Jacinta Eagle Deer
Encyclopedia
Jacinta Eagle Deer was a Brulé Lakota who lived on the Rosebud Indian Reservation
in South Dakota
. She was notable for accusing William Janklow of having raped her in January 1967 when he was a poverty lawyer and Director of the Rosebud Sioux Legal Services program on the reservation. She had worked as his babysitter. At the time the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) did not prosecute the case.
In October 1974 Dennis Banks
acted on her behalf as the tribal attorney to revive the charges, as Janklow was a candidate for state attorney general. Eagle Deer in 1974 had Janklow disbarred from practicing in the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court. No charges were brought against Janklow in the rape case and in 1975 he was appointed by the White House to the national board of the Legal Services Corporation
.
Eagle Deer was killed at night in a hit-and-run accident on April 4, 1975 in southern Nebraska. She had been seeing former American Indian Movement
(AIM) activist Douglas Durham. He was discovered in late 1974 to be an FBI informant and expelled from AIM in March 1975. Janklow was elected governor of South Dakota in 1978, and twice served tenures of two terms.
On January 14, 1967, Eagle Deer reported to her school principal that Janklow had raped her at gunpoint the night before. He had been driving her home from her work as his family's babysitter. The principal took her to the hospital, where a doctor and nurse examined her. In his memoir, Dennis Banks
, an AIM founder who became involved in the case in 1974, said his review of the records showed the medical personnel said the girl was in shock. He believed that she had been assaulted. The BIA police conducted the investigation on the reservation, and the FBI did not think there was sufficient evidence to prosecute. The journalist Steve Hendricks also wrote there was evidence of an assault, but the case was not prosecuted.
candidate, AIM leader Dennis Banks
encouraged Eagle Deer to testify to the tribal court about the rape case to try to gain justice. Anna Mae Aquash
, another high-ranking AIM member, had located Eagle Deer in Iowa, where she had gone to escape the rumors about the incident. Aquash persuaded the young woman to return to the Rosebud Reservation to testify.
Eagle Deer testified at court. Janklow failed to appear in response to a BIA summons served through a US Marshal. Eagle Deer filed a petition (through her attorney Larry Leventhal and tribal attorney Dennis Banks) to disbar Janklow from the tribal court, to prevent him from practicing at the reservation. In their book on this period, Mario Gonzales, who served as judge of the Tribal Court, and the writer Elizabeth Cook-Lynn said the BIA allegedly had sent the police investigation files of the rape charges to its Aberdeen, South Dakota
office to keep it out of the hands of the Tribal Court. The tribal court issued two misdemeanor warrants against Janklow and granted Eagle Deer's petition to disbar Janklow from practicing law on the Rosebud Reservation..
No arrest was made, and Janklow denied all allegations connected with the rape case. The writer Peter Matthiessen
included a statement by Banks on this issue in his book, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
(1983). Publication in paperback was delayed as Janklow sued both the author and publisher Viking Press
for libel, but his suits were finally dismissed by the federal courts because of protection of free speech under the Constitution's First Amendment.
Jacinta Eagle Deer had started seeing Douglas Durham in the fall of 1974, soon after her return to South Dakota. According to Banks' 2005 memoir, he was concerned about Durham's relationship with Eagle Deer, especially after Aquash told him that Durham was physically abusing the young woman. Banks said he confronted Durham about it and said he "should let her go." Banks said that in late 1974, Vernon Bellecourt
and Clyde Bellecourt
, leaders of AIM, shared documentary evidence showing that Durham was an FBI informant. Banks had earlier appointed him as head of security for AIM.
Banks continued working with Durham for some time before he and other leaders confronted him and expelled him from AIM in February 1975. They held a press conference in March, at which Durham also spoke and admitted he was an FBI informant. Durham had participated in the Wounded Knee Incident
on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
and been closely involved with Banks and other leaders since then.
