POLYGAMY FIRES [CONTEMPORARY AND WITH MUCH COMMENT] HUNTER
GRAY SEPTEMBER 3 2006 -- ALSO LETTER TO SENATOR HARRY REID
[NEVADA] -- WITH COMMENTS AND MUCH 2008 UPDATE ON TEXAS
"I [and perhaps others] see a very clear
parallel between the Texas allegations and behavior and the
allegations and behavior of the Bushies. Both frenetically tout a
"clear and present danger" and both use that to justify the
abridgement of civil liberty via Constitutional bypass [es]. And,
to me at least, that curtailment and destruction of American civil
liberties is a truly horrific development." [Hunter Gray, in a
discussion.]
THIS IS A PAGE ON SOME ASPECTS OF POLYGAMY IN THE AMERICAN WEST
-- AND IT ALSO FEATURES MANY PIECES AND SOME COMMENT ON THE CONTEMPORARY
SITUATION IN TEXAS. I HAVE CONSISTENTLY HELD, THROUGHOUT MY LIFE,
A STAUNCH POSITION SUPPORTING CIVIL LIBERTY AND DUE PROCESS. I AM NOT INCLINED
TO TAKE THE OPINIONS OF LAWMEN AND MAINLINE MEDIA AT FACE VALUE.
AND WITH REGARD TO THE POLYGAMIST COMMUNITIES, I DO HAVE SOME UP-CLOSE
AWARENESS SINCE I AM VERY MUCH FROM RURAL NORTHERN ARIZONA. [I AM, MYSELF, A ROMAN
CATHOLIC.]
THIS STRONG CIVIL LIBERTARIAN POSITION OF MINE HAS LED TO SOME
SHRILL CRITICISMS, ESPECIALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF SEVERAL DISCUSSION
LISTS. SCROLL DOWN FOR MY RESPONSE TO THOSE [APRIL 17 2008] HUNTER
GRAY / HUNTER BEAR
HARRY AND THE POLYGAMIST DRAGON [HUNTER BEAR
7/25/08]
[Headline in Deseret News 7/24/08: Reid calls
polygamous communities a form of 'organized crime' ]
Harry Reid is a convert to the LDS faith. The convert thing
doesn't diminish his commitment to the faith but it does raise the
question about how cognizant he is of the long sweep of Mormon
history, its traditions and issues, and its socio-religious schisms.
But a more basic point, as I've alluded earlier, is the
fact that this is a guy who [with many other Demos] has been
unwilling and unable to effectively confront the Bushies at any
meaningful point. Basically, he is indeed a Wimp -- who is
going after what he sees as vulnerable targets. [One can
speculate on whose interests he's serving with this little
witch-hunt.]
People can argue about the pros-and-cons of plural
marriage [and we do have a First Amendment], but to claim that
the polygamists are a form of "organized crime" is a crude and
brazen calumny. It's reminiscent of Arizona Governor Howard
Pyle's self-serving rational for raiding Short Creek more than a
half century ago [when the Red Scare was in vogue.] He charged
the polygamists were plotting "insurrection" and perpetrators
of a "foul conspiracy."
Harry Reid ain't no Harry Potter.
Hunter Gray [Hunter Bear]
A SIGNAL VICTORY FOR US ALL [HUNTER GRAY /
HUNTER BEAR MAY 23 2008] THIS HAS BEEN WIDELY CIRCULATED AND
PUBLISHED BY MY TOWN AND BY THE MASS CIRCULATION PORTSIDE.
And, May 29 2008, the Texas Appellate decision was upheld via a
6 - 3 vote by the Texas Supreme Court.
National media coverage of the Texas Raids
travesty has come a very long way indeed from the lurid and
denigrating portrayals of the polygamists so widely and
breathlessly featured less than two months ago when this
Texas-initiated and tragic train of events rolled ruthlessly --
and sanctimoniously -- into the kidnapping "under color of law"
of almost 500 young people and their dispersal all across the
Lone Star State.
Three quite
conservative appellate judges of the 3rd Court, sitting at
Austin, ruled unanimously and in super strong caustic language.
explicitly and implicitly against all of the Texas "levels of
authority" involved in this massive miscarriage of justice --
doing so with very broad and deep implications. They've ordered
the State to return the hundreds of victims to parents and homes
and community; and, while Texas may appeal, it's going to have
to have vastly more than the thin and vaporous "evidence" it
produced for the obviously very skeptical 3rd. The Texas
Supreme Court isn't likely to overrule an extraordinarily strong
unanimous decision like this one.
So, if Texas is smart, it won't
appeal -- and will seek to restore the pre-raid status quo just
as fast as it possibly can.
In the summer of 1953, wrapping himself up in the
paranoia of those times, self-serving Arizona Governor
Howard Pyle, talking about "foul conspiracies" and
"Insurrection," launched the raid against Short Creek [now
Colorado City.] That blew up in his face, wrecking his
political career. Took some time, but that's what happened.
In this repeat episode, Texas authorities waved the
flag of one of the varieties of the currently-in-vogue
paranoid hysteria -- sexual abuse and all of its
implications -- as it launched its own self-serving version
of the Holy Crusade. The current atmosphere in the United
States is replete with the extremes of not only "political
correctness" but often a willingness to scuttle the
Constitution in the name of various kinds of "security."
And many American people who knew and know better
remain silent -- as so many have done during other periods
of national fear and hysteria. No reasonable person can
justify genuine abuse against anyone -- but no reasonable
American should ever justify scuttling such important
'rights dimensions as freedom of speech and freedom of
religion and due process of law.
But in this case, as in others of these times [e.g.,
anti-Islamic paranoia], a great many Americans did support
this militaristic assault against peaceful people -- and,
again, others who at least sensed the colossal injustice
engendered by Texas, or in many cases fully recognized it,
remained "discreetly" silent.
And that's the most frightening thing, of all of
the hideously frightening things, that's come out of
this Texas Horror.
No "abuse" by polygamists has surfaced [at least
not to the satisfaction of the three very conservative
judges] -- as so many alleged other and often
politically-labeled "crimes" in this country have not been
proven to be Real.
In the last analysis, the Real Abuser has been shown
to be Texas.
Let's hope, and fervently, that a great many
Americans have learned something valuable about Freedom from
all of this.
And that this most signal victory by the polygamists
-- and their lawyers and their public supporters -- is a
signal victory for Us All.
Whether some people know it or not.
Yours, Hunter [Hunter Bear]
A SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZER'S THOUGHTS ON LEGAL DEFENSE AND COMMUNITY
EDUCATION [HUNTER GRAY APRIL 21 2008]
The nature of the respective Movement involved has to be
broadly explained in authoritative fashion -- in addition to
dealing with the respective alleged offense[s].
In his splendid and successful defense of William D.
Haywood and two other leaders of the Western Federation of
Miners, Clarence Darrow and his associates did
each dimension well in the Boise trials [1907] and, while
there were many partisans of labor in this country and
abroad even at that point, much anti-labor sentiment was
being relentlessly flamed and fanned in Idaho. Bill Haywood
et al. were, of course, falsely charged with arranging the
dynamite murder of a former governor who was popular in many
quarters. Haywood and his associates were all freed by Idaho
juries.
In our successful Native American Church case in North
Dakota in the mid-'80s, we had to bring in expert witnesses
who, along with other testimony on behalf of the defendants
from other witnesses, could explain -- broadly and lucidly
-- the origins, development , and contemporary nature of the
Church. That dimension was obviously directly central to the
case. But few in the general public knew anything about NAC.
There, we all did much community education on the matter
long before the trial actually began. [This case is
discussed much further down on this page.]
For understandable reasons, the polygamist communities are
withdrawn and secretive. They've usually been burned by any
media contact they've had. Again, the nature and character
of their Movement needs to be known -- to the Four
Directions. I noted very early on the morning of April
20th that, on a re-run of an obviously very recent Larry
King program, he spent 45 minutes discussing, with the
church mothers, their powerful wish to regain their
children. They were all sitting together in one of their
community buildings -- and there was also a substantial tour
of children's rooms, the kitchen, etc in more detail than
I've yet seen via any media. Even Larry King was obviously
empathetic, to a point.
That's a start. And the media generally are finally
beginning to present the cruel realities of this Texas
tragedy in something of an objective fashion. But there has
to be much more. The polygamists, obviously, are facing an
oppressive wall of ignorance -- frequently bigoted in
nature.
Hunter Gray / Hunter Bear [John R. Salter, Jr.]
JOHN SALTER, oldest son of Hunter Gray, has written
to a number of people of good will:
Recent posts on the Texas situation
have left me wondering how committed some of you are to
the struggle against oppression by the majority. More to
the point, I'm discouraged by the selective nature of
your outrage. Some of you continue to ignore the grave
precedent being set by a runaway state government, while
we've seen that when a few people get arrested for
protesting the war you shake your fists and scream for
justice.
The silence of
those we'd expect to speak out is troubling. Hunter has
mentioned his substantial involvement in the Warner
Native American Church case in the 1980s. Hunter has
never taken peyote or been a member of the NAC, but this
was an important civil liberties matter for everyone,
not only for us Indians. Back then you had University of
North Dakota faculty whispering in the hallways about
how supportive they were, yet these same people were
nowhere to be seen (or heard) when the case went to
trial. The federal courtroom was packed with
out-of-towners, out-of-staters, yet Hunter and his
students (and often his children) were usually the only
local spectators. Hunter was the only local voice out on
the steps, so to speak. That takes courage. I'm amazed
that some of you, so brave when it comes to other
issues, so ardent in your defense of obscure political
theories, are so wary of speaking out now. See
http://hunterbear.org/alcohol_and_peyote_and_native_am.htm
Now we have not only silence, but people on other lists
attacking Hunter in most juvenile, ad hominem manner
imaginable. These shrill, catty voices would be better
suited to the Jerry Springer show than a thoughtful
forum for the exchange of ideas. Let's see some
substance, please, and not ridicule of a name.
What's happening in Texas--door to door searches,
confiscation of children, mandatory DNA tests,
internment camps, armored vehicles--is really a
microcosm of what our worst fears should be in America.
To shrug this off as "cult" activity or "Mormon
craziness" is to display a frightening myopia.
J.S.
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
STATEMENT ON TEXAS RAIDS
ACLU Statement On
The Government's Actions Regarding The Yearning For
Zion Ranch In Eldorado, Texas
(5/2/2008)
On April 3, 2008, Texas law enforcement officials
obtained a search warrant related to the suspected
sexual assault of a child and then conducted a raid
on the Yearning For Zion (YFZ) Ranch near Eldorado,
Texas. The search warrant was reportedly based upon
a telephone call placed by a female who identified
herself as a 16-year old resident at YFZ who was the
mother of one child, pregnant with a second child,
and who claimed she was being physically abused by
her husband. The YFZ Ranch, which is more than 1000
acres in size, apparently housed more than 700
people (men, women, and children) who are associated
with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (FLDS), whose practices include
forming families with more than one wife. Although
the original search warrant identified only one case
of suspected sexual assault, law enforcement
officials have now taken into custody all of the
approximately 462 children formerly residing at YFZ.
The available evidence now suggests that the
original call that served as the basis of the
warrant was probably made by someone who had never
resided at YFZ and that the accused “husband” was at
the time residing in Arizona (and may never have
lived at YFZ). Since that time, the media, including
internet blogs and listservs, have been filled with
reports about YFZ and the FLDS that describe forced
marriages, marriages involving underage girls,
forced sex with children, and other abuses. There
also have been reports of young children suffering
trauma caused by the forced separation from their
parents.
Although all of the facts are not yet known, the
governing principles are well-established:
First, children have a right not to be abused
(sexually or otherwise) nor forced into marriages by
their parents or by any other person.
Second, parents have a constitutionally
protected right to the free exercise of religion and
to raise their children in their own faith.
Third, children and parents have the right to
be together unless it is determined, applying the
proper legal standards adopted by the state and
consistent with the United States Constitution, that
temporary or permanent removal is necessary.
Children may not be separated from their parents
based solely on the state’s disagreement with a
group’s thoughts or beliefs, religious or otherwise.
Fourth, all persons, including children, have
the fundamental right to due process of law. Due
process rights for both potential victims and
parents accused of neglect or abuse must be
respected, and the law must afford each family
notice of and the opportunity to contest allegations
related to custody in a timely manner.
Based upon news reports and other available
information, the ACLU has serious concerns that the
state’s actions so far have not adequately protected the
fundamental rights at stake. Specifically, the ACLU is
concerned that:
The initial raid at YFZ was prompted by a
single allegation of abuse now reported most likely
to have been made by someone who never resided at
YFZ. Law enforcement officials have since removed
every child who was living at the ranch, regardless
of age or sex, and the state has justified that
decision, in part, by explaining that all children
at the ranch were at risk because they were exposed
to FLDS beliefs regarding underage marriage.
Religion is never an excuse for abuse. But, exposure
to a religion’s beliefs, however unorthodox, is not
itself abuse and may not constitutionally be labeled
abuse.
Parents have been separated from their
children without individual, adversarial hearings
and without particularized evidence that they ever
engaged in abuse or were likely to engage in abuse.
Children from YFZ have since been dispersed around
the state, compounding the harm of forced separation
of children – particularly infants – and their
parents.
Court-ordered DNA testing has been ordered
for all children without having any specific
evidence that the parentage of all children was
actually in dispute. Parents have been pressured to
consent to DNA testing if they wish to be reunited
with their children who were forcibly separated from
them.
State officials have an important obligation
to protect children against abuse. However, such
actions should not be indiscriminately targeted
against a group as a whole – particularly when the
group is perceived as being different or unusual.
Actions should be based on concrete evidence of harm
and not based upon prejudice against religious or
other communities.
Under these circumstances, it is essential for
Texas officials to provide fair judicial proceedings
that respect the constitutional rights of all involved –
children, parents, and religious communities – while
ensuring at the same time that children are protected
against abuse where there is credible evidence of such
abuse.
The ACLU will continue to monitor the unfolding
events and will work to ensure that Texas officials act
in a manner that is consistent with the important
principles set forth above, including making our views
known to the Texas courts at appropriate points in the
judicial proceedings.
