Little Owl

Iron Thunderhorse continues to suffer from the torture and abuse of an absolute authority which can violate the law with impunity. He still is being handcuffed behind his back in defiance of 13 years of medical orders, causing excrutiating pain. He is being deprived of medically necessary handicapped showers. He is being deprived of his talking books for the blind. He has had his latest scholarly tome - the Comprehensive Language Guide - confiscated from the U.S. Mail, in spite of the fact that Iron is the last known speaker of the Quinnipiac language. Although Iron has NEVER had a death sentence, he has recently been placed on Death Row in order that htey can impose stiffer rules than otherwise. The last time Iron was placed on Death Row was in retaliation for his testimony in the RUIZ case and he was placed there in order to set him up for an assassination attempt by an inmate who had already killed another RUIZ participant.

On the Death Row pod where he now is forced to live, there is no fresh air and the young inmates burn their sheets in desperation and the guards frequently use excessive tear gas/pepper spray, so Iron’s breathing problems are accelerated, as well as his hypertension. His sleep apnea and constant pain, added to the noise and air contaminants, cause serious sleep deprivation. A few months ago, if you will remember, a deranged, enkempt inmate threw feces from his stool at the guards who tormented him and accidentally hit Iron in the face. When Iron went to the nurse for help she asked, “Was there any blood in the material?” Iron replied, “Madam, I am legally blind; I cannot see.” The nurse said, “Well, if you did not see any blood, then I cannot help you.” Well, trhat same sick man now lives in thecell directly above Iron and the water from his cell comes down onto Iron’s floor and, at the very least, presents a hazard to cause a blind man to fall.

If you think that what is happening to Iron Thunderhorse does not concern you, you are dead wrong. Iron Thunderhorse was wrongfully convicted almost thirty years ago and he has fought as tirelessly and as bravely against injustice from behind iron bars as he did from behind enemy lines in Vietnam. He is now fighting the system in the courts under the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as the RLUIPA.

A man of integrity has been fighting FOR YOU - you sitting there comfortable in your home, surrounded by all of the comforts of central air, munching on whatever your heart desires, enjoying all the electronic devices, and taking for granted the privelege to go shopping and to read or write any book you wish - all the things that Iron Thunderhorse has been denied for thirty years, while fighting FOR YOU.

Iron Thunderhorse is a hero who has sacrificed himself in order to make the world a better place FOR YOU and you do not even know, even if you correspond with him, becuase he cares so much about YOU that he will try to help YOU when he, himself, is being tortured to death by the injustices of which you are not even aware.

Iron Thunderhorse is a Prisoner of War in the “land of the dree and the home of the brave” where the Constitution is supposed to guarantee certain rights, but never has, because there have always been certain unwritten exclusions.

As a friend of mine once observed, “‘All men are created equal’ except Indians.” One out of ten hate crimes are committed against Indians. The indigenous people of the Americas were the FIRST to be sold into slavery, but they died so fast in captivity that the European-American slave hoders began to invade Africa. It is ironic that Native Americans, who granted religious freedoms to everybody, are probably the only ones whose religion has been outlawed in this nation. Native American languages were the only languages outlawed. The first germ warfare was used against Native Americans. The American Holocaust was the model followed by Hitler.

Iron Thunderhorse has been abused, harassed, and persecuted becuase of his religion and race from the day he was born. His young wife and baby son were murdered by racists, yet he has maintained his integrity and he gives gifts to people of all races and religions. As a U.S. soldier behind enemy lines in Vietnam, Iron refused an order to “neutralize” a group of U.S soldiers after a government drug experiment had gone wrong. Perhpas YOUR father returned from Vietnam because of Iron’s integrity of character.

Behind iron bars, Iron has intervened when the guards were torturing or abusing a mentally handicapped young man who did not have a clue why the guards were attacking him or how to defend himself. As a result, the prison administrators tortured and abused and injected Iron with mind-altering drugs to shut him up, until fellow inmates managed to come to his rescue. Perhaps YOUR little brother is still alive because of Iron’s courage and integrity.

In spite of prison retaliation for his legal work, Iron has helped countless inmates with his legal expertise. Several men on Death Row were either released or given lesser sentences because of Iron’s help. He has helped men of all races and religions in their uphill battle for justice - men who were both inside and outside the prison walls. Perhaps YOUR father or uncle or grandfather is free because of Iron Thunderhorse.

Iron risked his life to testify in the RUIZ case, in order to change the corruption and brutality of the Texas prison system, where men were tortured and abused so badly that they cut their own tendons in their legs or cut off their own fingers or otherwise injured themselves to get a rest from the horrid slave labor in the sweltering sun on “emancipated” slave plantations. There were six assassination attempts by the Texas prison system against Iron Thunderhorse and multiple confiscations and destruction of his property and multiple beatings and near-death tortures - all in retaliation for his efforts to make the prison system less barbaric and more humane. This is YOUR country, this is YOUR prison system, perhpas YOUR sons or daughters may have a better chance to survive if they make a mistake - because of Iron’s heroic efforts.

Right now, Iron Thunderhorse is being tortured to death bu prison officials and I believe that the orders to “neutralize” him are coming straight from the Attorney General’s office in order to stop Iron’s legal work. This is YOUR country, this is YOUR prison system, this is YOUR corruptin in government, this is YOUR brave defender who is being put to death for doing the right thing.

Iron and I have fought the injustice until we are both failing in health and financially destitute. We have searched for somebody to help this here who has selflessly helped so many multiples of people, directly and indirectly. The torture and abuse of Iron Thunderhorse for almost thirty years is a national disgrace. The prison system is determined to destroy the body of Iron Thunderhorse because the cannot destroy his integrity of character or his spirit.

ASK NOT FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, IT TOLLS FOR YOU!

When they kill Iron Thunderhorse, they will have killed what this nation purports to stand for - “liberty and justice for all.” When they kill Iron Thunderhorse, they will have killed everything that is good and decent in the world. When they kill Iron Thunderhorse, they will kill the truest spiritual expression - the life that was lived just as Jesus and Moses and countless religious leaders taught, with the whispered prayer, “Not my will, but Thine be done.”

IRON THUNDERHORSE IS A NATIONAL TREASURE AND IGNORANT SAVAGES ARE DESTROYING OUR TREASURE. A VAST STORE OF HISTORICAL AND LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURAL EXPERTISE WILL DIE WHEN THEY KILL IRON THUNDERHORSE. A VAST STORE OF EMPIRICAL WISDOM WIL BE LOST FOREVER WHEN THE KILL IRON THUNDERHORSE.

As they torture Iron Thunderhorse to death, the brilliance of this rare truth and light in this world will fade away, leaving us the legacy of the darkness of their brutality. So ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for us all.

Iron Thunderhorse has dedicated his life to giving the world what Slow Turtle/John Peters (Supreme Medicine Man of the Mashpee Wampnoag Indian Tribe until his death in 1997) called “the gift of ‘true speaking.’” Through his prolific artistic and literary works as well as his life and letters, Iron Thunderhorse has brought light into the darkest corners of our society and exposed the “deeds of darkness.” Ephesians 5:11 instructs us to “take no part with the deeds of darkness, but rather to expose light on them.” Iron Thunderhorse has done this. Estamaza, Omaha, exhorted us: “He who is present at a wrongdoing and lifts not a hand to prevent it, is as guilty as the wrongdoers.” Iron Thunderhorse is not guilty. Are we?

Wanishi,
Little Owl