Restless Spirit: The Murder of Eddie
Peltier
A True Story By Cat West |
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Write to me if you have any thoughts you'd like to share, information you want me to have or a correction to any information you see here. I respond to all emails. CAT NOTE: I reserve the right to NOT respond to whack jobs that waste my time.
Even if you don't live on the Rez, it's your money, YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK. You owe it to yourself to peek in once in awhile and see what you are paying for Texas Monthly Magazine has done a feature on this case. Read the October, 2006 Issue. OR, go to the online version. Michael Hall went to the rez and saw for himself. |
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NOTE: New feature for the site will be an overview of cases of murdered and missing in Indian Country. If you have a case that you want posted, contact me and I will tell you what I need to be able to post. -Cat Please read up and follow the "Bring Paula Home" story and help a woman who has dedicated herself to helping Indian People survive and prevent Diabetes. Links on that page take you to her site. Special thanks to my friend, Denis Campbell Updated:Nov 1, 2009 February 26, 2010 --Printer
Version (4) Yes, still waiting for someone, preferably at the Tribal Council level, but anyone official will do, to give me an official response to the commotion going on over the Wind Farm Project. I have received a very good response, and I would want that to be true, but I am not going to pass it on unless it is vouched for, officially. Otherwise, someone is just telling me a great story because they know I want to believe it. Again, none of this would happen if there was someplace that the Tribal Members could go to that was a clearing house for the information they need in order to decide for themselves, issues that are relevant to their community and to their lives. I know, the TC is presently in Las Vegas. I still say that is tacky. I still say they need to disclose ALL their expense reports and how every dime of Tribal money is spent on these excursions. Y'all may feel like Big Boys and Girls, but you are forgetting that you are answerable to your Members--all of them. If there was a Bachelor &/or Bachelorette party held on this excursion, whomever okayed that needs to explain themselves, publicly, and apologize. I say "IF" because, unless all the expenses are presented for everyone to see, no one really knows what goes on, and to where the money goes. Given the many decades that the Tribal Council has treated Tribal Funds like their own private piggy bank, that broken trust is not yet rebuilt. It takes real work. Speaking of Piggy's Bank Again, I repeat: Suicides don't just happen. The system has to fail, repeatedly, for it to be possible. Presently, anyone on the rez that is having serious mental or emotional issues, have no place to go. Piggy Cavenaugh, who has no qualifications, and who has, for her own benefit, breached the confidentiality of clients--repeatedly, and sabotaged those who were qualified by breaking into their files and exposing their clients to risk-- is clearly the worst part of the broken road out there. No one has anywhere to go where they can feel safe and find healing. Everyone pays the price for her working in a position for which she is not only NOT qualified, but which she uses to gain information against the most vulnerable out there. Until she is gone, you can lay every suicide at her door. Dead Man Bingo Continues
There were various "He was terrified of Needles...only took pills" and "He was known to use needles after he ground up the pills..." So, I think we know to whom he was related and how. I think we can figure out that April was not "Thrown in Jail," ... And again, everyone I have heard from that knew him, liked him. Drugs are killing people out there. Pills are not safe. People who are addicted need help. REAL HELP. They need to be able to access help, professional help, and not feel like every detail they disclose in confidence will be used against them by Piggy Cavenaugh and her family. Addiction is hard enough to heal from when all the best people and treatments are in place. Addicts have a hard time dealing with life to begin with, and it's worse as their addictions escalate. Not having anywhere to go, to not have any safe place to go to begin to heal, narrows the options until there are no options... suicide and death by OD are happening all too frequently out there. Send Mark Longie's demise right to Piggy's door also. She's taking the money, while those who could, if they had the right people and services in place, heal; are taking their lives. Piggy's handiwork is obvious out there. She's driving the tribal cars all over the place, running personal errands, and taking your money, while your graveyard is filling up, with people you used to love. It's filling up with people who needed help, and got tribal politics instead. Pillsbury Doughgirl Too many emails have been coming in over the years for me to ignore this one. Especially since Lisa Greywater was last time, a candidate for Tribal Council. Lisa runs the Smoke Shop at the Casino. She's the one with the knee pads and is a frequent flier in Poopsie's Private Office. Well, sometimes he has other people there, but in general, she earns her keep and gets new knee pads as these wear out. No, her runny, red nose is not from 'allergies'. She is becoming more and more obvious in her addiction to pills. She has never been drug tested. Poopsie puts in the names of those who will be randomly tested and her name is never entered, so it is never drawn. Yeah, so, she can keep her job. Here's how her pill addiction works: Keep in mind, these are pain pills. I guess her knees are giving her problems?
