Churchill: Response filed

The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that Ward Churchill has sent a 50 page, single-space response to the investigative committee at CU.

Single spaced. Doubt he has that standard for his students.

The funniest portion is how he can claim to still be an Indian on 3 of 4 legitimate grounds. None of these however, have anything to do with blood relation - being an actual Indian (that's the 4th ground).

Check this out:

Churchill took "an interesting position," Lane said, on whether he has fabricated an American Indian heritage to gain greater acceptance and credibility for his writings on Indian issues.

"He thinks it would be equally offensive for them (the faculty committee) to certify him as an Indian, as it would be to say he's not an Indian - but he showed conclusive proof to say he is Native American; but he is telling them it's none of their business. And I don't see it as constitutionally their place, to prove his pedigree."

Lane said that federal law provides four points on which American Indian status can be legally claimed, and that Churchill can satisfy at least three.

One, Lane said, is how a person self-identifies. Churchill has identified himself as an Indian - by at least one recent account - since he was 10.

A second method is through community acceptance and recognition. Churchill points to the passionate rally around him by American Indians, including actor/activist Russell Means, during his speaking engagement on the CU campus Feb. 8, as evidence of meeting that test.

Enrollment in a tribe is a third qualification Churchill cites to CU - the "smoking gun" in Lane's words. Specifically, Churchill points to the associate membership awarded him in 1994 by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Tahlequah, Okla.

Churchill and Lane insist that associate membership is more significant than the "honorary" membership the same tribe once gave President Clinton. Several tribal members, however, say there is no difference between the two.

The committee has until late June to vote on whether to begin a full investigation or not. Until then, Churchill will continue to receive his in-excess of $90,000 a year salary, which IS partially subsidized by Colorado taxpayers.