Jacinta Eagle Deer continued to see Durham. On the night of April 14, 1975, she was struck and killed by a car while on a rural road in southern Nebraska, 200 miles from home. The journalist Hendricks wrote that she had last been seen in the company of Durham. Eagle Deer's brother said a man had picked her up from their family house that night. The coroner's report said she may have been beaten before the accident, or injured in being pushed out of another car before being hit, but because of her injuries, he could not tell for sure.
After Jacinta Eagle Deer's death, her step-mother Delphine Eagle Deer tried to take up her case against Janklow. Delphine Eagle Deer was the sister of Leonard Crow Dog
, a spiritual leader in AIM. About nine months later in 1976, Delphine Eagle Deer was found beaten to death on the Rosebud reservation. According to Banks' memoir, she was beaten by a BIA policeman (unnamed), who pleaded drunkenness in his defense and was not charged. The writer Hendricks referred to the case as an unsolved murder.
Rosebud Indian Reservation
The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Sicangu Oyate, also known as Sicangu Lakota, the Upper Brulé Sioux Nation, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe , a branch of the Lakota people...
in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. She was notable for accusing William Janklow of having raped her in January 1967 when he was a poverty lawyer and Director of the Rosebud Sioux Legal Services program on the reservation. She had worked as his babysitter. At the time the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
(BIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) did not prosecute the case.
In October 1974 Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks , a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. Banks is also known as Nowa Cumig...
acted on her behalf as the tribal attorney to revive the charges, as Janklow was a candidate for state attorney general. Eagle Deer in 1974 had Janklow disbarred from practicing in the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court. No charges were brought against Janklow in the rape case and in 1975 he was appointed by the White House to the national board of the Legal Services Corporation
Legal Services Corporation
The Legal Services Corporation is a private, non-profit corporation established by the United States Congress. It seeks to ensure equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by providing civil legal assistance to those who otherwise would be unable to afford it...
.
Eagle Deer was killed at night in a hit-and-run accident on April 4, 1975 in southern Nebraska. She had been seeing former American Indian Movement
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
(AIM) activist Douglas Durham. He was discovered in late 1974 to be an FBI informant and expelled from AIM in March 1975. Janklow was elected governor of South Dakota in 1978, and twice served tenures of two terms.
Early life and education
Jacinta Eagle Deer, a Brulé Lakota, was born and grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. She attended local schools, including the Rosebud Boarding School on the Reservation.On January 14, 1967, Eagle Deer reported to her school principal that Janklow had raped her at gunpoint the night before. He had been driving her home from her work as his family's babysitter. The principal took her to the hospital, where a doctor and nurse examined her. In his memoir, Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks , a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. Banks is also known as Nowa Cumig...
, an AIM founder who became involved in the case in 1974, said his review of the records showed the medical personnel said the girl was in shock. He believed that she had been assaulted. The BIA police conducted the investigation on the reservation, and the FBI did not think there was sufficient evidence to prosecute. The journalist Steve Hendricks also wrote there was evidence of an assault, but the case was not prosecuted.
Later life
In the fall of 1974, before the election for state attorney general, for which Janklow was the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate, AIM leader Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks , a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. Banks is also known as Nowa Cumig...
encouraged Eagle Deer to testify to the tribal court about the rape case to try to gain justice. Anna Mae Aquash
Anna Mae Aquash
Anna Mae Aquash was a Mi'kmaq activist from Nova Scotia, Canada who became the highest-ranking woman in the American Indian Movement in the United States during the mid-1970s.Aquash...
, another high-ranking AIM member, had located Eagle Deer in Iowa, where she had gone to escape the rumors about the incident. Aquash persuaded the young woman to return to the Rosebud Reservation to testify.