So, her addictions are going ignored, and the system she uses to score her pills and pay for them is actually ripping off the casino, which is, again, money out of your pockets. Well, not really. Not like Poopsie shares any of the revenues from the Casino with the Tribe. That is HIS Piggy Bank! And Lisa is his pet. Her telling all her problems to S. C. might just be as close as she can come to reaching out for help in dealing with her addictions. It won't do any good. There is nowhere for her to go. Who is she going to seek help from? Piggy and her family? Where can she go? So, she is going to get away with this, until it is her turn in the box. Until it's her turn to be buried. Until then, she pawns her stuff, her kids stuff, and makes excuses for things that are missing. She plays that game of putting things on her account, which she never pays off, and her nose is constantly draining. Pills, Pills, Pills. Pawn, steal, pretend. The game will end the way it always ends. It doesn't matter if you are liked or not. It doesn't matter if Poopsie prevents you from getting tested, losing your job. You have nowhere to go. Yeah, she wants to run for office again. Poopsie has promised to back her again. She is so easy to control. Want to see her ears perk up? Shake a bottle of pills in your pocket when you walk by her. She'll follow you anywhere! Until she can't anymore. When that time comes, I am sure, we can play Deadgirl Bingo. Then again, this blog will probably scare her so bad, she gets help. Let me guess: She'll go to Piggy's Palace? You know where to find me. ~Cat
February 20, 2010 ---Printer
Version (3) I have received a response to the Wind Farm Issue. It is a good one and it gives me much hope for the Wind Farm to survive. However, I need to get an official response, in writing (email will do) from either the Tribal Council or from someone closely connected to the Project itself, willing to put their name on it, so that I can share that information with the rest of you. It's a complex issue at the best of times, and these are not the best of times. The People of Spirit Lake need to have accurate information on this so they can judge for themselves how it is going and they can see where the problems are, when problems are encountered. Just doing everything behind closed doors and then not issuing any progress reports or event reports when things happen, is leaving the door wide open for both misinformation and mistrust. The Tribal Council has a piss poor record out there. Even the new Tribal Council, which unfortunately, still has the most corrupt of the previous in place. Those who broke the trust are still in place. The people have a right to be wary given the past practices and behaviors of their tribal council. It is now up to this tribal council to regain and re earn that trust. Viva Las Vegas The Las Vegas trip is still a big issue. Given that Walking Chicken Poop has property there, under various renditions of the spelling of his name(s). He purchased them all with Tribal Funds. He is known to gamble out there, has lines of credit at a couple of casinos, all of which then become the debt of the Tribe. Anytime there is a Tribal Council sponsored trip to Las Vegas (or Florida), you can bet that he has pockets full cash and blank checks. He's considered a "Whale" in V-Town. Now, here comes more:
So, find a way to clear this up. Open up the books and the expense accounts and show the people where the money is going. I am not here to spin rumors. I am here to show you what is already being said out there. Now, everyone sees it. Those who can prove it wrong, step up. You can't expect people to trust a Tribal Council with a recent past and two of the most corrupt in place, just on blind faith. Broken Trust needs to be mended. That takes work. If it means answering a lot of 'rumours'-- so be it. If it means changing the practices of the Tribal Council -- so be it. People have not been treated fairly out there. The murderers you allow to run every aspect of tribal life and funds out there. Until they are held accountable for their crimes, expect there will be mistrust. And keeping the blog blocked does nothing to make anyone trust you more. Dead Man Bingo The information on both who Mark Longie was related to and where his body was found, continues to get stranger and stranger. Apparently, people out there don't know who is related to whom. Someone in this mix may have it right. I give you the information, you sort it out. Email 1:
Followed immediately by: Email 2:
So, he was or was not related to April, and somehow, in all of this she was (or was not) arrested. Nothing about Mark's death makes sense. Nothing. Given that April is related to the Turdclan and their first solution to every problem is murder, even their own family members are not safe, I would hope if this did happen in Devil's Lake that they are processing every aspect of the scene, Mark's connections and his family's connections. No one, even those who talk about his drug addiction, have had a bad word to say about him. I know, it will probably go the way they all do, just another dead Indian. I just hope that they at least try in this case. I would not be at all surprised if Mark's body and circumstances of his death all changes again. I'm just getting a little weary of Dead Man Bingo. For The Love of Horses No animal with the exception of the Buffalo, has the connection to Indian People as does the horse. Horses help us to connect to our spirit and to learn our strengths. They bring out the best in us. There is a program out there to bring the youth and horses together, and help them to learn strength and dignity, self-respect through respect for life and respect for others. Horses don't just trust anyone. You have to earn their respect. Victor Camp, the young man that took himself out of this world last week, loved horses. They responded to him. It was a magical connection. I don't know what drove him to forget who he was for that desperate time, but I do know that they buried him now, and somewhere a horse is missing its rider. Oh, and now hearing that there is one, possibly two more deaths? Something has to change out there. A lot has to change out there. Watch where you step, there are bones everywhere. You know where to find me. ~Cat February 18, 2010 --Printer