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON BAD DAYS -- AND GOOD
[HUNTER GRAY] APRIL 17 2008
There was something about yesterday that carried the ring of the
title of the old Western social justice film [with the admirable Spencer
Tracy as crusader], Bad Day at Black Rock. There have been a number of
these Bad Days lately.
For me, yesterday began with an e-mailed message from our youngest son,
Peter [Mack] -- a top editor with the Lincoln Journal Star and with its
parent Lee Enterprises as well -- indicating that a mutual friend and
journalist, Dorreen Yellow Bird [Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara] of North
Dakota was very seriously ill and facing a long and difficult recovery.
We know her and she knows us, members of her family have been students
of mine. I immediately sent her an encouraging and supportive
communication which, among other things, reminded her that, "You are
extremely well attuned to the great world of grasslands, buttes, rivers,
flowers, wild-life -- and the sky and the wind. And you are a fine
writer. And you are flint tough in all positive ways".
She wrote back appreciatively and immediately -- and with empathy: "I
have heard of it [Systemic Lupus] and I hope you too can out run it."
I like that. Dorreen and I have, on a very few occasions, disagreed. But
we've always remained good friends. A very old friend of ours -- of many
decades -- Susan Kelly Power of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, and
daughter of one of one of its most notable tribal chairpersons,
Josephine Kelly of legend and yore, occasionally remarked as she noted
various human events, that "The white people, when they fight, always
seem to try to destroy. I don't think we Indians are cut-throat." And
she's quite right.
Anyway, yesterday progressed -- if one can aptly use that term. The
Supreme Court carried us back another step toward barbarism [a word I
don't use lightly] with its basic reaffirmation of the death penalty.
The "Iraq War" and its kin continued their obvious resurgence while what
passes for our president genuflected, figuratively and hypocritically,
in front of the Pope, with whom my disagreements as a Catholic are
several, but who has staunchly opposed the death penalty and war. Texas,
now caught in a huge legal and procedural briar patch, moves closer to
its Inheritance of the Wind in the context of profoundly disrupted
families and its precipitous en masse seizure of children.
If there was a bright spot yesterday, it was that Barack Obama handled
himself, not surprisingly, very well in his latest with Hillary Clinton.
We are quite sure he'll make it to the top of the mountain.
I "own" [the official term, but a presumptuous one] four e-mail
discussion lists. Three of those I and friends initiated. Essentially
these are congenial. The fourth, an avowedly Left group, is not
un-congenial [usually] but can be challenging. I inherited that one from
a younger friend. One of the many members of that group became very
briefly enmeshed in the ugly "discussion" on the SNCC list of last
weekend and, last night, passed on a communication he'd received from a
woman who, obviously a critic of mine, and apparently not all that
committed to civil liberty, told him in part:
"I read nothing by Hunter Gray Bear Red Rover or whatever his other
"names" are. He has become such a fanatical right wing sick soul that
who would bother. The only reason I read his stupid analysis of what
happened in texas when hundreds of women, girls and children were
finally rescued from daily rapings, sexual abuse, mind washing, and
being forced to have children at ages as early as 12, is that I wanted
to get a response from the SNCC list serv folks as to his positions.
After all, many young people and others doing research on the civil
rights movement should know that people in SNCC would never support such
the imprisonment of women, girls, children, and probably some men in a
terrorist situation where females of any age are subjected to rape and
sexual torture, and god knows what other kinds of physical and
psychological abuse.
Clearly, you do not know John Salter or who he has, most unfortunately,
become. But he is one sick puppy who should be barred from this list
serv."
Our list member, Brother _____ was not at all impressed with her
missive. Nor, of course, am I.
And, as per the apt observations of Susan Kelly Power, I have never
tried to destroy people with whom I disagreed. In the heat of the now
long gone Sovereignty Commission case, I could certainly be critical of
a few protagonistic individuals -- but in consistently very measured
terms. Since the ending of that bitter odyssey, I have said virtually
nothing about it. Our huge Hunterbear website, now into its ninth year,
is not designed nor set up for personal diatribe. Its long page on the
Sovereignty Commission [the only page we have on that amidst our
hundreds of social justice pages] mentions only a few individuals by
name, and those matter-of-factly -- certainly not in pejorative fashion.
[Click and See, if you haven't already:
http://www.hunterbear.org/tangledsovcomcase.htm
Of course I am, and have been since childhood, a strong advocate of gun
rights -- and the Second Amendment. And I never make any secret of the
fact that I've been a member of the National Rifle Association since my
mid-teen years and a Life Member of NRA for most of my adult life. [So
is Howard Dean, to drop the name of one of the four million who belong
to NRA.] Perhaps that bothers some ostensibly liberal folk.
And I also belong to several organizations of the democratic Left which,
like myself, are perennially optimistic -- despite the vicissitudes of
the Bad Days. As the also attacked by one or two in the recent SNCC list
discussion. Leslie Dunbar -- late of the Southern Regional Council and
the Field Foundation and other good causes -- once said, "You'll always
have a Wobbly heart, John" -- a reference to my mentoring by old time
members of the IWW [Industrial Workers of the World] when I was a barely
21 year old embarking on the Save the World Business.
http://hunterbear.org/wobbly_mentor.htm
And, like the good Dorreen Yellow Bird, who draws great sustenance from
her native Badlands and rivers, buttes and wildlife, so do I draw much
from the mountains of the Intermountain West, its rivers, its great
array of wild-life. -- and from the turquoise sky, the glowing sun and
moon, the winds.
Looking right now out my window to the snow-covered mountains just to
the east, I note that the sun is bringing us close to Dawn.
Slowly and at whatever glacial pace, mainline American news
media are now beginning to more objectively investigate and
report the background, development, and some of the
profound ramifications of the Texas assault against the FLDS
church and its men and women and children. [Depending on
the breadth and accuracy of the media, I will most likely be
posting with less frequency.]
Colorado Springs police and Texas Rangers have
been interviewing a young woman arrested in the Colorado
town for making local false telephone calls. She has a
history of making such false calls. Her bond has apparently
been set at $20,000 -- very high for a misdemeanor, which
indicates the Texas matter is their prime concern. It now
seems very clear that the telephone calls that instigated
the Texas assault were a cruel and fraudulent hoax.
The Texas district judge who signed the warrant
authorizing the raids and seizures signed a document
based on anonymous and fraudulent information which she
obviously took at face value. She authorized precipitious
and sweeping action. Now, after two days of legal
proceedings at San Angelo, in which as many as 300 lawyers
have been involved, the judge is retaining state custody of
over 400 children and planning DNA testing.
Texas has a strict and relatively narrow requirement
for warrants. The Lone Star State now has some very
serious legal problems. It's one of the states that
requires a warrant to be tightly constructed with little
or no room for subsequent flexibility.
That, plus the
longer range religious freedom issue, will very likely help the
church people very much indeed.
And, for the church and the families
and children, there is always, of course, the right of appeal.
It is clear that, unless
Texas retreats from its tangled Briar Patch -- hell, morass --,
the legal fight, on several fronts, will go on for a long time.
CNN, extremely slanted against the polygamists, reported
its so far Quick Poll results early on the morning of April
18. 55% of respondents felt the state should keep custody
of the children -- but 45% felt that the kids should be
returned to their families. That, given the very obvious
media bias, is a high percentage -- and that's even before
some of these latest revelations [i.e., the young woman in
Colorado.]
And, as I mentioned the other day, Jonathan Turley, a top
Constitutional lawyer. George Washington University [and
something of an authority on the general polygamist
situation], commented a few days ago that "Parental rights
are deeply embedded in the Constitution." This was said on
ABC [which is now reporting the young woman at Colorado
Springs.] Professor Turley frequently appears as a legal
resource person on Keith Olberman's MSNBC program. I assume
that one of the Constitutional dimensions to which he
refers is the due process component of the 14th Amendment.
IT'S A BIG CREATION [HUNTER GRAY /
HUNTER BEAR] APRIL 19 2008
A few quick thoughts to your quite good question,
Edward.
The "easiest" response would be to simply say that we don't
know the facts. All we are hearing are flamboyant "charges"
from the Texas version of Child Protective Services. These
are the same folks who gave the media and the country the
lurid hype from their "affidavit" based on fraudulent and
malicious and anonymous telephone calls. One could also say
that, if something of concern were felt by Texas
authorities, they could have gone in a quiet and
conventional fashion to the church community. Instead, they
went as an army assault force.
So, at this point, the immediate focus for many of us so
concerned, lies in the realm of civil liberty and due
process.
But I feel obligated to go further. I argue that the
polygamist communities with their churches and land -- there
are a number in the Southwest and the Intermountain West --
have to be seen [and I've used this term before] -- as
quasi-tribal. They've been in existence in various community
group contexts since the 1890s and their traditions also, of
course, go even further back into the old Mormon epoch.
They're insular and communalistic and, while they interact
selectively with the "outside world," they are cautious
about taking things, tangible and non-tangible, from the
so-termed mainstream. While some polygamists are in
relatively large urban areas [Big Love isn't too far off the
mark], their roots and loyalties lie in their back-home base
communities in rural settings.
But to come to the point, they have something much more than
simply a sub-cultural variant of mainstream American culture
-- they have by now their own culture, their own quite
distinctive way of life.
And, again as I've remarked before, as Old Entities [and
culturally distinctive ones at that], they also have by now
their own accrued sovereignty and self-determination rights.
They have their own social controls. Mainline American
"missionary" ethnocentrism [cultural prejudice and
discrimination] appears to see "rape" in what, by the
cultural yardsticks of the polygamist groups, is normal and
expected behavior. The term "incest" is being tossed about
by their critics; that's a universal taboo and I much doubt
there's any of that anywhere in the world of polygamy --
globally. I doubt as well that there are many, if any of the
alleged "child marriages" -- if you use the low minimum
marital age of say, Arizona and Utah -- and even Texas until
very recently.
And it's also becoming quite clear that the Texas bigots are
simply out to smash the Polygamist Faith. And, very likely,
to try to seize their very substantial land holding with
full water rights.
After all, polygamy is widely practiced around the planet as
perfectly conventional practice. [There is quite a bit of
functional -- not cultural -- unbridled polygamy in
"respectable" mainstream America.]
I think we should leave the polygamists alone, not just as a
matter of "tolerance" but bona fide respect as well --
respect for a hardy people who have struggled in
hard-scrabble country to survive with their faith; and who
are doing so against some of the most vicious forms of
contemporary prejudice and discrimination ever exhibited by
"Free America."
And the polygamists will survive. They always have. And they
always will.
We have two pages on this in our massive Lair of Hunterbear
website. One is the newer Polygamy Fires, presently much
being visited.
http://hunterbear.org/POLYGAMY%20FIRES.htm
And from the latter, I have this from just one of my own
up-close encounters with The Polygamists:
Once, at Camp Townsend, ca.1951], an early day type trailer
park and grocery store not
far out of Flagstaff on northbound Highway 89 [to Utah], I
was visiting with
an old family friend, venerable Andrew Jackson Townsend, the
proprietor, in
his adjoining gun shop. [An old cowboy, he had learned to
drink literally
boiling coffee during brief round-up breaks and, in his very
advanced years,
still did.] Suddenly, a caravan of vehicles -- many of them
old-time
vehicles -- appeared from the north and swung into the Camp.
Jack stepped
out and walked over. I followed. The leaders, dressed in old
dark suits
rather than Levis, and wearing Stetsons, walked to us. We
all -- including me -- shook hands formally. Jack Townsend
asked no questions, simply explained
the organization of his Camp, welcomed them. But, by now, he
and I both
noted a revealing dimension. In the people of the caravan,
men and women
and kids, now out and walking about, there were many more
women than men.
Jack and I returned to his gun shop but, later when I left,
I saw a Caravan
kid my age, and walked over and visited with him. He was
quiet, shy. But,
saying nothing about polygamy, he volunteered that they were
going to
Mexico, "to set up and live down there for good." His face
glowed as he
said this. I wished him well -- and I still do. . . .
For my part, live and let live. It's a Big Creation and it's
got all sorts
of wondrous things in it. I'm like Andrew Jackson Townsend
-- and the old
Indians. I don't ask questions. As long as the arrangements
follow the
basic organization and teachings of the old utopian Mormons,
I'm on their
side. As I told the kid my age at Camp Townsend so long ago
-- he who was
off and far beyond to Mexico and who had a vision in his
eyes -- "I wish you
luck."
Yours, Hunter Gray [Hunter Bear]
HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /St. Francis
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR MUCH ON
WESTERN POLYGAMY -- INCLUDING LOTS ON THE TEXAS SITUATION
NOTE BY HUNTER BEAR: [2006]
Sandy Lane, the very short street 'way up on the
far western edge of Pocatello, does sound, I suppose, a little idyllic
to our friends in far away places, but it isn't that in any
conventionally precious sense. Only a stone's toss from the
increasingly wild lands -- managed by Bureau of Land Management and the
Caribou National Forest,-- and populated by a very nice and relatively
inter-ethnic gathering of friendly neighbors [mostly Mormon, some
Catholics, a Unitarian family, and an avowed Free Thinker] and visited
with frequency by coyotes and an occasional mountain lion, it does suit
us just fine. The weather is now obliging and several nights of below
freezing temps have substantially lessened the very real danger down in
the Snake and Portneuf river valleys of mosquito-borne West Nile virus.
[Idaho presently has the highest rate of That of any of the states in
the nation. It's taken several lives, is an especial danger to folks
with compromised immune systems. We haven't seen a single mosquito in
the going on ten years that we've lived up here but we join others in
hoping for a nice, heavy early frost.] Cameron [with our youngest,
Josie] are both in the high mountains spending the week hunting elk for
the big freezer purchased by Cameron at a garage sale and duly installed
and waiting in our large garage. For my part, I long ago decided I was
downright tired of Systemic Lupus and my interior determination has, at
least somewhat, forced that mysterious monster down a notch or two.
Life is pretty good at this point.
Amidst the bloody national and global horrors,
it's been impossible, given television, to escape sanguinary reality for
long. Sometimes it's close. Not far below us here, a shoot-out two
days ago left one man dead and three lawmen injured.
