Vine Deloria, Jr. (1933-2005)

[blackcrowheart]

Sunday, November 13, 2005
In Honor of Vine Deloria, Jr. (1933-2005)

The great indigenous visionary, philosopher, author and activist
Vine Deloria, Jr. passed over to join his ancestors today, November
13, 2005. Our thoughts and prayers go to his wife, Barbara, to his
children and his other relatives. The passing of Vine creates a huge
intellectual and analytical void in the native and non-native
worlds. He will be greatly missed.

It is appropriate on this website to reflect on the meaning of
Vine's contributions to indigenous peoples' resistance, and to
reflect on our responsibilities to maintain and to advance the
lessons that Vine gave to us. It is safe to say that without the
example provided by the writing and the thinking of Vine Deloria,
Jr., there likely would have been no American Indian Movement, there
would be no international indigenous peoples' movement as it exists
today, and there would be little hope for the future of indigenous
peoples in the Americas.

Vine Deloria, Jr. was a true revolutionary when he wrote "Custer
Died for Your Sins" in 1969, the first of his scores of books and
scholarly articles. He had the courage and the vision to
challenge the dominating society at its core. He was unapologetic
in confronting the racism of U.S.law and policy, and he was
prophetic in challenging young indigenous activists to hone
their strategies.

We will write much more about Vine in the upcoming days. He was our
elder statesman and mentor. For now, we will share this passage
from "Custer Died For Your Sins," as a reminder of our
responsibilities, and to ensure that we are more deliberate and
strategic in our resistance.

"Ideological leverage is always superior to violence....The problems
of Indians have always been ideological rather than social,
political or economic....t is vitally important that the Indian
people pick the intellectual arena as the one in which to wage war.
Past events have shown that the Indian people have always been
fooled by the intentions of the white man. Always we have discussed
irrelevant issues while he has taken our land. Never have we taken
the time to examine the premises upon which he operates so that we
could manipulate him as he has us."
-- "Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto," (1969) pp.251-
252

and this relevant passage regarding the example of the great Oglala
Lakota leader Tashunka Witko (Crazy Horse):

"Crazy Horse never drafted anyone to follow him. People recognized
that what Crazy Horse did was for the best and was for the people.
Crazy Horse never had his name on the stationery. He never had
business cards. He never received a per diem. *** Until we can once
again produce people like Crazy Horse all the money and help in the
world will not save us. It is up to us to write the [next] chapter
of the American Indian upon this continent." page 272

For many of us, Vine was a contemporary Crazy Horse. Perhaps we
squandered his time with us. We took him for granted, and assumed
that he would always be with us. Now, the question is, not only will
we produce more Crazy Horses, but will we produce more Vine Deloria,
Jr.s?

Vine, we will miss you, but we will continue your work toward
freedom for native peoples everywhere. Mitakuye Oyasin.

For a partial bibliography of Vine's important books go to:
[www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A31]
[www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A31%29].

posted by Colorado AIM @ 7:27 PM

[blackcrowheart]

www.coloradoaim.org/blog/2005/11/in-honor-of-vine-deloria-jr
-1933-2005.html

Dear colleagues:

At six am this morning I lost a mentor and a friend who was also a
friend of Iliff School of Theology. The American Indian world lost a
great champion. Professor Vine Deloria, Jr., had been struggling, as
many of you know, with colon surgery from more than a month ago. About
two weeks ago that was complicated with an abdominal aneurysm and
underwent surgery for that. He died of complication from the latter
after a couple of follow-up surgeries this past week. He was a giant
among American Indian intellectuals, teachers, and writers. He will be
terribly missed by much more than myself.

Since this has just transpired and I have just this evening returned
from Palestine, I do not know what the arrangements are. Indeed,
Barbara will not be able to contact a funeral home until tomorrow,
since Vine passed on a Sunday. She has asked that we give her another
day or two in personal retreat before we begin to contact her with
condolences, etc. Their children have already gathered around her. For
those who are interested, I will pass on the information as it becomes
available.

I know I do not need to rehearse the multitude of his accomplishments
for most of you. I was told in 1985 when I was first hired at Iliff
that it was his letter of recommendation that pushed my name to the top
of the stack. He was not on my list of referees. At that point in my
career, I would not have dreamed of even asking him. But Iliff had its
own relationship with Vine and approached him unbeknownst to me. In a
curious turn-about, the University of Colorado asked me for a letter of
reference on his behalf in the process leading to their offering a
position to him a few years later.

He had retired as an emeritus professor from CU only about three or
four years ago. I believe he was 73 years old. I was not prepared to
lose such an important discourse partner.

The American Indian world is hurt by this loss. He was not yet done
writing.

Tink

Dr. Tink Tinker (Osage Nation)

Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions

[blackcrowheart]

Revered Native American scholar Vine Deloria Jr. died Sunday at a Denver
area hospital, friends confirmed this morning.