Version (2) I am told that I will be receiving an email with a point by point rebuttal to what I have posted about the Wind Farm. That my source is, despite being close enough to know, waaaay off the mark. That there has been some major confusion on what is and what is not going on with the Wind Farm. The Good News on that is this: If what comes to me later is true, it means the Wind Farm is still on and still on track. That there have been some changes in either suppliers or contractors, but that the project itself is still on track. I will post the information when I get it. I hope it is true. I'd rather be wrong about the previous posts on the wind farm, than right. If I am wrong, it was a mistake and I apologize. If I am wrong, it means that something bigger than any other venture ever out there, is still alive and the people will still have both the prospects for a better future, careers and Tribal Income, than ever before. So, stay tuned on that one. Correction: Mark Longie Death I am told now that his sister is NOT April Longie St. Pierre. That her name is Becky and she lives at the Fort. It was her basement. Still, it is suspicious. Not that it could not happen that way, just that it seems out of character with what I had been told about this guy previously. Typically, people with a fear of needles don't become mainliners in their drug habits. It can happen, it is just not likely. I am trying to see if he is in some way connected to all this garbage that is going on at the school, or not. Everyone so far has said that Mark Longie was a likeable guy. Sad part is that since it happened on the rez, and not in Devil's Lake, the investigation will be a joke. Weenie Boy & QBall Some of you have heard only rumors of those two being fired. Some of you have heard that there is an investigation into QBall's bizarre behaviors and his threatening people over drugs and money. Let's hope there is an investigation. Let's hope they are both fired. And Fire Weenieboy's secretary-- she's been covering up for him for decades. Corruption only works if you let it. In this case, you have been paying for it for decades. I don't know if they are fired or not, but, why not enjoy for now at least, the prospect of that. Sit Tight So, everyone, sit tight and stay tuned. I will get the information to you as soon as I can. The Blog is not perfect. Never claimed to be. Like I say at the top: If you have corrections to anything, send em. That is how we get the most relevant information out there. I am so looking forward to a time when the Tribe has its own website doing daily postings on information so that I don't have to do that part. But, without a single reliable source for the Tribe, and because the corruption succeeds best and most often where there is NO source of information, and the people have to rely on rumors and gossip, this Blog remains the only clearinghouse for information relevant to your lives and decisions, individually and as a community. You deserve much better. But until you get something better... You know where to find me. ~Cat February 17, 2010 ---Printer
Version (3) I'm getting a lot of information in, and frankly, I'd like you all to tell me what you are hearing. I am told that two major things:
Wouldn't it be great though? I mean, if the Tribal Council was to have fired those two and the FBI was to have found the political will to investigate itself? I know, I know. Just let me enjoy this a little longer. Okay, start those emails. Burst my bubble. Another One Bites The Dust Mark Longie, age 56, found dead in his sister's Devil's Lake basement. His sister, April Longie, who is a member of the Turdclan, and who herself, has been robbing the tribe, double and triple dipping, is probably heart broken. As is everyone when their family member dies, especially when it is drug related. I am told he had a needle in his arm. Looks like someone gave him a "hot shot"? I don't know. Details are hard to come by. By all accounts, Mark was a likeable enough of a guy. Drugs and addictions touch everyone's life. The Good, the Bad and the Corrupt. Only thing is, when it is the family member of the corrupt, I don't know if I should feel more or less pity. They are the ones that bring it to everyone. So, I guess I feel more Pity for them. Where others are victims of theirs, these greedy, corrupt people bring it on themselves. The whole Yankton Family stinks of corruption. They have made their fortune off of robbing the tribe: The young, the Elders, the whole community. They have made their fortune by bringing in the drugs and the alcohol. They have made their fortune by draining all hope of a better life out of the tribe and into their own pockets. They killed your wind farm and are keeping the money for their own amusement. They are still robbing you. Now, someone they care about gets carried to the spiritworld by all the gears they put in place to rob the tribe. Oh well. I'm sure they will get over it. But I do wonder about that needle. I had heard many stories about Mark Longie over the years. All of them were Pill Popping and alcohol, nothing was a needle. So, did he advance in his behaviors all of a sudden? I