Eagle Deer testified at court. Janklow failed to appear in response to a BIA summons served through a US Marshal. Eagle Deer filed a petition (through her attorney Larry Leventhal and tribal attorney Dennis Banks) to disbar Janklow from the tribal court, to prevent him from practicing at the reservation. In their book on this period, Mario Gonzales, who served as judge of the Tribal Court, and the writer Elizabeth Cook-Lynn said the BIA allegedly had sent the police investigation files of the rape charges to its Aberdeen, South Dakota
Aberdeen, South Dakota
Aberdeen is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, about 125 mi northeast of Pierre. Settled in 1880, it was incorporated in 1882. The city population was 26,091 at the 2010 census. The American News is the local newspaper...
office to keep it out of the hands of the Tribal Court. The tribal court issued two misdemeanor warrants against Janklow and granted Eagle Deer's petition to disbar Janklow from practicing law on the Rosebud Reservation..
No arrest was made, and Janklow denied all allegations connected with the rape case. The writer Peter Matthiessen
Peter Matthiessen
Peter Matthiessen is a two-time National Book Award-winning American novelist and non-fiction writer, as well as an environmental activist...
included a statement by Banks on this issue in his book, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (book)
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse is a book by author Peter Matthiesen chronicling the tumultuous history between the Sioux and the United States government, with emphasis on contemporary events on the Sioux reservations of South Dakota. He focused on the events of the 1970s on the Pine Ridge Indian...
(1983). Publication in paperback was delayed as Janklow sued both the author and publisher Viking Press
Viking Press
Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
for libel, but his suits were finally dismissed by the federal courts because of protection of free speech under the Constitution's First Amendment.
Jacinta Eagle Deer had started seeing Douglas Durham in the fall of 1974, soon after her return to South Dakota. According to Banks' 2005 memoir, he was concerned about Durham's relationship with Eagle Deer, especially after Aquash told him that Durham was physically abusing the young woman. Banks said he confronted Durham about it and said he "should let her go." Banks said that in late 1974, Vernon Bellecourt
Vernon Bellecourt
Vernon Bellecourt, Indian name WaBun-Inini, was a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe , and a Native American rights activist, one of the highest leaders in the American Indian Movement...
and Clyde Bellecourt
Clyde Bellecourt
Clyde Howard Bellecourt is a White Earth Ojibwe civil rights organizer noted for co-founding the American Indian Movement in 1968 with Dennis Banks, Herb Powless, and Eddie Benton Banai, among others. His older brother, the late Vernon Bellecourt, was also active...
, leaders of AIM, shared documentary evidence showing that Durham was an FBI informant. Banks had earlier appointed him as head of security for AIM.
Banks continued working with Durham for some time before he and other leaders confronted him and expelled him from AIM in February 1975. They held a press conference in March, at which Durham also spoke and admitted he was an FBI informant. Durham had participated in the Wounded Knee Incident
Wounded Knee Incident
The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
and been closely involved with Banks and other leaders since then.
Jacinta Eagle Deer continued to see Durham. On the night of April 14, 1975, she was struck and killed by a car while on a rural road in southern Nebraska, 200 miles from home. The journalist Hendricks wrote that she had last been seen in the company of Durham. Eagle Deer's brother said a man had picked her up from their family house that night. The coroner's report said she may have been beaten before the accident, or injured in being pushed out of another car before being hit, but because of her injuries, he could not tell for sure.
After Jacinta Eagle Deer's death, her step-mother Delphine Eagle Deer tried to take up her case against Janklow. Delphine Eagle Deer was the sister of Leonard Crow Dog
Leonard Crow Dog
Leonard Crow Dog is a Sicangu Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader who became well-known during the takeover of the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1973 known as the Wounded Knee Incident. Through his writings and teachings he has sought to unify...
, a spiritual leader in AIM. About nine months later in 1976, Delphine Eagle Deer was found beaten to death on the Rosebud reservation. According to Banks' memoir, she was beaten by a BIA policeman (unnamed), who pleaded drunkenness in his defense and was not charged. The writer Hendricks referred to the case as an unsolved murder.