And it's been impossible to not view the frequent
and periodic discussions by awe-struck national media people of various
luminaries including Warren Jeffs and his "situation." Reasonably
familiar on a life-time basis with the polygamy world, I've been struck
by the outright distortion of the general news media reportage. [I can
hardly blame the besieged citizens of Colorado City -- way up in the far
Northern Arizona country -- and a few other singled-out places from
exhibiting disdain and generally polite hostile reticence to hungry
media hawks -- and I even welcomed the appearance of a black-Stetsoned
local lawman who shooed away the trespassing ABC types. Larry King's
"polygamy interview" two evenings or so back was probably about the
shoddiest one I have yet witnessed -- and Anderson Cooper's breathless
reports on the topic lead me to switch channels to Baghdad and even the
"easy listening" classical and contemporary music offerings available
from our TV dish. As with unpopular political and social groups
generally, there is the endless parade of the same few disaffected and
the hot-eyed commentaries by such "authorities" as the politically axe
grinding state AG of Utah and a venomous documentary-maker based in
Phoenix [no Northern Arizonian has ever given a damn for Phoenix or any
of its media people], Missing, almost completely from the national
media coverage, are the voices of the people who find Polygamy --
theologically and personally and socially -- a desirable way of life.
Totally missing are knowledgeable academic authorities from this
Intermountain region who could discuss, reasonably and objectively, the
reasons for the polygamist breakaway from the mainline LDS church almost
120 years ago when that body gave up plural marriage. There are
probably at least 80,000 practicing polygamists in the Intermountain
West -- the majority in Utah but many in Arizona and Idaho -- and their
"intentional" community roots, which like conventional Mormonism, draw
heavily from the American utopian traditions, are very old indeed. Most
of the polygamists live in isolated rural settings but a growing number
in large urban areas such as Salt Lake.
Warren Jeffs, who has been building his biggest
base down in Texas but who has flocks in Northern Arizona and Southern
Utah, obviously doesn't come through as a nice person. Why the Feds
listed him on the "10 Most Wanted" entourage remains a mystery -- Jeffs
has no history of violence and was apprehended sans any firearms or
bodyguards -- but that maneuver was probably a bone thrown to the Utah
AG who, himself, was recently castigated on MSNBC in an interview with
the often commendably libertarian [and Episcopalian] Tucker Carlson. At
the most, Jeffs has no more than 10,000 followers -- out of the total of
at least 80,000 polygamists. And, apparently even many of those who are
in his particular group, compare him unfavorably to the last leader,
Jeff's late father, who comes through as a steadily, family-supportive
elder. Indeed, at Colorado City [formerly Short Creek], a large faction
recently removed itself to a nearby locale and set up its own community
with its own leadership. Warren Jeffs, in the context of the long
enduring and basically communalistic polygamy world, is simply an
unpleasant and very transitory ripple. Those communities have been, as
I say, around for a very long time -- and always will be. They can
settle whatever problems they have without the "benevolent" intervention
of CNN and the Federal government.
Some decades back, a good writer on the American
West, Stewart Holbrook [based at the Portland Oregonian] wrote a
fascinating book, Dreamers of the American Dream. [It includes a good
chapter on the Wobblies of which a number of really old-timers were his
friends.] Holbrook covered many of the utopian efforts from the early
United States well into, at the point he wrote, contemporary times.
They had their little fights, splits, were attacked as "free lovers" and
even anarchists -- and, in some cases like the Wobblies, cruelly and
viciously repressed for obviously self-serving economic reasons. But
the Utopian impulse and basic vision survived and always will. The
consistently gentle Amish were much maligned for decades, as were the
Hutterites and similar groups. I recall a venomously anti-Catholic and
spectacularly defamatory book that appeared about 50 or 60 years ago and
was, for a time, the darling of the anti-Catholic crowd: I Leaped Over
the Wall [or something close to that] -- written by a woman who had
ostensibly "fled" a convent. And it is worth noting that, throughout
the United States, there is lots of what is called "bigamy." It exists
without a churchly foundation or context, frequently wrecks families,
and often winds up in bitter struggles in the divorce courts,
There is something called the First Amendment in
this country. Even far deeper than that, as an Indian and a Westerner,
I think these now targeted communities should be left alone.
Yours, Hunter [happily married to only Eldri for
going-on 46 years]
HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR]
Mi'kmaq /St. Francis
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'
Glad to know you are fighting the good fight
even when illness wants to grab you and not let go. I feel the same
way at times. I spent a month at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center
recently and now I feel empowered to take charge of my body and
mind. I was just in Hattiesburg for my 93 year old aunt's funeral
(she looked 100% Cherokee) and saw a lot of the other Indians in my
family (smile).
Joyce
Hunter responds:
Thanks very much, Joyce, for your good words.
We have always known, from the time we first met you and Dorie,
that there is a lot of Indian ancestry and Indian blood in your
family! We are. of course, very sorry to hear of your own
medical struggles -- but you are on a Good Healing Trail for
sure. I, too, have been eating carefully and sensibly. Eldri's
father died a few years ago at 95, the same age my late mother
reached. Take good care, always keep in touch, and rest assured
that all of our prayers and good wishes go to Dorie and yourself
-- always.
Best, H or J
Added note by Joyce:
Tell your son that his novel arrived today
and I will read it asap. He is such a nice son to dedicate
his book to his parents!
Hunter, the polygamy issue is, or should be, about
forced marriage of girls to middle-aged men who already have 2,3 or
more wives and whose standing in the community is based on how many
children they have - which should indicate to us, if we're
listening, the value of women in this system.
The testimony against Jeffs, from the one woman
who ran away, was that he told her, at age 13, that she must marry a
man who was known to be brutal because it was God's law. If she
refused, or tried to run away, he told her she would go to hell for
all eternity. At the very least, she knew that if she disobeyed,
she would have to leave the only home and people she had ever known
- no neighbors, no schools, no social services had ever impinged on
her life - and venture out into a world that she had been taught was
evil and dangerous. I don't know if his claims to have 70 wives and
more than 200 children are true, but does this sound like the happy
family life of indigenous people, or a factory farm for
baby-breeding?
I do not regard Mr. Jeffs as a public enemy on the
same level as, say, Bush-Cheney-Rumsfield, but the FBI may have put
him on the most-wanted list as a bone to people who care about
forcing young women into "marriage." It's a mistake to compare this
kind of polygamy (and I have not heard of any other kind) to bigamy,
which is usually a matter between consenting (if uninformed)
adults.
Happy to see that your health is treating you
better and that you and mosquitos are far apart. I checked the map
and saw that Pocatello is in Cong. ID-2, but if you hear any good
news about the House campaign in ID-1, or bad news about the
villainous Sali, I would be glad to hear it. Best regards, as
always, to you and Eldri - may you have another 46. Lois
Hunter responds:
Dear Lois:
Certainly good to get your letter. [If you hadn't
responded to mine, well -- I would have been a bit concerned!]
Aside from the fact that I think some of the more
spectacular grievances from the polygamist settings should be viewed
cautiously, my basic point is simply that they are people who have
found a way to live -- relatively comfortably by their values -- on
our increasingly turbulent and bloody planet. They seek simply to
be left alone and I think they should be. There are, near any
polygamist community, highways and mainline towns and cities. In the
Short Creek [Colorado City] and environs region, many of those
folks visit Flagstaff or Kingman in Arizona, St George and Kanab in
Utah, and sometimes jaunt up to Salt Lake. Most of them
consistently stick staunchly with their people and their societies.
This is a time of sanctimonious witch-hunting on many fronts in the
broader land and both you and I -- and many others on these lists --
know the bitter sting of that.
Many of these communities were very old when I was
just a little kid. In his excellent book, Mormon Country [which
initially came out about 1943], the fine author, Wallace Stegner
[not a Mormon but grew up largely in Utah] paints a honest and
friendly picture of the origin and rise and development of the LDS
faith. [He even has a chapter on Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch,
almost all Mormon boys.] One fascinating chapter deals with Short
Creek, "Fossil Remains of an Idea." It's a respectful, friendly
treatment of the polygamist way and he concludes it with, "As long
as Mormonism remains a religious force, and as long as the
Confederacy is a green memory, there will always be the
unreconstructed. Faith is a weed with a long taproot."
Many years have come and gone and Mormonism is
thriving -- not only nationally but globally. And the polygamists
are growing with whatever deliberate speed.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the more
interesting developments in Idaho politics -- which will be heating
up hereabouts, as elsewhere, after Labor Day.
In the meantime, take care, Lois, and by all means
keep in touch. And who would have ever thought we would recall
fondly Rose Street, that very hot day, and the hordes of Mississippi
police and dogs and clubs. It was the courage of the demonstrators
that is, of course, truly engraved in my mind and yours.
Hunter, I continue to believe that the government
should not presume to
legislate acceptable forms of what Engel's calls romantic love, though
with our Puritanical obsessions (whatever one thinks of Clinton,
impeachment over an affair?), I don't doubt it will continue to do so.
Anything that is without harm to any involved party and is mutually
agreed to should be left to the choice of free adults.
Meredel LeSueur, the great novelist (her novel The Girl is something
of a feminist version of The Grapes of Wrath), thought the churches
were the center of communal consciousness for the working classes. On
the other hand, McGrath, our revolutionary poet, had little time for
the institution of religion, largely because of its reactionary
politics (though in South America we have observed the opposite). It
might be useful to separate the hierarchy of the church (whichever
denomination you want to consider) from the congregation itself, which
has always seemed more communal (therefore spiritual) to me than those
in charge, some of whom Dante assigned to his Infernal.
By the way, a thought: have you considered collecting and editing some
of your writings on various subjects into a book? It could be
arranged by topic or time period or any other "section" heading that
works. Your thoughts are erudite and informed and with the right
selection and arrangement should make for an interesting book. God
knows there are plenty of books that don't fit any of these criteria.
Just a thought on the breeze from Grand Forks (I know the wind travels
the other direction, so I am being atmospherically incorrect). Dale
_________________
Bill Mandel comments:
Glad to see you reminding us of McGrath. Some readers
may
not know of his poetry. I remember LeSueur mostly for
shorter things in New Masses, nor is she a feminist in my
memory, but that's probably my fault.
__________________
Sam Friedman writes:
McGrath is indeed terrific.
Yesterday, I received in the mail a novelist by an up and coming
novelist, one John Salter. I look forward to reading it.
sam
__________________
John Salter adds:
Ah yes, Salter. Well, one piece of advice. Read
between the lines.
JS
__________________
Hunter responds:
Dale:
I appreciate your good words and your firm
encouragement of my writing -- and your feeling that it should find
a home with a publisher.
Bill Mandel, I should add, is among those who have
consistently pushed me -- and I have, indeed, been compiling and
writing material: I have all of the older stuff gathered and
classified, much of my newer material is on our huge website but
some is not, and of course I will always continue to write. [I
should add, too, that I am delighted to see Bill Mandel's post of
today. This confirms that our good little part of the World is
indeed coming back together!]
Part of my challenge is finding a publisher. I am
really not so very well known at all. But, who knows, I shall keep
on keeping on -- and Life has not infrequently brought me pleasant
surprises.
In the meantime, amigo, take care and our very
best to you all.
As Ever, H or J
______________________
Dale comments:
Yes, Sam, I look forward to reading John's new
novel, which sounds
intriguing and has a wonderful title and which, I note, is endorsed
by
Jim Harrison.
It is only on the strength of the one novel, The Girl, that I call
Meridel LeSueur a novelist, though I believe it to be a masterpiece.
Her social political history, Crusaders, reads with the same quality
as a novel, but you are right, Bill (I presume to call you as Hunter
does), she was primarily a short story writer. No question about her
feminism, however, (her book Ripening was published by The Feminist
Press and she saw the oppression of women as a consequence of
patriarchy, though she saw patriarchy as an expression of class, not
a
singular disease). She was hardly a politically correct feminist,
though. In an interview, (past 80 then) when she was asked what she
thought of the magazine Playboy, she said she thought it was great
because it broke down our puritanism and allowed us to recognize our
bodies as our own space and admit our sexuality. Knowing her, I was
impressed with her faith in the essential humanism of working class
people, her fundamental belief in the inherent communal qualities of
the working class. She admired the Wobblies very much. All best to
you. Dale Jacobson
Good to hear that things are a notch or two
better with the lupus, as you said.
Interesting points in your letter about Warren
Jeffs and polygamy in the West in relation to utopian
traditions. Looking at it from the outside, it seems that the
original Mormon Church has a utopian, or millennarian, side to
it. Or fits into that kind of tradition in terms of its origins
in the 1830s. And the same was carried over into sects
separating from it.
But why anyone would want to practice polygamy
is beyond me. Most guys, myself included, have enough on their
hands with just one wife, God bless her. I suppose there are
certain economic conditions for different types of marriage
anthropologically speaking, and I suppose in desert,wilderness
locations or other extreme conditions it might be a good idea to
keep the community viable and growing in that manner. Probably
the basis for the original Muslim polygamy as well. Of course,
the idea of women that it reflects ain't exactly contemporary
feminist discourse.
Anyway, why the song and dance about it in the
American media? I mean, the 80,000 polygamists or people
involved in it that you mention are pretty much marginal, and
most of them don't seem to be hurting anyone apart from
themselves, let alone eroding the fabric of society. Obviously
titillation, good tabloid headlines, brings in the readers and
viewers. I had to look it up on the net, too.
We're off to see my old father-in-law Helge
(aged 80) at a nursing home in a place about 110 kilometres from
here. Nice day for a drive, a bit overcast, rained last night.
Fresh air. Good opportunity to gather thoughts, process them. I
may have mentioned that my father-in-law has Alzheimer's and has
been in care for some years years now. He used to be a
telephone linesman and twice national middleweight champion in
boxing in the late 1940s, plus Finnish Workers' Sporting
Federation champion (mostly social-democrat and commie sports
clubs; he was social-democrat) around the same time. His
political affiliation in sports got him disqualified, on points,
from the Finnish team for the London Olympics in 1948. For
obvious reasons, he was bitter about it. I used to remind him,
after a few drinks, that he would have lost anyway so why
complain about it. The guy they sent instead of him went down in
the first round.
Old Helge was put in care about five years
ago, after he was first sent for a two-week treatment period to
a nursing home to make things easier for his wife. It seems he
walked in the wrong room at the home, a male nurse tried to get
him out of there and made the fatal mistake of doing it
forcibly. Boxer's reactions: Helge knocked him down, Next scene
was four young policemen getting him into a paddy wagon and
taking him to a hospital for a shot and to cool down. It's both
sad and funny at the same time.