hear he was terrified of needles. Something about the way he died doesn't look right from here. Not that we will ever get any answers on that. I bet that the Tribal Police are moving as fast as they can to make sure the Devils Lake PD don't get in there and investigate. I guess, overall, just another dead Indian, so it really doesn't matter. Just another mystery walking to the cemetery. I would feel bad for April except for this: If you are the one robbing the community of hope and fair play, I guess you can't be too surprised when some of that futility spills over on your own loved ones. Everyone show up and give her a hug. Maybe she'll give you a few dollars. Maybe she'll steal a little less. Or, maybe nothing will change. Do keep me posted on the details as you find them. I will add them and update you all. Get In Gear Pay attention, boys and girls, this is the future your parents are leaving for you. Get out if you can. Stay sober if you can. The rest of you, pay attention: No one will clean up the mess for you. You have to work together. You have to keep working together, even when there are failures, betrayals and even when there are victories--the work is never done. You must keep working, to come together and find a way to make the changes out there that will help the next generation to dig out of the messes that corruption and apathy have laid upon you all. You need GOOD candidates to run against NLO and Walking Eagle. No point in replacing them if the new ones are just as corrupt. Find amongst yourselves, GOOD People and work to support them and work to get them elected and then work to keep them honest. It's time the Tribal Council worked FOR YOU, and not just take your money for their own amusement--in Vegas of all places! Get a financial accounting. Get every check ever written. Demand a forensic audit. Somebody explain to me how the Tribal Council shuts down the Wind farm but has spent over $900K on the Bus To Nowhere and somehow found $3 Million for the Casino to get renovated. How did that happen? Yet, not a dime for the Windfarm? The wind farm, which has already generated $500K for the Tribal Council in the form of Federal Grants. I just don't get it. Do you? You know where to find me. ~Cat February 15, 2010 --Printer
Version (4) When an Elder passes away, we lose all that was left unsaid and untaught by that Elder. A lot of Elders these days, are not listened to or don't even begin to share all the stories, the oral histories that were taught to them by their Elders. They know they won't be listened to. They tell me "I live in a world I do not recognize anymore." They tell me of the disrespect by the young towards them, towards one another, and worse, towards their own children and life itself. They feel, so they have told me, "Like we are vanishing from this place." Every Elder, with few exceptions, contains in their memory, stories and information on how things were, what medicines were used and how, and who is related to whom in history, in other tribes... They know the songs, and how they came about. They know so much... And when they pass on, all that remains untold and not taught, is lost.
Eighty-three is a fairly long life. I have had so many emails from people, people I have not heard from in years, people I have never heard from before this, talking about her. She was valued, loved. Her family is most fortunate that they had her as long as they did. The community is fortunate that they had her as long as they did. The Killing Of Dreams But the Hopes and Dreams reside in the Future, Right? Look around. The Future is carried by the young. The Young who have been taught the history, the stories, the songs and the ways by the Elders. But that is not happening. I hear and see, too many of the young are destroying themselves with drugs and alcohol, and destructive behaviors. Too many of the young have no self-respect and no coping skills for dealing with life. More and more, all that is visibly working on the rez is violence. Don't like someone? Attack them. Put them down. Assault them. Ridicule them. Ridicule everything they do. Make their life a living hell. Whatever it is you don't like in someone who has done nothing to you, is most often not about them. It is about you. You see something in yourself that you do not like and you don't know how to cope or deal with it, so you do what you were taught: You blame others. You misdirect your anger at a softer target. Kids grow up and they learn from abusive households, addicted or absent parents, and from schools that function solely on the favoritism scale. They learn they will not be treated fairly, but they only see that violence works. No coping skills. No one is ever held accountable. Self Esteem withers. Later, faced with a situation that is difficult, and not possessing coping skills and no one to intervene, the quickest and only solution again--becomes violence. Suicide is violence. And the rez has seen too many suicides, too many young suicides. I got this one last Tuesday:
Apparently, he gave no indication that he was going to go and blow his head off that day. He was, some say, upset with a break up with his woman. Misdirected anger in that there had to be something much more serious going on, but that could not be dealt with, so—suicide. It just looks like it was about a break up. Break ups happen. Everyone has been dumped at one point in their life. How did this escalate to a crisis? Because violence is the answer to everything. Suicide is aimed right at the heart of everyone that loves you. Those who don't love you don't care. Those who do, are left with the devastating aftermath. Waiting until there is a crisis before beginning the process of teaching coping skills, understanding, is obviously too late and too bad. The process needs to begin as part of the early communications and socialization skills start developing--before they are out of diapers. I don't know if he has in fact, passed on. I know that his family was by his bedside at the hospital and it was not looking good. (I have been away from my computer for almost a week, so have missed some of the details.) So, if someone doesn't like someone, they can't ignore them, they have to grind them down to nothing. If someone breaks up with their partner, suicide. The Future is dying off. The Future is fading from view. There are too few programs out there to reach kids and pull them into perspective of what life is and how serious problems can be handled. A fundamental process needs to change, from the ground up, the top down and from the inside out. Programs are not enough. The young, from very early on, need to be engaged with, watched over and taught they have value. They need to be taught by everyone they encounter: Parents, teachers, and those who run the vital aspects of homes, jobs, schools. Allowing the corrupt to own key positions in these places has, for far too long, taught the young that they are meat. Just meat. Watching a high-risk sex offender like Little Joe Alberts, pose with a bouquet of little children while the local paper made a cute little caption, should sicken everyone. That man should not be allowed around children, much less made to be a part of special moments in their lives. You know they cannot defend themselves. You know they are in danger. And yet, there was the photo. All the kids smiling as he sat there and posed with them. Kids smile when you tell them too. After awhile, they don't. They don't smile at all anymore. Something happens. Something small. Something that would normally simply annoy or hurt their feelings... and then, without warning, it goes crisis and there is a bedside vigil. The corrupt, the violent, the abusers, they are the ones running things out there. Are you really surprised that the kids are into meth? Indiscriminate sex? Violence? Crime? Are you really surprised when they blow their head off? Killing The Future Well, it appears that the Wind farm has been ---taken away from you. Just like that. Soon as the Tribe got the $500K grant money from the Feds, they used that to hire a law firm to bust the contract so they don't have to build it. The tribe hired a law firm all the way out in Wisconsin. The law firm is doing a hatchet job on all your hopes and dreams. The Tribal Council is saying they don't have the money to pay the people who have already done the work. They handed out pink slips on Friday. Canned it all. Funny, they can't afford to pay their bills, but they can hire a law firm in Wisconsin to fire everyone? Wow, I know your Tribal Council is feeling bad about this. That's why they are all headed to Las Vegas. They get to take friends and family with them. Oh Yeah! Your dreams may be dead, but there are blank checks and crap tables waiting for that Walkingeagle and his pals to show up and play. Tell me, how do you justify 35 people going to Las Vegas at a time when you say there is not enough money to pay the bills? NLO and Walking Chicken found it easy to corrupt Paul and Darwin. Almost too easy. Oh, did they not mention at the last General Assembly that they were killing the Wind Farm? They will string it along to get more grant money and Federal Loans, but there will be no one around to actually put it together, so it will fail, and they will shrug their shoulders. Well, at least they told you about taking 35 People to Las Vegas, right? I didn't think so. Let's see if we can get everyone's names and see if they want to justify how they can do this. I'm sure there is a really good reason for it. Darwin controls the checks. Wow. Time to look into that kids. You might want to recall him. Oops, there is no one to replace him except someone worse. I hear he allows drugs to be dealt out of his house. Wow, being elected to a position of responsibility and real importance, for the first time in his life, means -- nothing. So, I know there are decent people out there. I know there are qualified people out there. Find them, talk to them and support them. You need people who are going to help the rez to heal and to prosper. You do not want people who raid it like it is their private piggy bank. Yeah, no wonder they don't want the blog to be accessible out there. They do have a lot to be afraid of. While you are trying to figure out if it is important enough to put in the effort, time and time again, ask yourself this one question: "Which is harder? Working to clean up the rez? Or digging my child's grave?" Pick up a ballot or carry a shovel with you at all times. Get involved. You are already involved. I'm building a new Thistles page. I'll tell you when it is done. So, send those pictures now if you want them included. You know where to find me. ~Cat
February 4, 2010 --Printer
Version (1) I guess your overpaid webmasters for the Tribe's website still can't let you know when there are meetings. So, here is the info so far. General Assembly Tuesday, February 9, 10:00 AM I know. I know. They will probably change that a dozen more times. So make sure you know where to start hunting down the General Assembly meetings. And, while you are at it, tell them to fire your so-called MIS Director and MIS Technician, Marshall DeMarce and Brooke "Drunk-as-a-Skunk" Yankton. They are the ones that are supposed to at the very least, have a website that informs the tribe of when meetings are held or rescheduled. We will resume our regularly Scheduled Blogging next week. You know where to find me. ~Cat
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