Rick Williams, president of the Denver-based American Indian College
Fund, said Mr. Deloria had battled an unspecified illness for the past
several weeks. Mr. Deloria was a longtime University of Colorado
professor and award winning scholar best known for his many books,
including "Custer Died For Your Sins" and "God Is Red."

Williams said Mr. Deloria was 73. He retired from CU in 2000 and had
been living in the Golden area.

No details were available this morning from Mr. Deloria's family.

"He was one of those individuals who really kept Indian people from
becoming extinct," said Williams. "He was politically active early in
his career, with the National Congress of American Indians, and he
really helped turned the nation's view around, about Indian people,"
said Williams.

"He was also probably one of the first recognized political, cultural
and historical geniuses, who was allowed to develop the intellectual
thought of Indian people. He was one of my teachers, and I just had the
utmost respect for him."

[blackcrowheart]

Dear Friends,
>> Thank you all for your calls and expressions of concern and
>> sympathy. I'm sorry that, in return, I'm sending off a couple of
mass
>> emails rather than the personal thanks that I would like to be
>> extending to you right now. Many of you have asked about
>> arrangements.
>>
>> We are planning a memorial and celebration of my dad's life on
>> Friday, November 18, at 3:30, at the Mount Vernon Event Center in
>> Golden (address and map at www.mtvernoneventcenter.com
>> <http://www.mtvernoneventcenter.com>). I realize, from my own
flights
>> and arrangments, that it will be difficult, if not impossible for
>> many of Vine's friends to get here for this event. Traveling
around
>> Thanksgiving is never easy, and we understand this completely. We
>> value most your good thoughts and your appreciation and
friendship!!
>> Physical presence is just icing on the cake..
>>
>> Please drop me a line if you think you might be in town, and
again,
>> apologies for this large and less personal email...
>> Best,
>> Phil Deloria

[blackcrowheart]

The vision of Vine Deloria, Jr.
By Billy Frank, Jr., Chairman,

Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

My brother, Vine Deloria, Jr., of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, passed
away on Nov. 13, joining the likes of Joe DeLaCruz of the Quinault and
Dutch Kinely of the Lummi, as well as Joseph of the Nez Perce and Crazy
Horse of the Lakota Sioux at the Great Council Fire. I will miss him
deeply, and always be grateful for the brightness he contributed to the
world.

Vine was a rock, a steady hand in the struggle for justice. He was a man
of great vision and spirit who understood the ongoing need to value
Indian legacies in both tribal and non-tribal societies. He knew the
wisdom of learning from our predecessors and comprehending ageless
tribal traditions.

I will miss Vine’s intellect and his abiding determination to secure
justice for the tribes. I will also miss his humor. He used it well,
even in the face of seemingly hopeless adversity. He often called me
Billy Jack as he teased me about being thrown into jail so often during
the protest days of the 1960s. We fought many battles together, from the
grassy banks of the Nisqually River to the marbled halls of Washington
D.C. We shared hundreds of podiums and thousands of thoughts and dreams.
I credit him for instilling focus, leadership and direction to the
ongoing struggles of the tribes.

Vine’s ability to inspire unity, at all levels, was historic. In 1964,
he was called on to rebuild the National Congress of American Indians.
As NCAI Executive Director he restored financial and managerial
stability and rescued the organization from insolvency and internal
differences. Through his writing and speeches he became a leading voice
against tribal termination and for reform of federal Indian policy. He
laid the groundwork for the federal policy of tribal self-determination
that emerged in the lat 1960’s and the 1970 Nixon Statement on Indian
Self-Determination. This marked a major turning point in federal Indian
Policy that continues to benefit both tribal and non-tribal communities
today.

In the tumultuous year of 1969, as we fought so hard to assert our
generally neglected rights, Vine published “Custer Died for Your Sins.”
It was possibly the most influential book ever written on federal Indian
policy and, in my book, it and other Vine writings, words and actions,
distinguished him as the tribal version of Ghandi or Martin Luther King.
He reminded us that “ideological leverage is always superior to
violence…it is vitally important that the Indian people pick the
intellectual arena as the one in which to wage war.” A few years after
he wrote this, Judge George Boldt reaffirmed the validity of the
treaties in the U.S. v. Washington decision. Vine should be remembered
for his giant contribution to paving the way for that far-reaching
decision.

Earlier this year, I had the honor of seeing Vine receive the American
Indian Visionary Award at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Never has such an honor been so richly deserved. More recently, we have
been working together on a treaty exhibit for the National Museum of the
American Indian. His hope was that this exhibit will make further
inroads toward a dream he always supported and worked toward-education
of the American public about the true history of the tribes.

Through this and other ongoing efforts, and for the rest of my days, I
will do all I can to help keep the fire of vine Deloris Jr.’s vision
burning bright, and look forward to the day when we will again sit
together at our ancestral council fire.