But the aggressive stage wore off and, all
things considered, he's happy in his own way. It's sad
nonetheless.
LETTER FROM HUNTER BEAR TO SENATOR HARRY REID
[NEVADA] AND COMMENTS -- 9/28/06
To Senator
Harry Reid [Nevada] from Hunter Gray [9/28/06]
I was much saddened to hear your comments on CNN last night
regarding the
polygamists of Arizona and Utah and environs. Your call for a
"Federal Task
Force" seemed, somehow, reminiscent of HUAC and Pat McCarran's
so-called
Senate Internal Security Subcommittee.
I am a Native American -- and a native Northern [I emphasize
Northern]
Arizonian, now living in Eastern Idaho. I am 72 and, for all of my
adult
life, have been a community organizer and professor active on behalf
of
social justice. My history is laid our pretty well in our large and
well
established seven year old website, www.hunterbear.org. Most of the
folks
in those polygamist communities appreciate and like their culture. I
am
personally very skeptical of the more spectacular grievances given
to the
Eastern [and Phoenix] media. Warren Jeffs not only does not speak
for the
great majority of polygamists -- but is simply a transitory crackpot
in a
long context which has traditionally featured responsible leaders. I
was a
kid in the US Army when the profoundly infamous raid on Short Creek
was
initiated by Republican Governor Howard Pyle -- and that dark shadow
continues to hover over that corner much as the far better known
Bisbee
Deportation of 1917 still colors labor relations in Arizona [and
some other
parts of the Mountain West.]I wish you well in your effort to
maintain some
national sanity -- and to expand that beach-head. Speaking as an
American
Indian and a Real Westerner [and you are certainly among the
latter], I hope
those people can simply be left alone to enjoy what peace they can
find in
this tortured world. Cordially yours, Hunter Gray [Hunter Bear]
From John Salter to Hunter:
UPDATE ON HARRY
REID [HUNTER GRAY] MAY 3 2008
Harry Reid who, a couple of years ago did not
respond to a courteous letter from me [it's on our
website in Polygamy Fires] objecting to his proposal
for a Federal task force to investigate the
polygamists, has once again indicated he wants
that. He received some support from the [Repuiblican]
AG of Utah -- but none from the U.S. Attorney who,
based at Salt Lake, said there was no evidence to
justify a Federal investigation -- basing this on
some previous and fairly recent Federal probes.
Arizona was cool to the idea of the Feds'
involvement. The task force idea seems stalled and
probably dead. In a RBB post the other day, I
commented on that:
.
"In fact, we even have Harry Reid calling for a
Federal task force to investigate polygamy, This, in
addition to being in the spirit of one of his
predecessors [Pat McCarran of Nevada who gave us the
infamous Internal Security Act], is coming from a
guy who can't fight Bush even with a Democratic
Congressional majority and who has consistently
waffled on the Iraq War and much, much more. But
he's going to go after the polygamists! And a Texas
increasingly concerned about the rising price tag of
this adventure is now seeking funds from its
legislature -- as Bush seeks war monies from
Congress." [H.]
Well, get ready to have your phone tapped again and your mail
rifled.
JS
From Hunter to John Salter:
Well, as you know full well, Beba, those and many more things of
such ilk
have been happening to us with some consistency since the middle
'50s. For
the benefit of our readers, I recall [as you do so well and
personally]
that, immediately [within 15 minutes] after your visitation
appearance with
your fine family in August '99, various police were driving back and
forth
in front of our house in this normally isolated neighborhood, one
stopped
and tried to talk with a neighbor across our street [who tried to
close her
door], and our own [ostensibly unlisted] telephone began ringing off
the
hook -- with no one on the other end. You and I went outside and the
parked
cop drove off pronto. Those were the days it took a week to ten days
for
Priority mail to reach us and, when it finally did [e.g., the copies
of
Mainstream from 1960 -- with my short story and Mine Mill article --
which
you had found via Net at a bookseller and sent as a gift], envelopes
were
consistently mangled and torn open. That was the Billy Clinton era
and
things, obviously, are even worse. That's why my brand of socialism
contains a strong libertarian dimension -- which I think everyone
should
enjoy. In Solidarity, H
Just a little on yesterday's Texas raid against the
polygamists. This was based on statements given by just one
unidentified sixteen year old girl. Using that as their
lever, Texas lawmen raided the compound and, using buses
conspicuously labeled "Southern Baptist," seized dozens of
young people -- taking them off for questioning. This is,
in many respects, reminiscent of the infamous raid on Short
Creek [now Colorado City] by Arizona authorities in the
early '50s -- a very widely protested assault and seizure
which led to the children being returned to their families.
The Constitutional issues in this Texas episode should be
obvious to anyone. It'll be interesting to see if the
sanctity of religious freedom, for example, can still be a
matter of concern to even those who may disapprove of plural
marriage. I occasionally think that the last Real Civil
Libertarian in the Lone Star State was the late Frank Dobie
-- the great Southwestern writer, and a crusader for
many good causes. But I do know there are others there --
some are among "my best friends". And, of course, there is
always the wider United States -- and the world.
LOIS CHAFFEE:
Oh, dear, Hunter, I can't even
begin to touch on all of it - and there's no reason to,
since you ignored prior reminders that these cases are
not about religious freedom or even "plural marriage;"
they are about CHILD RAPE. I saw only limited coverage
of the raid from here, but as I read it, the raid was
based on two things: a public record of a 15-year-old
girl who gave birth last year (Texas does not recognize
marriage of anyone younger than 16) and a complaint of
abuse from a 16-year-old girl who is not only
unidentified but MISSING. Perhaps even with your prior
mindset about Mormons, you could consider both of those
factors as justifying action. As to the "dozens" of
young people seized, my news sources specified
that about 50 were taken off the premises to be
interviewed - did you think they could be interviewed
with the elders present? - and that 13 (so far) were
taken into State custody based on evidence of abuse.
They may "ultimately" be returned to their parents, but
I hope I never hear of a teenage boy or girl who alleges
abuse of any kind - and the authorities fail to
investigate it. There has been enough of that in this
"Christian" country.
Regards, Lois
RESPONSE TO MY GOOD FRIEND, LOIS:
We agree on much indeed, Lois, but not,
apparently, on some interpretations of religious
freedom. But let's wait and see what all of the details
really are. When, a year or so ago, the Warren Jeffs
issue was raging [remember how FBI tagged him
internationally as "armed and dangerous?"}, many of
those townspeople in El Dorado, Texas, had only good
things to say about their polygamist neighbors. Pardon
my cynicism -- but my views of Texas laws and
Texas lawmen generally are very, very far from cordial.
The fact that Southern Baptist buses were used to carry
the many kids away [some reports now say 200] should, by
itself, raise some interesting questions and and
suspicions. And remember the horrific Waco tragedy
engendered so righteously by the Clintons and Janet
Reno?
I've seen too many non-conformists trashed and hurt.
All the best, as always --
H.
AND HUNTER BEAR YET AGAIN
[APRIL 6 2008]
This is getting just a bit complicated,
list/people addresses-wise. So I'm sending this to
the lists which seem to be most involved. I
appreciate Alice's thoughtful letter and Sheila's.
Lois has just written a good letter to me off-list.
Thanks very much to all for your contributions.
[I like Oprah. But, kind as Oprah is, I don't
think she know much about polygamists, their history
as a movement, the basic region, or the issues. Of
course, I heartily approve of her political
endorsement of Obama!]
I've tended to be wary of "ex-type witnesses" --
e.g., ex-Catholics, ex-polygamists, ex-Reds,
self-styled ex-gays, ex-LDS Mormons. All of these
often tortured souls have obvious axes to grind --
and some media folks absorb this as gospel. In its
initial rushes to judgment, CNN, for example, gave
virtually no background social/historical context on
the polygamy situation. Even now, the horrific, and
internationally protested raid on Short Creek in the
early 'fifties, which left deep scars, is hardly
mentioned. Both Arizona and Utah have low minimum
ages for marriage-with-parental-consent: essentially
16. In those states, those marriages are legal;
and in both of the regions that together make up
the well known publicly traditional base of the
polygamists -- extreme Northern Arizona and extreme
Southern Utah -- local justices of the peace have
frequently given their imprimatur,
But the real issues here are that these
polygamist communities are intentional in nature --
and comparatively old, their specific roots reaching
back more than a century. In many respects, they
are unique societies with distinctive cultures. And
the foundational context is their perception of
Christian theology, specifically grounded on the
teachings of Joseph Smith of yore. A marriage in
that context -- approved by their church elders --
is considered totally valid in the eyes of God and
the community.
And, I might add, considered totally valid by a
great many non-polygamous folk in and around those
Southwestern regions. Even those who called [and
still call] the polygamists by the scurrilous term,
"Cohabs," have always respected the marriages.
[Polygamy, in the sense of plural wives, is not
rare among the Navajo of today. We know a number of
these families. But the Dine', fortunately, are
protected by such happy and long
overdue developments as the religious freedom
decrees given soon after his assumption of the
position of Indian Commissioner in 1933 by John
Collier [FDR administration], and by the National
Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978.]
Under these polygamous church-auspices and
sanctified by its marriage ceremony, can sexual
intercourse, even with a very young woman, be
considered rape or abuse? The mainline -- now
respectable -- civil liberties advocacy groups are
often reluctant to get into these matters. But this
Texas situation now raises a host of Constitutional
issues.
It should also be noted that it's extremely easy
for anyone who wants to leave those
polygamist communities to do so: conventional
Arizona and Utah towns are not at all far away --
within very easy reach. I doubt that it's that much
different in the Texas situation.
As I've mentioned before, I went to high school
with some of the polygamy kids down for the school
year from The Strip [the Northern Arizona region
between the north rim of the Grand Canyon and the
Utah border.] Nice kids, much better mannered
than us.
Thanks again, good friends, for your genuinely
thoughtful expressions. We'll be hearing much more
on this, I'm sure.
MORE, LIKE THERE ALWAYS IS
[HUNTER BEAR] APRIL 7 2008
THOUGHTS BY HUNTER BEAR:
April 7 2008
This is not an effort to
resurrect, at least at this point, the
interesting discussion [ generally congenial] of
yesterday which focused on the Texas raid
against the polygamist community. [People will
comment, of course, just as they wish.]
National media reports this morning remain
confused while knowledgeable people in this
Intermountain region are increasingly drawing
comparisons between this current situation and
the badly scarring Short Creek raids. [Several
of us in this family, at least, see
some similarities with the sanctimonious
"politically correct" rush to judgment in the
Duke Lacrosse matter.] Be that as it may, the
fact is that the "complainant" in the Texas
situation has still not been, as far as we know,
located. No Amber Alert has been issued. More
than two hundred women and children are
presently incarcerated for all practical
purposes, sans any bona fide due process.
Marriages sanctified by this particular
polygamist church denomination are variously
referred to as "rape" and "abuse."
And it is tough, in this sad little
maelstrom, to sort things out. One thing
can most likely be counted upon and that is
the imminent arrival of lawyers [and Texas
does have some good ones] with respect to
"actionable" actions.
I've personally held no brief for
Warren Jeffs -- whose court battles
including appeals will probably be
numerous. His predecessor, his father, is
said to have managed things in the church
bailiwick quite well -- and, I gather,
discouraged marriages of young women under
the age of 18. The FLDS denomination now
has new leadership. I don't keep up with
polygamist doings but I do remain quite
concerned about civil liberties -- and I'm
sure I will hear things on the grapevine.
There may be as many as a few hundred
thousand polygamists in this broad
Intermountain region -- including Arizona,
some around this section of Idaho. Most
lead inconspicuous lives, most aren't
bothered by Western "authorities" who
learned the lessons long ago regarding the
Short Creek backlash which reached around
the world. Texas, as I've noted, is
"something else" and, why Warren Jeffs et
al. decided to locate a bastion there --
surrounded by local fundamentalists folk --
does remain to me a mystery.
I do feel obliged to add, apropos of
a discussional comment yesterday, that I am
not being "glib" when I say that people can
leave the polygamist communities when they
wish. I know the geography of Northern
Arizona and Southern Utah very well indeed
-- and there are plenty of non-polygamist
towns within reach. Some folks do leave,
usually quietly, often affiliating with the
LDS church -- and, believe me, there are
plenty of LDS folk who have relatives in the
polygamist communities, and vice-versa.
[Some "new people" arrive and join.] The
official LDS church frowns on the polygamist
groups -- but grassroots people, with things
in common, frequently get along very
nicely. And that even includes the
occasional social relationships of
polygamists with Gentiles [non-Mormons] in
the region. This is something I do know
something about. After all, I grew up at
Flagstaff. I would not be so presumptuous
as to tell people from New York City, or
Miami, or Los Angeles or Atlanta much
intricate sociology about those areas. [I
do know Chicago reasonably well.]
The polygamy towns are not something
out of a Stephen King novel -- secret cults
in the [attractive to me] wilderness of
Maine. They're living, viable communities
and, if they exhibit in these times, some
"earned paranoia", well -- who can blame
them? Like many small rural communities,
they are very cohesive and, in any of these
community entities, wherever and whatever
their circumstances and beliefs, it isn't
easy to break ties. But there are cars and
plenty of pickups in these polygamous
communities, some television and radio,
newspapers are not uncommon by any means.
These are vital, living people -- quite
communalistic in many respects -- and almost
quasi-tribal. Their social roots lie in
American utopian traditions.
There is a question in the air: Why
this, now? Maybe because there was/is a
complainant and on that we'll see. In any
case, why the overkill? Well, I can think
of a couple of possible -- and I say
possible -- reasons: Elections are looming
ahead for almost all of us in what's called
the United States -- including the
components of Texas.
But there is also this:
The local Texas land-holdings of the
polygamist church involve close to 2,000
acres -- with water rights. Think about
that one.
Media accounts continue to be
confused and confusing. The Deseret News,
the major LDS daily, covers this general
region. It's a well done paper and, at this
point, its story on this Texas situation
from two days ago [and thus a bit dated] is
interesting in its survey of Intermountain
perspectives:
Through whispers and phone calls, the
news of the raid on the YFZ Ranch is
spreading through the Fundamentalist LDS
strongholds of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado
City, Ariz.
