianism" of certain contemporary authors. '' From A Native Son : Selected Essays on Indigenism, 1985-1995'' (1996) is a collection of 23 previously published essays on American Indian history, culture, and political activism. Churchill's ''A Little Matter of Genocide'' (1998) is a survey of Ethnic Cleansing from 1492 to the present. He compares the treatment of North American Indians to a number of genocides in history, such as those in Cambodia and Armenia , and those of the Gypsies , Poles , and Jews by the Nazis . 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. ''On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: Reflections on the Consequences of U.S. Imperial Arrogance and criminality'' (2003) takes the "roosting chickens" of the title from a 1963 Malcolm X speech about the assassination of the U.S. president John F. Kennedy, as the violence that Kennedy did not stop "was merely a case of 'chickens coming home to roost.'" Its essays address the worldwide forms of resistance that Churchill feels are inevitably provoked by U.S. imperialism of the 20th and 21st centuries. Activism Churchill has been active since at least 1984 as the co-director of the Denver -based American Indian Movement Of Colorado , an autonomous chapter of the American Indian Movement . In 1993, he and other local AIM leaders—including Russell Means , Glen Morris, Bob Robideau, and David Hill—broke with the national AIM leadership, including Dennis Banks , Clyde Bellecourt and Vernon Bellecourt, claiming that all AIM chapters are autonomous. The Schism continues, with the AIM claiming that the local AIM leaders are tools of the government being used against Indians. Churchill has been a leader of Colorado AIM's annual protests in Denver against the Columbus Day holiday and its associated parade. These protests have brought Colorado AIM's leadership into conflict with some leaders in the Denver Italian American community, the main supporters of the parade. Churchill and others have been arrested while protesting for acts such as blocking the parade. "Columbus parade could see less strife: Churchill, conflict having an effect" By Charlie Brennan, ''Rocky Mountain News'', September 24, 2005 Initially (in the early 1990s), some local American Indian support and advocacy organizations in the Denver metro area believed that the activities of the Colorado AIM chapter damaged the work of the Colorado Indian Commission and Denver Indian Center. ''Westword'', "Civil Wars: The Fury Flies as Indian Activist Take Aim at Each Other." By Steve Jackson, Article Published Feb 9, 1994 Since then, thousands of local American Indians have participated annually in the protest.4 In April 1983, Churchill traveled to Tripoli and Benghazi as a representative of the AIM and the International Indian Treaty Council to meet Colonel Muammar Al-Qaddafi of Libya 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. Artwork ]] Apart from his academic position and writing, since the 1970s, Churchill has attained minor notoriety as a visual artist. Works by Churchill, such as lithographs, woodcuts, and drawings are exhibited in galleries of the American Southwest, and elsewhere. As with the work mentions Churchill's artwork. Artnet describing Ward Churchill's artwork 9/11 essay controversy See Also: Ward Churchill 9/11 essay controversy Churchill wrote an essay in September 2001 entitled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" about the September 11, 2001 Attacks , in which he argued that American foreign policies provoked the attacks. In 2005, this essay was widely publicized, leading to both condemnations of Churchill and counter-accusations of McCarthyism lying at the root of such accusations. Allegations against Churchill See Also: Ward Churchill misconduct allegations As a result of the controversy over the essay, "Some People Push Back", additional allegations became the subject of debate in the media and on Internet Weblog s. These included disputes over his claim of partial Native American heritage, and allegations of Academic Fraud and Plagiarism . University of Colorado administrators ordered an investigation, which As Of 2006 is currently underway, into the allegations of research misconduct, which include plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification. Churchill was defended by University of Colorado Regent Michael Carrigan.5 He has also been accused of intimidating his colleagues, and has made remarks allegedly advocating that soldiers kill their commanding officers. References Works Books Articles Audio and video
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