Anti-Indian Conference

Intercontinental Cry

By Jay Taber

Apr 10, 2013

As the registration form for the conference states, the conference was for learning about how to fight American Indian fee to trust, casino gambling, water rights, land acquisitions and sovereignty. CERA vice chair Butch Cranford of Plymouth, California and CERA board member Elaine Willman from Hobart, Wisconsin were featured speakers at the Bellingham conference on Federal Indian Policy Issues.

Broadcasting live from the April 6 CERA conference on Far-Right Christian Anti-Indian Radio KGMI, Willman characterized tribes as casino bullies who now want half the water, stating that the only way to stop them is to strengthen states’ rights and private property rights and get rid of Federal Indian Policy.

Philip Brendale, another speaker at the April 6 CERA conference in Bellingham, has considerable experience fighting tribal sovereignty, as evidenced by this U.S. Supreme Court case against Yakama Indian Nation. Brendale is noted in this article from the Klamath River Basin water dispute, as is Elaine Willman. Interviewed on the same live radio broadcast with Willman, Brendale said tribal fishing rights should be eliminated, along with other treaty rights.

On a November 3, 2012 KGMI broadcast about Native American tribes, Willman distorted American Indian treaty history beyond recognition, stating that their special, taxpayer-funded, race-based perks allow them to, “confiscate natural resources.” Not satisfied with calling for the elimination of tribal sovereignty, Willman went on to state that, “Tribalism is socialism [and] has no place in our country!”

Brendale’s wife is a lobbyist and media expert with Eagle Forum, a Far-Right Christian organization. This phenomenon of Free Market, Far-Right Christian Indians used by white supremacists for cover in subverting tribal sovereignty is a sad but true aspect of American political insanity.

Using Indians who oppose tribal sovereignty as speakers is a key strategy of CERA, giving them cover from accusations of being white supremacist. As Brendale admits in this video where he was helping to fight the Nisqually Tribe, his mission is to, “take down federal Indian policy.”

Reverend Tom Grey is an anti-gambling missionary. He might have been the Tom Grey who was listed as a speaker at the CERA conference in Bellingham.

Lana Marcussen, CERA legal counsel, asserts destroying tribal sovereignty is a civil rights struggle to free the Indians. As this article shows, she is a states’ rights, anti-sovereignty advocate. She has been active in fighting tribes in California.

The local organizers for the Anti-Indian conference were CERA board member Tom Williams of Lynden, Washington and Skip Richards, a Bellingham consultant with a twenty-year history of Anti-Indian organizing as both a property-rights advocate and a collaborator with Christian Patriot militias. His photo on his LinkedIn page is from a militia recruiting meeting he hosted at the Laurel Grange in October 1994.

Richards got his start as a merchant of fear in the early 1990s when he was a paid field agent provocateur of the Building Industry Association, which had teamed up with the Washington Association of Realtors to undermine Washington State’s Growth Management Act. From 1992 to 1996, the industry funded and organized field agent provocateurs who went on a rampage inciting vigilantism against Native Americans and environmentalists in 14 counties, culminating in the arrest and conviction of eight individuals on federal firearms and explosives charges.

Sometimes the spear-carriers, those who believe the hoax and get excited enough to threaten opponents, are looking for a windfall economic opportunity. But the only ones who usually profit from these hate campaigns are the social movement entrepreneurs and their industry backers. What you’ll often see in their aftermath is a rightward or criminal shift in public policy rules and regulations as a result of the consolidation or seizure of political power. In a July 1996 High Country News interview, Skip Richards stated the two things he needed to know in politics were, “who to threaten and who to bribe.”

The other local Anti-Indian activist on the event billing was Marlene Dawson, a realtor on the Lummi Indian Reservation who in the 1990s lobbied Congress to cancel funding for Lummi Head Start for their kids as well as elder care programs as a way to punish the tribe for asserting jurisdiction over water usage on the reservation.

For background on Richards, readers might find the following Public Good Project special reports useful.