"Everybody's talking about it," said
ex-FLDS member Isaac Wyler, who lives in the
border towns.
As he drove through the towns formerly
known as "Short Creek" on Friday, Wyler told
the Deseret Morning News he was watching a
flurry of activity. Outside an FLDS-run
private school, he said dozens of cars were
parked there.
"I'm sure everybody's having little
meetings," he said.
Reminiscent of the infamous 1953 raid
on Short Creek, where polygamists were
rounded up and put in jail and their
children put in foster care, people on both
sides of the polygamy debate were worried
about the impact of this latest action in
Texas.
"It seems like a huge, massive step
for law enforcement to come in like that and
raid this community," said Mary Batchelor of
the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices.
"It's terrifying."
Ross Chatwin, another ex-FLDS member,
feared the Texas raid would serve to further
entrench and isolate the FLDS from the
outside world.
"Warren (Jeffs) and the leaders,
they're wanting something like this to
happen so they can fullfil a prophecy that
it will turn into another Nauvoo or '53
raid," he said. "My biggest fear is we're
playing right into their hands."
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff
also worried about how FLDS faithful would
perceive the Texas raid. In an interview
with the Deseret Morning News on Friday,
Shurtleff said, "Heavens no!" he would not
raid Hildale and Colorado City.
"We have no evidence that there are
more child victims (in Utah) since Warren
Jeffs disappeared," Shurtleff said. "The
difference between the two places is
Colorado City and Hildale have been opened
up. They know they've been under scrutiny.
In Eldorado, they were in a compound and
feeling pretty secure."
Ironically, Shurtleff was in Texas
last month at a speaking engagement on
polygamy. He spoke alongside Carolyn Jessop,
who chronicled her flight from the FLDS
Church in a best-selling book.
"Texas is not going to be a state
that's as tolerant of these crimes as
Arizona and Utah have been," Jessop said.
"In Eldorado, the crimes went to a whole new
level. They thought they could get away with
more."
Jessop's ex-husband is Merrill Jessop,
a leader in the FLDS Church who is now in
charge of the Texas compound. At age 18, she
said she was forced to become Jessop's
fourth wife and had eight children with him.
"My ex-husband would be the person who
would be performing the marriages. He's
managing everything and controlling
everything," she said.
On Friday, polygamists, activists and
bureaucrats met in southern Utah for a
meeting of the Safety Net Committee, a group
created by the Utah Attorney General's
Office to foster relationships between
polygamous sects and government while
reaching out to those suffering from abuse
and neglect. Some who attended said others
expressed fear and a little paranoia.
"Law enforcement officers aren't
interested in going after people because
they're polygamists; they're going after
people who are hurting children," said Paul
Murphy, the Safety Net coordinator. "If you
want to protect your community, then when
cases of child abuse are coming up, report
it so it can be handled directly and like
any other community."
Marlyne Hammon with the pro-polygamy
Centennial Park Action Committee said if
abuse was happening, it was good for some
action to be taken to stop it.
"If the girl was experiencing a
problem, it's a good thing for her to call
someone," she said Friday. "It's not right
to harbor something like that."
The television shots
of this sorry Texas situation with its slew
of armed "lawmen", remind me of that fine
film [workers' rights, minority rights,
womens' rights], Salt of the Earth -- based
on New Mexico's Empire Zinc strike, near
Silver City, 1950-52. [Remember how the
union women were rounded up and jailed?]
And it also brings to mind scenes that I
personally recall from the great
1959-into-'60 copper workers' struggle.
And, too, come to think of it, it certainly
draws forth some old Deep South memories
from Southern Movement days.
And some other
things.
H.
-------------------------------------
SHEILA MICHAELS:
You keep trying to frame this
politically, in terms of the suffering
workers. But we don't see freedom of
religion in the Pakistani Sharia courts that
sentence a woman to rape because her brother
has crossed supposedly non-existent caste
lines. We don't see freedom of religion in
the Israeli settlements in Gaza. We don't
see freedom of religion in Hindus
slaughtering trains full of Moslems. We
want some authority to be operative in these
cases, even if they are corrupt scum, we
want some action & protection of those who
pled for help.
S
h
e
i
l
a
_________________________________________
HUNTER BEAR:
I'm not
talking about those -- those --
countries, Sheila. I'm talking
about the United States of
America -- so-called "Land of
the Free." We've just seen an
MSNBC feature, a relatively full
one, in which we have now
learned that 401 children, plus
the "adult women," have now been
seized by that "primitive
complex known as Texas." I am
not sure what you all are
talking about. I'm talking
about basic family rights and
values and fundamental human
rights. The news conference
just held by that Texas'
county's self-styled "Child
Protective Services" was a
shabby and evasive affair. [No
tangible sign, BTW, that the
young woman who presumably made
the phone call has been located.
The man who was arrested earlier
today was charged with
"interfering with a law officer"
-- a charge [and there were many
charges] against me at least
twice in the Southern Movement.
Fortunately, some responsible
media people are now converging
on that miserable little county
with its seat called Eldorado
[El Dorado] which, ironically,
translates into "The Golden
One." The "authorities"
have initiated and perpetuated a
nightmare which is now coming
around to envelop them. If
there's any gold in their coffee
can, it'll be spent many times
over before this fire has run
its course. But those many for
whom I [and I think many others
indeed] feel much compassion and
empathy are certainly not the
Finks of Eldorado.
And once
again, I point out that that
church owns almost 2000 acres of
land with water rights -- a
mighty nice plum.
Yours, H.
_______________________________
COMMENT BY BOB
GATELY:
With tears in me eyes, I
read these posts and wonder
why, why are we humans so
damned to decide the fate of
others who would wish us no
harm ? Hunter, we are indeed
and action the salt of this
earth, be it biological or
psychological, are we not
all products of a
evolutionary force beyond
our comprehension ? God
damned, god blessed with
dogma's totally at odds with
our imagination of how we,
individually see ourselves
in the grand scheme of
things, as they are ,and we
wish them to be ? Why in the
name of God (The Brand) do
we demand from others what
we can not accept in
ourselves ?
Puzzling over the point of
balance that lies between
truth and illusion, we can
only wonder on the future of
our species...Thank a god or
human nature to keep us
confused, keep us thinking,
keeps us alive in
contemplation of a great
leap in human consciences
that transcends the news of
the hour and leads us to a
brilliant comprehension of
our shared values and
aspirations. Your mind and
experiences do inform our
days and we are grateful for
your sharing.
Best regards, always,
Bob
RESPONSE BY HUNTER BEAR:
Bob:
I'm about finished, at least
for now, in responding to
those who support the Texas
raids and Texas "justice."
That seems pointless.
Your good words, of course,
are very welcome.
Thanks very much indeed for
them. One of the especially
saddening things about this
truly hideous Texas
raid/Texas "justice"
situation are the people who
would normally pride
themselves on
firm commitment to civil
rights and liberties and due
process, maneuvering to
justify what will very
likely be recorded as one
of the more massive and
destructive blunders and
sweeping human rights
violations on the domestic
front in these times. But
relativism on civil
rights/civil liberties
fronts is always a
knife-in-the-side of our
[and some other] societies.
And you, of course, know
that very well, as do I,
from such travails as the
Red Scare and, more
specifically, the long and
genuinely heroic struggles
of Mine-Mill and other
solid radical crusading
outfits when the knives were
at the throats of ourselves
and our friends and our
families.
But we've kept going, as
have many others indeed, and
-- to use the time-honored
slogan of our Jackson
Movement -- WWW [We Will
Win.]
Your Irish is mighty good to
see on this colder Idaho
morning.
Take care, amigo, and give
my best to The Grand Canyon
State.
Well, nice to see all the
men are being held at the
compound without being
charged with crimes. Even
murder suspects are afforded
the ability to exercise
their rights. Some here
have pointed out that family
values are not just men's
values. That's absolutely
true. But these particular
men aren't being allowed to
fight for their own families
against a steamrolling
system which is getting a
hell of a head start.
". . .On the other discussion [Texas raids], which I've
read but not commented, it would seem to me the government
has gone way overboard in their approach. The news
cast last night spoke of the women as
"being from another world", that they didn't drink
coffee, tea, or carbonated drinks, ate fruits
and vegetables. Sounds pretty sensible for me, even
though I wouldn't want to forgo the coffee.
All of us, I know, are concerned about the rights of
girls to be free of exploitation - though God
knows there is an awful lot of that in our "normal"
society where they are force young girls toward
adulthood.
We are divided over this issue and I think to some
extent it got unfairly turned into an issue of
who is more concerned over the women. If we mean the
girls, yes, that is a valid concern. If it
is the women, I think we have to back off and
recognize that women have the right not to assert
their rights. And the folks in law enforcement in
Texas can't make them change their minds.
No, we should not be quiet at a time when all these
kids have been yanked out of their homes
and their lives. And they should all be entitled to
their full legal rights.
David McReynolds
_______________________________________________
HUNTER BEAR ON SOME MOVEMENT
LAWYERS [APRIL 8 2007]
Good points, Steve [McNichols]. Bill
Kunstler and Arthur Kinoy represented me
personally defense-wise on several occasions as
well as in some signal cases arising out of our
grassroots activist projects. I was also able
to get Bill retained as the on-going SCEF lawyer
during much of the high-water Movement period.
Morty Stavis, along with Bill, helped us a great
deal -- and most successfully -- in a major
voting rights case stemming from our work in the
Northeastern North Carolina Blackbelt. Another
fine attorney was and is Phil Hirschkop of
Alexandria, Virginia -- who started working with
us as a third year law student and continued his
quite effective work with me, personally and
project-wise, as long as I was in the South
[into 1967.]
I always saw Bill as very much the public courtroom man -- and a guy
of great personal courage. [He did like the
lime-light.] Arthur was fine in court and
excelled in very careful and intricate
scholarly-type research. We always said Arthur,
someway and somehow, could always find a peg on
which to hang a legal hat on behalf a good
cause. When he and Bill worked together, they
were a splendid team for sure.
A fine local attorney in our Jackson
situation was R. Jess Brown -- as much American
Indian as he was African-American. He had great
courage and the largest .38 Special Smith and
Wesson revolver I had ever seen. He often
teamed with Bill in our Jackson struggle. John
[Beba] and I saw him a couple of times in
Jackson in his later years. John has always
remembered him as a tough and sparky guy.
We got to Tougaloo in late summer, '61. A
year later, Bill's daughter, Karin [now an
attorney in NYC] came to Tougaloo as a student.
She was taking my Political Theory course [yes,
I know more about that than I concede] and, one
day, she told us her father was coming to
visit. We had heard of Bill since he was one of
the northern lawyers who had represented the
Freedom Riders at Jackson. So she brought him
over to our on-campus home that afternoon and,
with him, came Pete Seeger. They'd been on the
same plane. They jiggled Baby Maria -- then
eight months old or so -- and we all talked for
a long time. Pete gave a fine pro bono concert
at the college. The meeting with Bill laid the
basis for his representation of a number of us
[including Eldri] in the heavy storms that began
very soon thereafter when we launched the
Jackson Boycott, and then expanded it into the
Jackson Movement.
Well, there were -- and are -- many fine
lawyers and some damn helpful law students. I
am sure, Steve, that we've known many of the
same good people. Perhaps we'll meet at some
juncture.
Yours, H
CORDIAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN STEVE MCNICHOLS AND HUNTER
BEAR: APRIL 9 2008
Steve McNichols writes -- and I respond:
I find it strange that the sect (if that's the
right term) hasn't retained
legal counsel to launch a counter offensive
challenging the state's actions.
Surely they have enough resources to do this.
Steven F. McNichols
268 Bush Street, #3602
San Francisco, CA 94104-3503
lawcenter@
Agreed, Steve, and I do think the FLDS church
does have fairly substantive financial means. They
presently are putting lawyers into the Texas raid
situation. [I don't see this church, BTW, as a
"sect". I always remember how a critical Protestant
once referred to my church [R.C.] as a "sect." I
grinned at him and replied "No Protestante". He
backed off and we remained friends.]
I am not, by any means, an "authority" on the
group's internals -- and certainly not its specific
finances. But I do know something of it, obviously,
and also have a grasp of the many different
polygamist groups in our Intermountain region. And
I know a great deal about the long history of
persecution and bigotry visited upon both the
mainline LDS church -- and the polygamist break-aways.
My three best friends in school, while growing up,
were Lee Benally [a traditional Navajo, killed
early, while home on leave from the Navy, in a
tragic auto wreck not of his making on the infamous
"death highway" in Western New Mexico, then known as
666; Chester Woods, from a Texas Dustbowl refugee
family [he later became an Arizona highway
patrolman]; and Norman Johnson, whose father was a
key US Forest Service staffer. Norman later became
a senior vice-president [research] for the
Weyerhaeuser lumber corporation. And that was our
enduring group -- and we got along very well.
Lee was a Navajo traditional and I think Chester
was a Baptist. Norman was a conventional LDS
member. His great/great grandfather, John Doyle
Lee, had been a prominent Mormon leader who was shot
[we feel quite unjustly] by a U.S. Army firing squad
in the latter 19th century. Anyway, growing up in
Mormon Country, I learned a lot about the LDS
travails and those of the polygamist "splits" very
early on. Josie's Cameron is LDS [his large family
is a major force, as I've occasionally noted, in
the Democratic and union labor settings in
Southeastern Idaho.]
Wallace Stegner [who died a few years ago],
was one of this country's finest writers [headed the
writing program at Stanford] and who, although not
LDS, grew up partly in the Salt Lake Valley and
always got on well with the Mormons. Although noted
primarily for his excellent fiction, much drawn from
the Real West, he wrote a great nonfictional book in
the early 1940s, Mormon Country [many subsequent
editions]. I read it as a kid early on. It's a
nicely done and very readable -- and quite
sympathetic -- discussion of Mormon history [and
some related union labor history] and it contains a
very friendly chapter on the Short Creek
polygamists. [Stegner was not "thrown" by the
practice of plural marriage.] The chapter, "Fossil
Remains of an Idea", concludes with this:
"As long as Mormonism remains a religious force,
and as long as the Confederacy is a green memory,
there will always be the unreconstructed. Faith is
a weed with a long taproot."
