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Reclaiming Aboriginal America: The Role of the Indian Peoples in Restoring the ‘Heart of America’

Stacey Boatright | April 12, 2005

The Rivers Foundation of the Americas announces an evening with both the author of Coyote Warrior: One Man, Three Tribes and the Trial That Forged a Nation, Paul VanDevelder, and the protagonist of this true story, Raymond Cross.

Cross will deliver an intriguing presentation entitled, "Reclaiming Aboriginal America: The Role of the Indian Peoples in Restoring the 'Heart of America,'" on Thursday, May 12th at 7:30 pm, at Portland State University's newly built Native American Student and Community Center in downtown Portland, Oregon. Rivers Foundation board member Charles Hudson, Raymond's nephew who also serves as Director of Public Affairs for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, will chair the event.

The last battle of the American Indian Wars did not end at a place called Wounded Knee. From White Shield to Washington, D.C., new Indian wars are being fought by Ivy League-trained Indian lawyers called Coyote Warriors-among them a Mandan/Hidatsa attorney named Raymond Cross. Cross earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and continued on to graduate from the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University and Yale Law School. As a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and a law professor at the University of Montana School of Law, Cross also fights diligently on the "ethical battlefield" where world views collide and nationhood is pitted against modern politics and profit-seeking.

Cross is recognized as a Coyote Warrior in that he is dedicated to attaining post-colonial justice for the many wrongs endured by tribes in the past. In particular, he has labored to protect the North Dakota homelands of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes. These ancestral lands were flooded in 1949 by the Missouri river waters of the Garrison Dam reservoir, ironically named Lake Sakakawea by the U.S. government.

VanDevelder, author, investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker, began his tireless research for Coyote Warrior in 1993 when he was asked to investigate the conflict between the extraction industry and Native American Tribes. Although heated conflict existed between these groups, VanDevelder realized their stories were not being told by the mainstream media. Consequently, VanDevelder took it upon himself to breathe life into his own extensive research and the recollections of the Cross family by writing Coyote Warrior, a triumphant, compelling and poignant story.

In the tradition of A Civil Action and J. Anthony Lukas's Common Ground, Coyote Warrior tells the epic story of the three tribes that saved the Corps of Discovery from starvation, their century-long battle to forge a new nation, and the extraordinary journey of one man to redeem a father's dream-and the dignity of his people.

Tickets for the 7:30 presentation are $10. Tickets for a special buffet reception with Cross and VanDevelder from 6:00-7:00 pm are $30 and they include the 7:30 presentation. Proceeds will benefit the Rivers Foundation and the Native Center at PSU.

Click here for further information about Raymond Cross.

Click here for additional information about Paul VanDevelder

Click here for more information about Charles Hudson.

Click here to learn more about the book, Coyote Warrior.

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