Reign of Terror
Common Sense About the Richards Militia Controversy
Militia and CLUE Activity in Whatcom and Snohomish Counties
Skip Richards’ Years of Contact with Christian Patriot Militias
Wise Use in Northern Puget Sound
A Not So Distant Mirror

Anti-Indian Organizations in Washington State

CAPR Citizens Alliance for Property Rights http://www.proprights.org/

CDFE Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise http://www.cdfe.org/

CERA Citizens Equal Rights Alliance http://www.citizensalliance.org/

CERF Citizens Equal Rights Foundation

CSE Citizens for Safety and Environment

EFF Evergreen Freedom Foundation http://myfreedomfoundation.com/

IJ Institute for Justice http://www.ij.org/wa

ONU One Nation United

PEP Private Enterprise Project http://pepwashington.com/

WFB Washington Farm Bureau http://www.wsfb.com/

WPC Washington Policy Center http://www.washingtonpolicy.org/

Anti-Indian Roster by State

Arizona

Tony Bowman, Holbrook–CERF

GB Saucerman, Phoenix–CERA

Dennis Williams, Fort Defiance–CERA

California

Butch Cranford, Plymouth—CERA

Rheba Hewitt, San Bernardino—ONU

Wally J Leimgruber, El Centro–ONU

Chip Worthington, Rohnert Park—ONU

Connecticut

Nicholas H Mullane, North Stonington–ONU

Florida

Frank Messersmith, Crawfordville–ONU

Idaho

John Furbee, Harrison–ONU

Daniel M Johnson, Nez Perce–ONU

Illinois

Rich Porter, Paxton–ONU

Massachusetts

Carol Kelly, Plymouth—CERA

Kim Shea, Carver–CERA

Minnesota

Clare Fitz, Onamia–CERF

Howard B Hanson, Minneapolis—CERA

Montana

Chris Kortlander, Garyowen–CERA

Nebraska

Naomi Brummond, Roselie—CERA

Joel Lamplot, Pender–CERA

New Mexico

Charlotte Mitchell, Jemez Pueblo—CERA

New York

Judy Bachman, Vernon—CERA

Richard Tallcot, Union Springs—CERA

Jerry Titus, Little Valley—CERA

David Vickers, Erieville—ONU/UCE

Ohio

Dick Platfoot, Wapakoneta–ONU

Oklahoma

Larry Boggs—ONU

Mike Cantrell–ONU

Marla R Peek, Oklahoma City–ONU

LeeAnn Ragains, Kingfisher—CERA

Mickey Thompson–ONU

Oregon

David Jacques, Winston–ONU

South Dakota

Jim Petik, Keldron—CERA

Darrell Smith, Mobridge–CERF

Washington

Jackie Allen, Toppenish—CERA

Elizabeth A Campbell, Seattle—ONU

Janet Devlin—CSE

Trent England–EFF

John Fleming–GOP

George Garland, Gig Harbor—ONU

Paul Guppy—WPC

Steve Hammond–CAPR

James Johnston, Oak Harbor–ONU

Kim Halvorson, Marysville—ONU

Tom and Carol Lewis–ONU

Barbara Lindsay, Tacoma—ONU

Fairalee Marcusen–ONU

Linda Matson—ONU/PEP

William Maurer–IJ

Tom and Patty Mitchell, Marysville–ONU

Alan Montgomery, Seattle—ONU

Glen Morgan—EFF

Doug Olson–ONU

Kent Pullen–ONU

Cynthia Rasmussen, Port Ludlow–ONU

Marilyn Sherry, Normandy Park—ONU

Dennis Swanson—CSE

Brent Warwick—CSE

Dan Wood—WFB

Bob Williams–EFF

Tom Williams, Lynden—CERA

Lyle Zeller–CSE

Wisconsin

Curt Knoke, Gresham—CERA/CERF

Marianne D Pender, Keshena–ONU

Scott Seaborne, Neenah—CERA

Nancy Smeleer, Menominee–ONU

Elaine Willman, Hobart—CERA

Legend

CAPR Citizens Alliance for Property Rights

CERA Citizens Equal Rights Alliance

CERF Citizens Equal Rights Foundation

CSE Citizens for Safety and Environment

EFF Evergreen Freedom Foundation

GOP Republican Party

IJ Institute for Justice

ONU One Nation United

PEP Private Enterprise Project

UCE Upstate Citizens for Equality

WFB Washington Farm Bureau

WPC Washington Policy Center