The mainline LDS church has, of course, grown
fast and tremendously. And the ranks of the
polygamists have grown as well -- probably a few
hundred thousand in this general region. Warren
Jeffs has simply been a ripple in the much greater
polygamist waters -- where people simply want to
live their lives and be left alone. The news
coverage by, say, CNN, reflects nothing
knowledgeable about any of this. Warren Jeffs'
predecessor, his father, was a stable and sensible
leader; the new leadership promises a return to that
old-time style.
If anyone is interested in this, I continue to
suggest Deseret News [the LDS daily] and the Salt
Lake Tribune -- easily found via Google. Fine
papers journalistically, they know the score.
FROM HUNTER
BEAR: DISCUSSION NOTES ON THE TEXAS RAIDS
SITUATION APRIL 9-10 2008
HUNTER BEAR:
. . .Jim Bevel, whose civil rights
career was splendid [as was that of his
partner, Diane Nash], apparently did become
involved in very politically conservative
fundamentalist Christianity at some later
point. But I haven't seen him since the
fall of 1963 when I attended the SCLC
convention. He and Andy Young were sitting
with Martin King on a tier a little higher
than the main floor. Andy Young spotted me
and whispered to Dr King -- who then smiled
at me in very cordial fashion. And, of
course, I smiled back very cordially. We had
seen one another not too long before at
Jackson. That's my last recollection of Jim
Bevel.
Best, H
----------------------
HUNTER BEAR:
I really don't feel particularly
disposed to argue with you, Norla. But
I do feel obliged to say that I grew up
in the Navajo country -- in a family
with extremely close ties to The People
as well as with those of Laguna Pueblo
[near Grants, NM.] Our ties exist to
this very moment and, to cite
Navajoland as an example, we can always
feel very, very much at home in that
setting. During the various times I was
in Tucson -- 1950s, lived there for two
years or so -- there were virtually no
Navajo there that I saw [and I got
around], or even very many in Phoenix
for that matter -- during that period.
There were a few who worked as hardrock
miners at Superior, Globe and Miami --
but those settings had more people [and
not many at that] from the San Carlos
and White Mountain Apache reservations.
And I don't think most Navajo
are at all concerned about polygamy --
it's by no means as common as it was,
say, a generation or two ago -- but
it's still around. Many Navajo
indeed are purely traditional. Most
Christian Navajo -- Catholic,
Episcopalian, LDS, even some Lutherans
--save for those who are involved with
the more fundamentalist versions of
Christianity -- are also, in many ways,
very traditional. [Even some of the
"fundamentalists" are.] The Navajo
version of the Native American Church
[peyote carefully used as the sacrament]
is, despite an occasional crucifix on
the wall of the ceremonial hogan, very
traditional. And tradition in Navajo
society and culture, [and this is true
of Native tribal societies generally],
is respectful in nature [save for
Witches and Skinwalkers.]
Polygamy is obviously a major
issue in the Texas tragedy. And another
may well be the almost 2,000 acres [with
water rights] owned by the church.
Anyway, Norla, that's our view
-- and I much respect yours.
Best, H.
------------------------
HUNTER BEAR:
Gerry Goldstein of San Antonio and a
top civil liberties attorney, is
now lead counsel in the FLDS church
case in Texas. And Texas now has some
rough bronc-riding rodeo experiences
ahead for it.
[And Reber Boult, of New Mexico,
himself a top-flight lawyer, writes:
Hunter observes, "I believe Gerry
Goldstein from San Antonio, who is quite
good on civil liberties/civil rights issues
has joined the fray on behalf of the
church. I know only a little about him; he
does seem very capable."
Were I in trouble with the law, Gerry
Goldstein would be the lawyer I'd want.
- Reber Boult
____________________
HUNTER BEAR:
Well, thanks yet again, Bob [Gately],
for a most provocative and very lively
letter. After watching some of the news
media coverage of this Texas thing, I
think one would have to go back to the
more lurid days of the Red Scares to
find anything comparable. MSNBC has
been a little better than CNN on some of
this but not much. The same traveling
team of ex-polygamy members that graced
the Jeffs situation is back yet again
with essentially the same tales. In the
old "criminal syndicalism" trials of IWW
members in California in the '20s -- and
there were several dozen of those
perversions of justice -- there was a
traveling witness team for the state
that appeared at about every one of
those drum-head affairs: an ex-Wobbly,
an elderly rancher with Horror
fabrications, and a detective type. That
team was well paid by the state. This
is somewhat reminiscent for sure in the
contemporary media context.] We may
disagree [and apparently do] on the
mainline LDS church Bob, but we have
the same grasp of the Constitutional and
human rights principles involved in this
latest fundamentalist Mormon episode.
I know a lot, of course, about the
"regular" LDS church -- but not nearly
as much about the internals of the
polygamist groups. But I do know enough
about them to post that which I've put
forth [and I know some more as well].
Short Creek and much more have left
deep scars. For understandable reasons,
the polygamists are wary of the
"outside" and have little penchant for
talking to media. This obviously leaves
the media space free for their
opponents. Their lead attorney is
Gerry Goldstein from San Antonio, who is
quite good on civil liberties/civil
rights issues. He is top rank.
Our Eastern Idaho tv stations have
been reasonably objective about all of
this. The Salt Lake-based papers are
still the best when it comes to covering
matters like this. And they are quite
good generally. They know the land and
the people.
While I certainly don't think
everything in the universe can be placed
in the context of economic materialism,
a good deal certainly can. In this
instance, my mind will not let go of the
fact that the Texas branch of FLDS has
almost 2,000 acres of land, plus water
rights. I know enough about
self-serving conniving in the West to
figure that That looms large in the
shadows.
Anyway, amigo, thanks yet once again
for your good thoughts.
A WIDELY POSTED APPEAL [HUNTER
BEAR/HUNTER GRAY] APRIL 11 2008
The recent events in West Texas
should be of considerable concern to
anyone troubled by the serious
slippage of traditional American
commitments to civil liberty on a
very wide range of domestic [and
related international] fronts. The
Texas raids, involving the massive
assault by Texas lawmen on a local
settlement of the polygamist FLDS
church, one of a number of such
historical fundamentalist breakaways
from mainline Mormonism with old
roots, have led to the massive
disruption of a community of
peaceful people,wild [and as yet at
least] unsubstantiated charges
thrown to the four directions, the
seizure of hundreds of children by
state authorities, the functional
incarceration of several hundred men
and women, and the disruption of the
denomination's sacred places.
Basic American foundational tenets
of religious freedom and due process
of law and other Constitutional
rights as well have been thrown to
the winds. The assault was [at least
ostensibly] sparked by complaints of
abuse at the FLDS settlement by a
professedly 16 year old young woman
to the county Child Protective
Services many days ago -- and
vigorously and openly supported by,
among others, the local Southern
Baptist contingents et al. from the
region.
The young woman involved, whose name
may or may not be actually known to
authorities, has apparently not yet
been located. But on the basis of
her complaint, again at least
ostensibly, there has been this
signal assault on people and thus on
the Constitutional rights of all of
us.
There have been as yet no formal
arrests/charges of substance.
And there has been considerable and
troubling silence so far on the part
of established organizations in the
United States which have been
historically committed to civil
rights and civil liberties. In fact
the silence so far by Americans of
good will generally speaks sad
volumes.
Mainline American news media, which
can dissect with precision every
nuance in the current national
political campaign, have, for the
most part, simply disseminated the
official version of justification
without any depthy and critical
scrutiny,
The FBI has moved to the edges of
the situation but its concerns and
role remain murky.
The FLDS church has fortunately
assembled a promising legal defense
team -- headed by one of Texas'
leading civil liberties attorneys.
In addition to the obvious forces of
just plain religious bigotry, there
is another very possible
motivational factor in this tragic
odyssey:
The FLDS church settlement in this
West Texas setting owns almost 2,000
acres of land, with water and
associated rights.
And that, of course, is a very
attractive plum indeed. Think about
that in the long Western [and
American] context of self-serving
and conniving attempts to secure the
prized land and water and resources
of others -- including those of
American Indian people.
[ I grew up in Northern Arizona, not
far geographically from the
religious polygamist communities of
our state and the adjoining
dimensions of Southern Utah. The
FLDS settlement in West Texas grows
directly from that setting. I'm
familiar with the history and the
issues.]
For more on this, see our expanding
webpage. We've had to observe our
own spatial limitations -- it could
most likely go on forever -- but it
is reasonably substantial and quite
current.
EXCERPT FROM A
LETTER TO A FRIEND [SUGGESTED
BACKGROUND READING]
HUNTER GRAY APRIL 11 2008
There are two older books
that you would find useful.
One, that came out originally in
the early '40s and has been much
reprinted, is Wallace Stegner's
Mormon Country. Stegner was a
top American writer, headed the
writing program at Stanford for
years, and -- not a Mormon --
had very friendly relations with
LDS people from the point he
largely grew up in the Salt Lake
Valley. He has a chapter on the
Short Creek [now called Colorado
City] polygamists. It shouldn't
be hard to find, very readable.
Another, which came out in 1957
and has been reprinted somewhat,
is Stewart H. Holbrook's
Dreamers of the American Dream.
This has a good bit, as I
recall, on various American
utopian movements and
communities, a chapter on
Mormons, the Wobblies, and
more. It is popular history,
but detailed, very readable and
interesting. Holbrook was a top
newspaperman with the Portland
Oregonian and a good writer.
Both of those books together
would answer many of your
questions. H.
It is easy to not remember that
those summarily and easily
vilified in the press do have
constitutional rights which, if
we do not
respect and uphold, will most
assuredly erode right along with
those we take for granted always
being there to protect us.
And that an apparently one
sided story does not always just
have one side. Thanks for the
perspective.
John M.Solbach
[John M. Solbach, a cousin of
mine on my mother's side, is a
Lawrence Kansas attorney, a
leader in the state Democratic
party, and a USMC combat veteran
from the Vietnam War. He has
frequently served in the state
legislature. H.
___________________________
SAM FRIEDMAN:
And when it involves
violations of human rights,
perhaps some creative
nonviolence--if this is safe?
___________________________
STEVEN MCNICHOLS:
I
agree with Hunter. Due
process and equal protection
under law are most critical
in those cases invoking the
strongest public outrage.
That's
when we are really tested as
a people.
Steven F. McNichols
268 Bush Street, #3602
San Francisco, CA
94104-3503
lawcenter@
_______________________________
MATTHEW MCDANIEl:
Hunter, yes, this is
exactly the case with a
virgin bed thrown in to
fan the flames of rage.
Matthew
__________________________________________
BARBARA SVEDBERG:
Dear Hunter, The
following writing really
woke me up. I had been
avoiding reading the stuff
in the news about this
group. It is hard to know
where society should stand
on this issue. At my
current age, 65, I can
imagine the benefits of
being in a marriage with
more than one person but
when I was fertile the idea
was terrifying. I read that
some of the children had
chicken pox perhaps the
children were not taken for
vaccinations. Having been
part of a psychiatric
commune, I know how one
person can define reality
for many others. The
children in the situation
had no choice about whether
they would be part of the
commune's belief system.
Still, when one thinks about
Native Americans and what
the so called Christian
whites did to them, one can
see your point. Today with
the sub -mortgage crisis,
should we interfere with
people learning an economic
lesson through losing their
home? It all comes down to
greed doesn't it? Any way
thank you for causing me to
think differently. I am so
glad that I live in Sweden
even though there is a lot
of interference in private
life. Warmly, Barbara
Svedberg
Members of the group have
settled in B.C. as well in
their community
called Bountiful and have
been left alone. You can
expect similar raids
soon as the Stephen Harper
right wing government in
Canada follows the
lead of the Bush government.
Brian
[Brian Rice, Mohawk, is a
university professor at
Winnipeg.]
It will be interesting to
see how this situation plays
out. I must admit, I get
suspicious when I encounter
"off the beaten path "
groups of people headed by
old white guys. I have yet
to see anything that
resembles due process in
this case, however. I
hadn't considered an
alternative agenda for the
"raid."
RESPONSE TO A RESPONSE
[HUNTER BEAR] APRIL 12
2008
Apparently in response to
my basic position on the
"polygamist/Texas
raids" controversy, Carol
Horwitz has written, on the
SNCC list:
"Isn't it interesting that
those who rise so quickly to
defend these "men" are men?
Just observing. "
Aside from the fact that
this places the writer in
far clearer perspective than
anything I could ever say or
write, I do add this:
I've been somewhat
surprised, but probably not
overly surprised, about the
willingness of some -- whose
sensitivity to civil rights
and civil liberties
positions have been evident
in the past -- to accept at
face value the contentions
of, say, the very Texas
lawmen and collateral
authorities in this matter
whose words they would write
off forthwith [and rightly]
if those lurid words and
presumptuous
characterizations were
directed as they so often
are, against anti-war
crusaders, "long haired"
university students
"hippies", alleged pot
users, gays, and certainly
racial and ethnic
minorities.
I think most of the shrill
critics of the things I've
written on the topic at hand
-- which are, of course,
focused mainly on the civil
liberties/civil rights
dimensions of a mounting
human tragedy engendered by
a massive Texas assault --
know virtually nothing
first-hand about Mormonism,
the polygamist break-aways,
or even, in some instances,
the Mountain West. I do
happen to know a great deal
about those things and so --
assuming there are at least
some interested people who
look beyond clichés and
sloganeering and who support
social justice beyond their
own bailiwicks, I do my best
to explain them.
I have no apologies
whatsoever for taking that
trail.
Recognizing that some people
are, more than likely,
getting more than a little
tired of this, I do add the
response that evoked the
response:
From me: I'm not writing out
of a void. I grew up in
essentially rural Northern
Arizona and am personally
well aware of the history
and the sociology of these
-- actually many --
polygamist groups. [I've
been fascinated by them
since I was a kid. And I
have always found those
community members I met to
be very friendly folk.]
These groups are certainly
not cults, And I personally
never use the word "sect"
which these days usually
carries a generally negative
connotation.
I'd say these groups are
quasi-tribal. Their own
unique roots reach back more
than a century -- when they
left the mainline LDS church
[which itself grew out of
old American utopian
communalistic traditions],
soon after its departure
from polygamy in 1890. As
the decades and generations
have passed, these groups
have become, in many ways,
quasi-tribal with their own
still-communalistic and
distinctive culture.
