AIM may occupy
disputed Iowa land
by Mary Voboril
Depending upon the results of an Iowa district court ruling
today, a potential second Wounded Knee may be in the
making, complete with a mass live-in and possible gunfire on
land now claimed by two white men in Onawa, Iowa.
Plo.is were outlined Wednesday at an American Indian
Movement (AIM) news conference in Lincoln.
Twenty Indians including women and children-moved
onto about 4,500 acres farmed by the two men on April 3.
Not all the Indians there are AIM members. The Indians claim
the land, 9,000 acres altogether, belongs to the Omaha tribe
under an 1854 treaty and that the two whites "squatted" on
the land under quiet title in 1934.
The issue in Iowa district court is whether the land is
governed by state or federal law.
"If the courts decide this land is under state jurisdiction
and orders our people off, AIM will move in physically,"
according to A go Sheridan, Nebraska AIM director. "We will
do anything we are forced to do-anything we have to do to
protect ourselves on our own land. . . somebody pushes us, we
will push back. If somebody shoots at us, we will shoot back."
If the court rules the land is under federal jurisdiction,
apparently it will mean that the "squatters" have no right to
the land, "and then our people will start farming it," said
Matthew Sheridan, brother of A go, who now lives on the
4,500 acres.
He insists that no Indian takeover or Indian occupation is
involved. "The two farmers are the ones occupying the
land-they're the ones who took it over," he said.
The Omaha tribe, originally settled in the area that now is
Bellevue, was moved to the Macy area under the 1854 treaty.
Some of the land now in question was allotted in 60-acre lots
to certain Indian families. But because the Missouri River
continuously flooded the land, it was considered inferior.
The 1854 treaty said if the Indians did not like the land on
which they were relocated or could not find it suitable to their
way of life, they could exchange it for other land, according to
A go Sheridan. Most of the Indians thus exchanged their acres
for others owned by the Omahas.
Meanwhile, in 1920, the Army Corps of Engineers changed
the flow of the Missouri River. The result was that the land
previously unsuitable was no longer flooded but could be
farmed. The Omaha Indians still considered the land theirs,
but changing the flow of the Missouri moved the land onto the
Iowa side instead of Nebraska. Iowa apparently then claimed
the land and two "squatters" began farming it in the early
1930s. The Omahas notified the government that squatters
occuppied the land in 1934.
A-go Sheridan said the two farmers now earn about
$100,00 and more from hired hands farming the land. One of
the original "squatters" now lives in Florida, the other in
Arizona, he added.
A go said the Indians hold the original 1954 treaty, written
on goatskin, which "proves that Omahas own the land."
"It's too bad we have to force the issue," he said. "All
anybody will listen to anymore is violence."
Rudolph: low turnout
hurt election chances
If anything hurt Wallace
Rudolph's chances of being
elected to the Lincoln Board of
Education, it was students nox
voting, he said.
Rudolph, a UN L law
professor, placed fourth in
Tuesday's general election for
three board members.
Since his most promising
constituency was among
students and faculty at the
University, he said that the low
voter turnout of this group
probably hurt him most.
"Young people really don't
have room to complain when
they don't vote," Rudolph
said.
He also asked why the Daily
Nebraskan had not endorsed
Board of Education candidates.
Although the paper did
endorse City Council
candidates he said the paper
could have been a good
catalyst to make the University
a more active political entity.
The paper didn't think
about what it could be doing,
Rudolph said.
Rudolph lost by 2,500
votes.
John Robinson, a law
student who was elected to a
four year term on the City
Council, said that he thought
the endorsements he received
from the Daily Nebraskan, the
Lincoln Journal and Lincoln
Star and the Lincoln Gaette
helped him (jot elected.
The election swirled around
several issues, including the
thursday, may 3, 1973
participation of the city in
revenue sharing, development
of Steven's Creek and the
Northeast Radial highway.
Robinson said he held a
hard and consistent stand
throughout the election against
further Radial development at
this time.
Robinson said he was in
favor of City Charter
Amendment 2, which has been
called the Northeast Radial
highway amendment. The
defeated amendment would
have affected procedures the
city must go through before
undertaking major street
construction.
UNL law professor Wallace
Rudolph...lost the Board
of Education election by
2,500 votes.
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daily nebraskan