Dean Chavers: Calling out Ward Churchill and other wannabes

In May 2005, after he had called some of the victims of the 9/11 attacks “little Eichmans,” Churchill caught hell from many quarters. His comparing the victims of the World Trade Center bombing to one of the leading Nazi villains of World War II was sure to bring him notoriety, which he seems to crave.

One of those responding was the United Keetoowah Band of the Cherokee Nation. Chief George Wickliffe said: “Mr. Churchill is NOT a member of the Keetoowah Band.” Churchill has also claimed over the years to be Creek, Cherokee, and Metis.

He got himself hired at the University of Colorado in 1978, without a doctorate, and within two decades had gotten promoted to the chair of the Ethnic Studies Department. Over his career, he has had 14 books published on genocide against the American Indian, racism, and the boarding school experience of Indians. His books are filled with left wing cant, and he clearly supports AIM. He was a member of the Colorado chapter of AIM for many years.

The University of Colorado, after a lengthy investigation, fired him in July 2007. He had been charged with improprieties in research methods, fabrication of his Indian heritage, and falsifying his academic credentials. Professors Barrie Hartman, Marianne (Mimi) Wesson, and Eric Iliff were on the committee that reviewed the charges. They concluded that seven of the nine allegations against him warranted looking into. The charges of his ethnicity and his possible copyright infringement were not related to the conduct of research.