I don't buy at all the lurid
hype attributed to them by
hostile media and others --
sadly reminiscent of, say,
the Jackson Mississippi
papers when the old
Hedermans were running them
in the segregation days.
These people live steadily,
sedately, and faithfully by
their own religious tenets.
Referring to them as "Mormon
fundamentalists" is
accurate.
I tend to be wary of
embittered and vocal "ex"
people: ex-Catholics, ex-Mormons,ex-Reds,
ex-polygamists et al.. Their
axes-to-grind are obvious.
I was away in the Army in
1953 when Arizona
authorities [over 100 state
police and a large
contingent of National
Guardsmen] raided the Short
Creek polygamist group,
seized virtually the whole
community of several
hundred, including about 250
children. Many of the adults
were jailed for long
periods. Most of the
children were held in
Arizona "foster homes" for
two years before they were
able to return to their
parents. The shabby and
ungrounded lurid rationales
that were used in that
situation are kin to those
canards being floated in the
Texas raids. The resultant
protests following the Short
Creek tragedy, nationally
and then internationally,
subsequently wrecked the
career of the Arizona
governor, a Republican.
Short Creek, now known as
Colorado City [after the
Colorado River] endures --
and most likely always will.
These communities couldn't
survive, especially given
the often hostile police and
media attention they
receive, if they didn't have
[and they do have] the
committed support of their
own people.
Anyway, if anyone is further
interested, they should find
this webpage of ours
helpful. And I'd be happy to
try to answer any off-list
queries that might arise.
I'm not a certified
specialist in polygamy
matters -- have been
monogamously married for 47
years -- but I probably know
much more about all of this
than anyone else on these
discussion lists.
http://hunterbear.org/POLYGAMY%20FIRES.htm
[H.]
NEW SHIFTS
AND EMERGENCES [TEXAS]
APRIL 14 2008
HUNTER BEAR
[I won't
be posting
daily on
this, but
there have
been, in
this
situation, some
new
emergences
and some
shifts.]
The
following is
a good
article from
today's
Deseret News
--
wide-ranging
Western
daily,
centered in
our
Intermountain
West. Its
site also
contains
photos and
video
footage of
the inside
of the FLDS
"compound" taken
by the Salt
Lake-based
newspaper. It
may be
significant
that CNN
showed some
of these
photos
on its
prime-time
morning news
at several
points over
the
weekend.
http://www.deseretnews.com/home
The lurid
media
accounts
that have
heretofore
characterized
the FLDS
church and
its
members appear
to be
shifting
somewhat.
There
are
still
many
facts --
real
facts --
that we
don't
know
about
all of
this.
But the
cruel
realities
and
effects
of the
Texas
raids
are now
emerging
and the
church
itself,
seen by
many
outsiders
and
critics
as
"mysterious", is
slowly,
coming
much
more to
life in
a
genuinely
human
fashion.
One of
the problems
in
discussing
this
situation
seems to be
that many of
us who do
know
something
about this
see the
church as a
church, and
an organic
entity.
Others
perceive it
variously as
a "cult" but
not as a
church. I
am convinced
it certainly
doesn't
qualify as a
cult
and that
internally
it is
quite unified. [
Others
appear to
feel that
there's an
internal
dichotomy
between men
and women. ]
It's obvious
that the
substantive
battery of
attorneys
retained by
the church
-- including
the notable
Constitutional lawyer, Gerry
Goldstein of
San Antonio,
are
representing
the entire
body: women,
men, and
children --
all of whom
have been
victimized
by the
horrendous
assault by
Texas lawmen
and their
collateral
allies.
And. of
course, the
church
mothers are
-- well,
very much
women. And
the children
are
children.
And the men
are husbands
and fathers.
[My
interest in
this, as I
have
indicated
several
times,
centers on
the civil
libertarian/civil
rights
dimensions
of this
situation.
Obviously,
I've been
happily
married --
monogamously
-- for 47
years. And
of course, I
am a
Catholic
[albeit a
"cafeteria"
one at the
present --
though we
are always
prepared to
call a
priest
should the
occasion
warrant
one.]
Now, two
weeks after
the alleged
phone call
by the
ostensibly
terrified 16
year old
girl, she
still remains
to be found.
She had
named a man
named
Barlow,
presently at
Colorado
City, Ariz.
as her
abusive
husband.
Barlow
denied this,
said he
hadn't been
in Texas for
many years,
and did not
know the
young
woman. He
was backed
up by
authoritative
persons.
The Texas
Rangers
interviewed
Barlow and
did not
arrest him.
In the
meantime,
another
unnamed and
apparently
unlocated young
woman has
made a call
to Arizona
authorities
-- alleging
that she was
mistreated.
Arizona,
which went
through a
national and
international
fire-storm
of criticism
following
the massive
raid on
Short Creek
in 1953,
appears to
be moving
very,
very cautiously
regarding
all of
this. And
so is Utah.
So what's
really the
deal?
The fact
that the
"case" is
getting
shaky is now
receiving
some media
notice. And
I was
interested
and frankly
pleased to
see Jonathan
Turley, a
top
Constitutional
expert from
George
Washington
University
appearing on
ABC
yesterday.
Professor
Turley, who
frequently
appears on
MSNBC
[including
Keith
Olberman's
program],
commented
essentially that
Texas has a
rough legal
row to hoe
because, as
he put it,
"parental
rights are
deeply
embedded in
the
Constitution."
The fact
that the
county Child
Protective
Services is
now
enlisting
"mental
health
experts"
vis-a-vis
the
children,
and probably
others,
carries a
frankly
sinister
echo of
certain regimes
not
especially
noted for
their
concern with
peoples'
rights.
This
church --
and it is a
church
whether its
critics like
it or not --
is not
analogous to
a Native
tribal
nation. But
it's an old
church --
more than a
century --
and does
have its own
distinctive
way of
life. Like
Indian
tribes,
historically
and even now
beset by "do
gooder"
missionaries
and
U.S. government
people, --
outsiders --
it's
obviously
being
subjected to
fast
and essentially
ethnocentric
judgments
from those
who know
little or
nothing
about it.
It wasn't so
very long
ago that
Native
children
were being
taken in
large
numbers from
their
families and
tribes by
the U.S. and
Canadian
government authorities
--
ostensibly
to "save"
the
children.
The effects
of those
nefarious
policies
were
downright
hideous.
But the
Indians have
always
remained
Indians --
committed to
family,
clan, tribal
nation, and
their
respective
cultures.
There's
something to
be said for
the case
that an Old
Entity whose
roots go
back as
far as those
of this
church, does
possess a
certain
amount of
accrued
sovereignty
and
self-determination
rights.
And, as I
say, I can't
let go of my
thoughts
about that
very nice
piece of
church land
in Texas:
almost 2,000
acres with
water. I
know very
well
the long
history of
land and
water theft,
often "under
color of
law,"
especially
in the more
arid parts
of our
American
West.
For
anyone
really
interested
in knowing
more
about the
historical
roots of
Mormonism,
and its
polygamist
breakaways,
I continue
to
recommend:
Wallace
Stegner's
excellent Mormon
Country and
its chapter
on Short
Creek
[Colorado
City] --
Fossil
Remains of
an Idea.
The book has
had many
editions.
Stewart
H.
Holbrook's
Dreamers of
the American
Dream. This
is a
well-written
account of
various
American
utopian
movements which
also
involves
sections
on the
Mormons and
the Wobblies.
AND THE
STATE OF
TEXAS
INHERITS THE
WIND
[HUNTER
GRAY/HUNTER
BEAR]
APRIL 15
2008]
The
attached
news
story
says
a
great
deal
that
warrants
careful
reflection.
It's from
the
Salt
Lake
City-based
Deseret
News,
a
well
known,
high
quality
daily newspaper
with
wide
circulation
in
the extensive Intermountain
region
of
the
West
which
is
read
by a
great
many
Mormons
and
a
great
many
non-Mormons.
Broadly
respected,
it enjoys
a
solid
reputation
in
national
journalistic
circles. It's
owned
by
the
mainline
LDS
church
[which
has
not
sanctioned
polygamy
since
1890]
and
it's
a
paper
that
cuts
its
own
trail.
I
mentioned
earlier
that,
many
years
ago,
it
did
a
fine
interview
with
me
when
I
was
in
Salt
Lake
and
spoke
to
an
overflow
audience
on
the
Southern
Movement
at
the
University
of
Utah.
[It
probably helped
that
I am
from
rural
Northern
Arizona,
not
far
down
the
road
from
Salt
Lake
by
Western
standards.]
It
was
the
first
newspaper
to
give
a
"human
face"
to
the
horrific
situation
in
Texas.
And
now,
at
whatever
glacial
pace,
other
national
news
media
are
finally
beginning
to
look
deeper
into
the
situation
that
they,
initially,
took
at
face
value from
Texas
lawmen
and
associated
forces and
that
many in
the
general
American
public,
even
people
normally
skeptical
of
most news
media
and
lawmen
accounts
and
committed
to
civil
liberties
and
due
process, rushed
to
embrace.
As I
hit
the
sack
last
night,
media
reports
were
beginning
to
probe
the
question:
who
was
and
where
is
the
so-called
sixteen
year
old
girl
who
claimed
she
was
calling
from
the
nearby polygamist
community and
who
reported
substantial
personal
abuse
from
her
alleged
husband The
name
of
the
husband
was
given
by
the
complainant --
a
man
who
lives
in
Northern
Arizona
and
who
has
since
proven
to
the
satisfaction
of
Texas
authorities
that
he
has
not
been
in
the
Lone
Star
State
for
decades.
The
presumed
young
woman
apparently
gave
no
name
for
herself.
Now,
more
than
a
fortnight
later,
Texas
authorities
--
who
had
based
their
precipitous en
masse
raid
solely
on
the
foundation
of
an
anonymous
phone
call,
have
produced
no
complainant.
Some
days
later,
another
presumed
young
woman
made
a
similar
call
to
Arizona
authorities
claiming
abuse
at
Colorado
City,
but
apparently
also gave
no
name.
She
has
not
turned
up. The
Arizona officials
are,
to
put
it
mildly,
extremely
cautious.
Some
informed
speculation
now involves
the
possibility
that
both
calls
were
made
by
the
same
alleged
young
woman
and
that
she
was
operating,
not
from
or
around
any
polygamist
community
but,
instead,
from
another
location
entirely.
Some
are
wondering
if
"she"
even
exists
at
all. The
possibility
of "hoax"is
being
whispered.
And
the
question
of
"Why"
looms
close.
[On
that
one,
I
continue
to
think
about
the
attractive
church
landholding
in
Texas
-- a
plum.]
While
many
facts
remain
to
surface
in
this,
one
of
the
facts
that
stands
out
is
that
Texas
has,
in a
number
of
ways
become
enmeshed
in a
rapidly
growing
nightmare
which
has
moved
far
beyond
the
nightmare
its
authorities
have
visited
upon
the
polygamist
community.
["Inherit
the
wind"
for
Texas
seems
timely.]
Texas'
case
for
the
raids,
built
on
an
incredibly
flawed
warrant,
is
now
in
very serious
legal
[and
moral]
jeopardy.
Whatever
happens,
I am
certain
that
the
polygamists
will
survive
and
regain
their
perception
of
normalcy.
They've
been
around
for
a
very
long
time.
It
should
be
noted
that
their
creative
non-violence
warrants
study
by
anyone
committed
to
that
philosophy
and
practice.
For
my
part,
I've
endeavored
to
raise
the
Constitutional
and
human issues
involved
in
this
purely
awful
affair
and,
as
probably
the
only
person
on
any
of
these
lists
who
knows
something
from
close-up,
beginning
with
my
very
early
years, about
the
history
and
sociology
of
the
polygamist
folk
and
their
communalistic
communities, have
tried
to provide
some
of
this
for
list
readers.
Now,
with
mainline
media
finally
--
finally
--
beginning
to
cover
this
situation,
I'll most
likely be
posting
much
less
frequently
on
this.
Hunter's paragraph (copied below) on the reliability or existence of the
person who first reported (or not) the bad action prompts me to note some
legalistic thoughts I've been mulling about the application of the fourth
amendment.
Mostly, and emphatically for the reasons Hunter states, an uncorroborated
anonymous tip doesn't furnish the "probable cause" needed to search or seize
homes, people, and things. I say "mostly" because there's at least one
federal case, following one of the principles initiated by the Supreme Court
in the '80's as a part of that court's program to gut the fourth amendment,
that says if the cops tried unsuccessfully to corroborate the information
they can search anyway because they were acting in "good faith" (that's a
principle that a number of states have rejected in applying their own
constitutions' analog to the fourth amendment--yes, some "states' rights"
are beneficent).
Another reason for "mostly" is the principle that some emergencies ("exigent
circumstances" in legalese) dispense with some fourth amendment things that
are otherwise required. I'd need to look this up to be sure, but I don't
believe that calling it an emergency dispenses with the requirement that the
information that prompted that label meet the traditional standards of
reliability. If I'm wrong about this, substantial questions would remain as
to whether the information and the emergency applied to each one of those
400+ children and the innumerable other things and people seized and places
searched.
Hunter Bear: It was so refreshing to read your comments regarding the
raids in Texas and the 'land grab issue'. You are much more informed about
the southwest than I, but I sincerely appreciate your rational logic. There
is indeed extreme religious bigotry. One news commentator made a very
inappropriate reference about a "sexual bed" found within the worshipping
Temple! I was taken aback by this very irresponsible comment. I sincerely
was surprised by the legal analysis by the Utah State Attorney General. He
said this was a "cult" which treated women like the Mideast Taliban. That
the female members of the church were so timid that they did not realize
they were abused! Such mass hysteria was needlessly created.
Take care my professor friend and please keep on writing. I sincerely
appreciate your logic & reasoning.
(P.S., I always wished that I had the ability to write as you).
