Violence against women, the life givers, is not traditional. Mental, physical, and sexual abuse against indigenous women is rampant throughout our communities. Our sister, Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, suffered all of those brutal indignities in the last 36-hours of her life. Even at the last, as she was forced to kneel before her executioners, her thoughts were not for herself, her thoughts and prayers were for her daughters. Anna Mae is an indigenous mother still. How do we know what happened to Anna Mae? Because IWJ members were silent witnesses who are silent no more. We hear you, our sister, Anna Mae, and no longer will we be silenced by fear. No longer will we let our traditional ways that our ancestors fought and died to preserve, be abused, cheapened, and despoiled by those who only wish to divert attention from what they did to Anna Mae. The Indigenous Women for Justice hereby challenge John Boy Graham to take a polygraph conducted by an independent examiner. If John Graham truly had nothing to do with the murder of Anna Mae, and he is, as he claims, innocent and has been wrongly indicted for her murder, the IWJ see no reason why he would not consent to a polygraph, for if he is truly innocent, what does he have to fear?

Indigenous Women for Justice do not believe that a young Indian mother's life is expendable. Anyone who thinks that stepping forward for Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash is wrong, must, by association, believe that a young Indian mother's life is expendable. If strong, indigenous women had not stepped forward, those who murdered Anna Mae would never have had to answer for her death, and those who conspired to kill her would have continued to profit from her name, adding insult to injury, and making a mockery of the justice her daughters seek. Debbie and Denise, Annie Mae's daughters, have suffered the greatest pain; it was their mother who was murdered, and if they wish to see their mother's killers tried in the criminal justice system, who has the right to deny them that? The IWJ stands with and honors the brave-hearted women who have found the courage to be witnesses for Anna Mae.

With all of the controversy, propaganda, and intimidation that has surrounded Anna Mae's death, if this case can be resolved then it might provide hope for others who lost loved ones during that era, and who are still awaiting closure. If Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash's life is expendable, where does it end? Are we to believe that the lives of all young Indian mother's are expendable? Or should we just accept that a handful of men associated with AIM have the right to decide who lives or dies, and that it's okay to take an Indian woman's life as long as her executioners are Indian? The IWJ do not believe that Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash's life is expendable; we do not believe that any woman's life is expendable. This isn't a battle between what's left of AIM and the FBI, this is a struggle to bring justice for one of our sisters who was kidnapped, brutalized, and murdered.

To be a member of the Indigenous Women for Justice you don't have to carry a banner, or march down Main Street, or participate in any action that creates fear of persecution or retribution; membership to the IWJ is in your heart and through your prayers. Violence against women is not traditional and the Indigenous Women for Justice urges Canada to extradite John Graham to face trial for the charge on which he is indicted, the first-degree murder of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash.

[Note: The IWJ is a unity sisterhood of women from the indigenous nations located in what is commonly called the United States and Canada. The IWJ can be contacted at: sisters@indigenouswomenforjustice.org

It is not traditional to execute a woman; this was a gangland style murder and therefore Annie Mae's killers are facing the traditional form of criminal justice most gangland criminals face. Her killers and conspirators had over a quarter of a century to take a traditional path - to go to Annie Mae's family and tell them what happened; admit to taking her life, and then offer some form of restitution, and ask for forgiveness. That is the traditional Lakota way, and Annie Mae was murdered on the Oglala Lakota Nation. Annie Mae's killers never did that, and showed no sign of doing that. Instead, denial after denial was issued, misinformation was fed to everybody from Robert Redford to Peter Matthiessen, and some of those who participated in the events that culminated in her murder took starring roles in documentaries about her life and times. The lies and contradictions fed upon each other until, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the June 26, 1975, firefight at the Jumping Bull's property in Oglala, the head of AIM "Security and Intelligence," Vernon Bellecourt, stood at Annie Mae's grave and decried the journalists who were trying to investigate her murder and uncover the truth. Bellecourt used the cemetery where she lay as a stage to deny that he, his brother, or anybody associated with AIM had been involved in Annie Mae's murder. Once again, this time at her graveside, Vernon Bellecourt attempted to exploit Annie Mae, a woman who in life he had called a "pig."

"That really ticked me off, Vernon labeling me an informant. He didn't even know me. Why did he label me that? And up to this day I've never confronted him to ask him, "Why did you name me as an informant?" When I realized what had happened to Anna Mae – she was quiet, pretty much a woman that kept to herself; she was reserved. I didn't know her as well as the women in Oglala. But when she was killed, what came to mind, and it still comes to mind, is that if people hadn't known me, I probably would have been "offed" too, somewhere along the way, with the AIM leaders' directives." ...JoAnn Tall's complete interview