Who murdered First Nations activist, Anna Aquash in 1975? In the cold of February 1976, the body of a 30-year-old Mi'kmaq woman, Anna Mae Aquash, was discovered on the remote plains of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. An activist for Native American rights and a prominent member of the American Indian Movement her death would unravel a story of suspicion, betrayal, and a long-delayed quest for justice. Initially, her body was found by a rancher on February 24, 1976, near Wanblee.
The first autopsy, conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, concluded that she had died from exposure to the elements. To identify the then-unknown woman, her hands were severed and sent to the FBI for fingerprint analysis. It was only after her burial as a "Jane Doe" that the FBI confirmed her identity as Anna Mae Aquash.
The initial ruling of death by exposure was immediately met with skepticism by Aquash's family and members of AIM, who demanded a second autopsy. Their persistence led to the exhumation of her body just eight days after her burial. This second examination revealed a grim truth that the first had missed: Anna Mae Aquash had been murdered. A. 32 caliber bullet was found lodged in her skull, indicating she had been shot execution-style. This discovery transformed the case into a homicide investigation, shrouded in mystery and pointing towards a conspiracy of silence.
For decades, the murder of Anna Mae Aquash remained unsolved, fueling rampant speculation and numerous theories. Many within the Native American community believed the FBI was involved, given Aquash's activism and rumors that she was being pressured to become an informant. Aquash had reportedly told friends she had been threatened by an FBI agent. Conversely, another persistent rumor suggested that she was killed by AIM members who suspected she was an FBI informant. This theory posited that high-ranking AIM officials ordered her death out of fear she possessed compromising information. Grand juries were convened in 1976, 1982, and 1994, but no indictments were forthcoming, leaving her family with no answers.
It wasn't until the early 2000s that a break in the case finally occurred. In 2003, Arlo Looking Cloud, a member of AIM, was indicted for his role in the murder. His trial brought forth testimony detailing Aquash's final days, alleging she was kidnapped and interrogated before being driven to a remote location and shot. Looking Cloud was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Information from his trial led to the indictment of another AIM member, John Graham, who was extradited from Canada. In 2010, Graham was also convicted of felony murder. A third suspect was also implicated but was reportedly incapacitated by Alzheimer's disease. The convictions brought a partial sense of closure to a case that had haunted the Native American community for nearly three decades, revealing a dark chapter in the history of the American Indian Movement.