As ever, Dawn L. [Dawn is a Meskwaki Indian, of Iowa]
A WORD ON CRITICS AND THEIR REACTIONS TO MY CIVIL LIBERTARIAN POSITION [HUNTER BEAR] APRIL 15 2008
As any reader who has come this far is well aware, I have recently posted frequently and regularly on the horrific Texas raids. Early on, I encountered sharp and often personally snide remarks from a few women, and and an occasional man, who objected and resented my measured but candid position. Some of this reached a peak on the SNCC discussion list which includes people from the Southern Movement days, plus many scholars and others with no Old Movement connections. There were sharp attacks and criticisms of my position -- from these few people who obviously were taking the assessments of the Texas authorities and the lurid media accounts at face value. Here is a typical one, from Carol -- sent to individuals and to the SNCC list:
"Just sent both of you an email saying that I understand Mario's passion, and that he should keep on posting. If we are willing to put up with the tens of thousands of nonsensical rightwing lunatic postings from John Salter a/k/a hunter red rover gray "nut" bear and all of his other self rightous, completely self centered terms for himself, we can take Mario's one liners. In fact, they are refreshing." Carol
[I should add that I post only sparingly on the SNCC list. And this has to be the first time in my life that I've ever been called a "right winger." Perhaps that label stems from my commitment to the Second Amendment and the sensible use of firearms. H.]
Sam Friedman, who wrote an encouraging letter to me in the midst of this maelstrom, also wrote a reasoned letter to Carol.
Attorney Steve McNichols wrote this succinct missive when he was sharply criticized for supporting me:
"Hunter's my friend because I say he's my friend and--I believe--he feels the same way. Try your litmus test on someone else." And he wrote some other personally supportive ones as well.
Steven F. McNichols
268 Bush Street, #3602
San Francisco, CA 94104-3503
lawcenter@
Then a person named Mario, who I don't know and of whom I know little and who obviously didn't know me or my long sojourn in the Southern Movement, wrote a number of posts -- one of which attacked me directly:
And I immediately wrote an interesting letter to Mario, and then sent this post to a number of discussion lists where I am well known:
NOTE BY HUNTER BEAR: [APRIL 13 2008]
Yesterday, on the SNCC list, there were a number of exchanges -- most of them initially stemming from a very, very few women, who don't like my civil libertarian/civil rights stance on the FLDS church situation in Texas. But, early on, a guy named Ken Lawrence entered the situation with his usual series of ungrounded and very personal attacks on me, some of them outright untruths, all laced with innuendo. This has happened before on several occcasions and my consistent response to him is to simply post our web-page Link to our full and reasonably detailed account/analysis of the long and tangled Federal court case involving the files of the old Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission [the official "spy" agency in the Magnolia State.] I was one of the plaintiffs in that Federal civil action which was designed to determine how the files should be released. Lawrence, who was not in the Southern Movement during the '60s -- mostly in Chicago -- was an adversary in the matter. In a few moments, you'll have my Link to our webpage on that litigation and its collateral dimensions. While this was going on, Joyce Ladner, who we have known since the Tougaloo days, asked, reasonably enough, about the files and that back-and-forth with me moved along reasonably. Lawrence kept going -- even drawing in several mentions of our UFO interests and involvement. Again, he's done all of this before. In the midst of this, a good friend on this list sent me a kind off-list encouraging note. The "discussion" tapered off.
Later in the evening, someone named "Mario" who I don't know but who I think is from Texas, began a series of somewhat disjointed posts . . . He made some negative general aspersions about the present SNCC list and also attacked me. I am not sure at all that Mario was part of the core group of civil rights activists in the Deep South dimension of things. [I have since learned that he was not.] This battery of post-shots, stemming from Lawrence's posts . . . came to number 15 or so in rapid-fire succession. And one of those [was] obviously influenced by Ken Lawrence's distaste for me . . .
Steve McNichols immediately sent a strong post to the SNCC list in defense of me, [He also wrote several more in that genre.]
Mario then continued his posts which came to number, as I've indicated, to about 15 -- within less than an hour. When a woman on the list finally took exception to the number of posts, Mario took a swipe at her.
At that point, although I'd headed off to bed, I compiled this short response to Mario et al. and sent it twice [to be sure] to the SNCC list. Our website abounds with material regarding me and this is just a sampling of some high spots. It's a full answer, to which I have had as yet no response.
I encourage you to read it, if you have any interest in this, and check out the Links:
BRIEF LETTER TO "MARIO":
I don't think, Mario, that we have ever met. If you really do -- do -- have any concerns about me, I suggest you do several things:
1] Check out our long and quite accurate website page on the Sovereignty Commission situation. I've given its Link too many times today, probably, but here, once again: http://www.hunterbear.org/tangledsovcomcase.htm When you get to the bottom of the page, you will see many references to my Sov. Comm. documents. My name [and that of my wife] is accurately stated in many listings, a little garbled on others, etc -- but there are a fair number of listings. Obviously, those forces which listed me [and Eldri] were quite hostile to us and to our civil rights endeavors.
2] Then, you could go to the Mississippi Archives and History link to the Sov Comm pages -- and look at mine [and those few that relate to Eldri.]
3] And then, you could go to this website Link on which you can find a sequence of several of my Sov Comm documents. One page is a long investigative summary by several adversaries, including Tom Watkins, a key figure in and around the Commission's operations:
The several pages start here: http://hunterbear.org/more_mississippi_state_sovereign.htm
4] I secured, in the end, over 3,000 of my FBI documents via FOIA/PA -- and there were at least a hundred or more that have been refused me on the grounds of "national security." With this Link you can go to "Secret No More" to S http://www.newstrench.com/01secret/01secret.htm
And you will find this:
Salter, John R. Jr. HQ-1390002304
Salter, John R. Jr. HQ-0440022358
Salter, John R. Jr. HQ-1000433798
Salter, John R. Jr. HQ-1390005933
Salter, John R. Jr. HQ-1900026178
My files stretch from about 1957 to 1979 And I suspect there are many more by now. I was listed in Section A of the Reserve Index/Security Index and also on the Rabble Rouser Index. I like that. FBI pages, like some of my Sov Comm pages, are sprinkled throughout our very large Hunterbear website.
Well, I trust that will end your concerns in the vein in which you expressed them. If you -- or anyone else -- wishes to correspond with me, you can easily reach me at hunterbadbear@hunterbear.org I will be glad to hear from any friends.
Yours, Hunter Gray [Hunter Bear] Once known as John R Salter Jr.
None wrote to me. And, of course, I continue to post as always on those lists to which I belong. I have always "spoken my own piece" and always will.
HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR]
ANOTHER RELIGIOUS FREEDOM STRUGGLE [NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH] HUNTER GRAY/HUNTER BEAR
This is the mildly mescaline root from the mescal plant of the northern
Mexican highlands. Bitter tasting, it produces a dream-like, hallucinogenic
state -- actually very mild in nature. Until the latter 1800s, its usage in
what is now called the United States was restricted to the extreme southern
portions of the Southern Plains and Southwest and it was utilized nowhere
else.
But, to make my most basic point of all, peyote was always traditionally
used solely -- I repeat solely -- for carefully controlled religious
ceremonials. And that is universally the case among Native American people
today. It is never used for recreational purposes by the Indians. It is
sacramental.
The period from 1890 [and the Wounded Knee Massacre] into the 1930s was the
nadir -- the lowest point of all historically -- for Native people in the
United States. It was during this period, with the Native tribal religions
under relentless Federal attack, that the use of peyote -- as this very
special sacrament -- in essentially secret ceremonies, began to spread
northward through the Plains and across much of the Southwest, then into the
Great Lakes country and the Intermountain West. [It did not reach the East.]
Attacked with venom by the Federal government and most Christian missionaries
-- and sometimes by Native traditional leaders -- the peyote groups persevered
and eventually joined together in several loose associations which all carry the
name, Native American Church.
Two basic versions of the Peyote Faith emerged: The theology of the
Plains/Midwest/Lakes/parts of the Rockies -- in which many Christian
elements are mixed with the local tribal cultures [the Winnebago of Nebraska
and Wisconsin being a prime case in point]; and the Southwestern version
which almost completely reflects the particular tribal culture involved
[e.g., Navajo] and in which Christianity is quite minimal. In a great many
Native settings, of course, the traditional religions are doing very nicely
in their own right -- and one always finds, too, various Christian
denominations in Indian Country.
Although not an NAC member, I am familiar with the intricate NAC ritual
which begins at dusk on a Saturday night and concludes at dawn on Sunday
morning.
And again, peyote -- "a way to see and feel God" -- is always used with
great respect and under strict controls -- by all Native people.
The onset of FDR's New Deal era in 1933 included the Indian New Deal of John
Collier [backed up always by that most admirable human being, Eleanor
Roosevelt]. A major piece of the Indian New Deal was the reversal of the
generations-old Federal et al. policy -- happily unsuccessful owning to the
stalwart resistance and recalcitrance and tenacity of Indian people -- of
attempted assimilation [designed to break Federal treaty obligations and
secure remaining Indian land and resources.] Instead, the Indian New Deal
took the position -- quite rightly indeed! -- that Native tribal societies
and cultures are viable and vigorous entities which should be safeguarded
and enhanced. As part of this, Collier ended the Federal attacks on Native
religions -- including the Native American Church groups. [Many years later,
the 1978 Indian Religious Freedom Act strengthened all of this.]
But the Peyote Faith continued to face all sorts of trials and
tribulations -- and still does. In the late 1950s, Coconino County [my home
county] authorities out of Flagstaff arrested, on state anti-peyote
charges, a number of Navajo people who were performing a peyote ceremony on
state jurisdiction not far from the Reservation border. But, in 1960, a
local judge ruled in the case -- the Attakai decision -- that peyote use
was permissible because these were Indians using peyote for religious
purposes.
A major peyote case developed in North Dakota in 1984 -- in which I was
very deeply involved. State authorities seized John Warner [an Anglo] and
his wife, Frances [ a Mexican-American] on the Devils Lake Sioux Reservation
[Ft Totten], [now called the Spirit Lake Sioux] and confiscated a large
quantity of peyote from their home.
But these were the realities:
Both John [Jack] Warner -- who had been raised on the Reservation -- and his
wife were formal members of a local Native American Church congregation.
They had been received into the Church many years before by a prominent
peyote religious leader, Emerson Spider. The large quantity of peyote in
the Warner home was there because the Warners had been formally designated
by the Sioux congregation as the Keepers of the Sacrament.
Caught up in the Reagan drug/witch-hunt, Federal authorities immediately
took the case away from the state attorney general [a man less reactionary
than he was just plain ignorant], and charged the Warners with various
Federal felony crimes. They were released, against Federal wishes, on their
own recognizance. Mrs Warner was immediately fired from her state job as an
alcohol and drug counselor.
I -- the only Native professor at University of North Dakota [Grand
Forks] -- heard about this bizarre situation right away. I immediately
called the US Attorney, Rodney Webb, who was responsible. I had our very
capable Indian Studies secretary of that era, Carol Gourneau [Turtle
Mountain Chippewa] on another phone -- and Webb had one of his assistants on a
second phone on his end. We fought for an hour -- Carol often saying
through the years that she had never known before that how angry I could
get. I pointed out to Webb, again and again, that this was a gross
violation of the First Amendment, an obvious violation of the 1970 Federal
Drug Control Act which specifically exempts the religious use of peyote
[and says nothing about race], a clear violation of the Indian Religious
Freedom Act of 1978.
His position was that the Warners were non-Indian and had no right to use
peyote at any time or in any setting. [Mrs Warner, of course, as a person of
Mexican descent had obvious Indian ancestry.]
I told this US Attorney that he was putting the Federal government in a
position where it was trying to tell a church congregation [the local NAC
group at Ft Totten] just who it could have and not have as members: i.e.,
the US government was seeking to dictate Church membership policy.
He told me, "There are less than 20 people in that church."
And I told him, "Jesus started with fewer."
That ended that. I immediately organized a large defense committee --
Indian and non-Indian -- and served as its coordinator. With the help of an
ever-faithful colleague, Professor Doug Wills [Humanities], we sought and
secured major assistance from the national ACLU. Two courageous local
lawyers entered the fray -- Kevin Spaeth and David Thompson -- and ACLU sent
a top defense lawyer, Jud Golden, from Boulder. We spent weeks preparing the
defense: sought and secured top witnesses nationally -- including the
well-known anthropologist, Omer Stewart, from University of Colorado who,
although an Anglo, was himself an NAC member. A number of prominent Native
religious leaders readily agreed to come.
FBI agents were thick as fleas everywhere.
The Warner trial took place in US District Court at Grand Forks in late
October and early November, 1984. Judge Paul Benson -- who had presided at
Fargo over the Leonard Peltier frameup -- was in charge of this affair. The
prosecution was obviously confident.
The atmosphere -- many, many people [ Warner supporters, media, observers,
curious, witnesses] from all parts of the country -- was probably a little
like the Scopes Trial. Grand Forks was full of Indians. When the jury was
picked, we had twelve Anglos -- half of them Catholic and the other half
Lutheran.
[A faithful observer at the trial was Lisa Carney, then a UND student of
mine, and presently a member of this List.]
The testimony was fascinating -- a major education in Native theologies,
peyote, the Native American Church, conflicting Federal policies. The
testimony given by the Warners was so obviously sincere that even hostile
Judge Benson was visibly taken aback.
And defense constantly reminded the jurors that Catholics and Lutherans take
communion wine as a sacrament.
When the Jury received the case, they stayed out only long enough to get
supper-on-the-Feds. They then came back with a Not Guilty.
It was one of Rodney Webb's very few defeats. The Federal government, it
turned out, had spent a quarter of a million trying to convict the
Warners -- and the defense spent about half that [and was duly compensated
by the government.] Later, when prosecutor Webb was nominated for a Federal
judgeship, we strongly opposed this -- but got little support from a pliant US
Senate.
I wrote extensively about the Warner case in an article -- "Their Long
Travail" -- which was published by Liberty: A Magazine of Religious Freedom
[May/June 1986.]
We also helped Mrs Warner bring suit to regain her state job as an alcohol and
drug counselor. A conservative Federal judge, Pat Conmy [a Reagan appointee],
ruled in her favor -- but we lost at the Circuit level and lacked the resources
to carry the case to the US Supreme Court.
The Warners survived. It was tough for them -- but the basic victory was
sweet.
Since then, although it remains on pretty safe ground, there have been new
legal conflicts around peyote -- but this great sacrament, always used
carefully under very controlled circumstances in the Native religious
settings -- continues to bring as many as 300,000 Native people in the United
States "very close to God."
Hunter [Hunter Bear]
HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /St. Francis
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'