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On the Scent

Welcome Instapundit Visitors! There's a lot about Ward of the State U, but a lot else, as well. Take a look around.

You have no idea how much I wanted to title this "On the warpath," but keep reading and you'll see what happens to people who the Oneida think are mocking them...

Indian Country Today is now on the story, and let's just say the wannabe Mr. Churchill isn't making any friends among the more authentic Indians:

The Oneida Indian Nation, which has historic ties to nearby Hamilton, issued the following statement:

''It's disturbing that anyone would use such hateful speech, and do so while claiming to be an American Indian when there is significant evidence that he is not. Professor Churchill caused many in the media to falsely believe an American Indian scholar could besmirch the lives of those who died on 9/11. Because of this, he owes every American Indian an apology.

''Likewise it is sad that he would perpetrate this apparent hoax on Hamilton College, an institution founded to help educate Indian students.'' (Hamilton was founded by Samuel Kirkland, 18th century missionary to the Oneidas, and the famous Oneida Chief Schenandoah is buried on its grounds. The Oneida Nation owns Four Directions Media, publisher of Indian Country Today.)

Oh, that's good, Ward. Pick a fight with a tribe that buys ink by the barrel.

...Churchill has long been a divisive and somewhat feared figure in Indian country, especially among his former colleagues in the American Indian Movement. Some prominent activists involved in earlier confrontations have devoted a great deal of energy to investigating his claim to be an American Indian himself and have found no evidence to support it.

...

According to Jodi Rave, a well-known Native journalist and member of the Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara Three Affiliated Tribes, Churchill was enrolled as an ''associate member'' of the Keetoowah by a former chairman who was later impeached. The one other known member of the same program, since discontinued, was President Bill Clinton. Rave said that she made this discovery as a student in a journalism class at the University of Colorado. She was also in a class taught by Churchill. When her article came out, she said, he dropped her grade from an A to a C minus.

Suzan Shown Harjo, a columnist for ICT who has tracked Churchill's career, said that aside from the in-laws of his late Indian wife, he has not been able to produce any relatives from any Indian tribe.

So let's get this straight. Churchill loves the American Indian so much he wants to be one, then pretends to be one, and may now actually himself believe that he is Indian. He uses this status to preach hatred, pretending to speak for American Indians as an Indian. Prior to that, he deceived literally dozens of people into thinking that he was not only an Indian scholar, but an scholar Indian, while taking revenge on actual Indians who questioned his bona fides.

You know, I take it all back. This guy may just be dumb enough to be an academic.

UPDATE: A lot of original material from AIM is online. Hat tip: American Digest.

UPDATE 2: Looks as though the school administration may be playing the role of Adult Supervision:

University of Colorado administrators Thursday took the first steps toward a possible dismissal of a professor who likened World Trade Center victims to a notorious Nazi.

Interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano ordered a 30-day review of Ward Churchill's speeches and writings to determine if the professor overstepped his boundaries of academic freedom and whether that should be grounds for dismissal.

Also Thursday, the Board of Regents issued an apology for Churchill's remarks at a meeting and voted to support the university's review of Churchill.

Churchill's assertions aside, tenure is not kryptonite-proof. There is a process for revoking it, and it's not at all clear that once an investigation is started, it has to stick to his 9/11 drippings. Thirty days can be a long, long time.