The pieces in this blog were written during the eight years when John Graham---accused murderer of Anna Mae Aquash --fought extradition from Canada, to the United States. The writings here present Graham's insistence upon his innocence in the murder of his friend...and other realities. If you don't know who Anna Mae was, or why her brutal murder impacts all humans, reading these blog posts will help you feel more than you imagined could ever happened. And. Please know. Over the years, I intended to offer as many "sides" of the story as I could bring myself to tell.
Dedicated to Anne Mae Aquash (1945-1975/) and her husband Nogeeshik Aquash (RIP), members of the American Indian Movement during the 1970's, this blog is now complete: there will be no more pieces added to these pages. John Graham is serving a life sentence. Railroaded Justice.
To read these pieces for historical purposes, you can use the search button (above this post) or peruse the "archives" feature. Some of the work here is also included in the upcoming book (January 2012) Ghost Rider Roads. and in both places will find anything from a statement by Annie Mae's daughter, to a letter by Annie Mae from jail before she was murdered, to a rant about John Trudell's role in this entire nightmare. As well, you can read John Graham's entire interview with me, about how the FBI offered him a "deal" to name "old AIM" leaders as killers and how his allegiance to the Movement and the People lead him to "not co-operate". He serves a life sentence because of his beliefs.
Soon, the life sentence of John Graham will be known as another great injustice placed upon People of First Nations by the U.S. Gov't. While those truly responsible for the brutal killing of Annie Mae Aquash, may never be known.
---all my relations, antoinette nora claypoole. sept 8, 2011
photo above: by Anne Pearse Hocker (used with permission):
"Annie Mae at the Siege of Wounded Knee" soon after her wedding to Nogeeshik.
and originally published in Who would unbraid her hair: the legend of Annie Mae by antoinette nora claypoole. (1999, dist. Clear Light Books, Sante Fe, N.M.)
