Standing Deer: Rest in Peace

Standing Deer's Tribute Page

Robert Hugh Wilson, also known as Standing Deer, was found dead in his home here in Houston, TX on Tuesday. Standing Deer was stabbed to death by a houseguest, Pius Smashed Ice (a Native American who had recently been released from prison and was staying with Standing Deer because he had no money). The police report said that Pius killed Standing Deer after an argument on Monday, but didn't call police until Tuesday, where he attempted to pass the crime off as a break-in. Pius later confessed and is in custody now. Standing Deer was stabbed in his bedroom, so it's still not clear if it happened during an argument or later after a dispute. Whatever the case, the loss of Standing Deer is something we in the area are struggling with.

Standing Deer is best known as the prisoner who was affiliated for many years with Leonard Peltier, and who exposed the government assassination plot against Leonard. He was released only two years ago after serving 27 years in the pen. To his friends, Standing Deer epitomized kindness, warmth, honesty and revolutionary commitment. He had been working with many young indigenous activists in Houston and Texas, offering his insights and wisdom. His death was senseless, but Standing Deer's spirit will live on.

Standing Deer is expected to be cremated on Friday, and his remains taken to Oklahoma, his birtplace. He was 70 years old. We at Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network are saddened at this news. To find out more about Standind Deer, we recomend the excellent book In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Mathieson.

Statement from Standing Deer: June 26, 2002

My name is Standing Deer. I've been locked away in supermax Iron Houses for the last quarter-of-a-century. Eight months ago they got weak and let me go, and while I'm happy to be out of prison I'll never be free until my brother Leonard Peltier is free. So as we approach another June 26 which marks the 27th anniversary of the firefight at Oglala, South Dakota, where Peltier was framed and lost his freedom we must remember this indomitable warriour who is being robbed of his very life because of the lies and injustice of the takers of the fat. Leonard has been a captive of the united states going on 27 years for a crime he didn't even commit. I've known him for 25 of those years and I've seen them force him to exist in a cage so small that had he been a dog the Humane Society would have closed the prison down. During these years his keepers have subjected him to hideous treament in an effort to break his will and Spirit but he is protected by the Spirit of Crazy Horse and his warrior heart remains strong and unyielding serving as an inspiration to us all. Make no mistake about it: Peltier is an innocnet man! He has committed no crime! He is the victim of a system of injustice which operates outside the moral boundaries that just people claim to live by.

Brothers and Sisters, Leonard Peltier is a Prisoner of War unjustly held captive in his own land by the descendants of the very sea pirates who murdered his great grandmothers & great grandfathers, decimated his People., and stole Mother Earth out from under their feet.Peltier is the longest held Native Prisoner of War in this country and on June 26th People all across Turtle Island will be holding events to honor this courageous brother. In Houston we will be having a march dedicated to Leonard's freedom. You are all invited to attend. Houston wil be the only city to have Leonard's grandson, Cyrus, to speak to us with a message directly from his grandfather in Leavenworth prison. Please come out for this June 26th celebration. We want you to be there!

STANDING DEER RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER ALMOST 25 YEARS!

A letter from Anna Standing Deer, support person for Standing Deer

Greetings!

Standing Deer, who was released exactly one week before the bombing of the WTC, would like to thank you all for your unswerving support for him, not only in times of crisis, but throughout his 25 years of incarceration during the rare moments that they weren't trying to kill him. He would greatly appreciate it if some of you would write him sometimes, as he wishes to acknowledge his appreciation personally, and come to know for himself the many people who placed a safety net beneath him so that he is here today alive and free. He is still in a state of bliss and has not quite shaken off the golden dust of freedom yet!! He is also busy trying to become acclimated to life out here. It is not always easy, as you very well know to re-adjust oneself after 25 years behind bars, but Standing Deer is a strong, valiant warrior, so that his efforts to re-adjust to the outside world are strong and valiant and to be admired.

You can contact Standing Deer by writing: Standing Deer Wilson, 977 Bunker Hill Rd. #113, Houston, TX 77024.

Standing Deer is doing his utmost to answer all letters received, as he is no longer hassled in terms of letter-writing, as he was in prison. So, please take the time to address him and introduce yourselves personally. If you are already known to him, drop him a line or two so that he can get back to you and thank you also for your ongoing friendship and dedication. It was exactly, one week after Standing Deer was released, a large number of our political prisoners were herded into "isolation" due to the bombing of the WTC although it was known by the prison authorities system that these individuals has absolutely nothing to do with that act!!

The Creator chose to look out for this man called Standing Deer, by releasing him the week earlier, at a time when none of us could foresee the future of a week later, BUT at a time that the penal system would know that Standing Deer was too busy just trying to find his way out of the front door of a house once again let alone contemplate anything that he would not have contemplated under ANY circumstances. Yet, I postulate that if his release date had been 9-11, Standing Deer would still be somebody's prisoner rather than our "merry" person to have fun with and celebrate life with. Yes, the Creator looked after him.

So, here he is with us and I think it's time to play (smile)- BUT also to keep working for the release of Leonard, Mumia and ALL political prisoners and POW's. We have one warrior free to make happy. Let's go for ten more warrior men and women!!

May there be many more blessings, Anna Standing Deer

STANDING DEER -- Native American Political Prisoner

In 1978 STANDING DEER, an Oneida/Choctaw American Indian exposed a government plot to assassinate American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Leonard Peltier in Marion federal penitentiary. This bizarre case has been documented in several books including "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse" by Peter Matthiessen. In 1984 Standing Deer, Leonard Peltier, and Albert Garza fasted for 42 days to draw worldwide attention to the deplorable conditions at USP Marion, the Super Maximum Security federal prison. In his Marion Death Fast statement Standing Deer wrote in part: "All of the above things I could probably learn to live with because I realize that Marion is america's #1 gulag for political prisoners, and I know that my brothers, friends and comrades in here are suffering the same indignities. But there is one outrage that I can no longer tolerate. I will no longer allow the united states to continue to deny me the right to practice my religion. For 491 years the religion of my people has been trampled on and disrespected by the sea pirates and many of their descendents who invaded my shores so long ago. For those of us who today wish to follow the religion and teachings of our grandfathers, the road is rocky and the struggle is hard even under conditions in the so-called "free world." But for American Indians in Marion federal prison, we have been cast into a spiritual wastebasket where every aspect of our religion is denied.

"Leonard and me enter into this fast not out of despair or depression but with a joyful commitment of total love and dedication to our people. We must have our Pipe, drum, sweat lodge and access to our outside spiritual people. We will fast until we are either granted our constitutional right to practice our religion or until we return to our Creator. If the united states does not wish us to die they have but to obey their own laws. If we do die, the united states' total disregard for human rights will be our murderers."

In retaliation for the 42-day fast, the government held these three men in solitary isolation for 15 months with nothing in their cages except a steel bunk and toilet. The door to their cage was never opened unless their hands were handcuffed behind their backs and four guards with clubs were present to supervise their every move (what the Marion Control Unit calls "a four man order".) After a year of these hideous terms of confinement attorney Margaret G. Gold filed a million dollar lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons that succeeded in having each of them transferred to separate maximum security prisons where they were allowed to practice their religion. In the summer of 1985 Peltier went to USP Leavenworth (where he remains to this day); Garza went to USP Lewisburg; and Standing Deer to USP Lompoc.

Two months after arriving at Lompoc, Standing Deer was accused of leading 30 Indian brothers in a protest over issues of religious denial. Once again, Margaret Gold filed a lawsuit styled Standing Deer v Carlson, but before trial he was thrown in the hole and held incommunicado for seven days. He was then taken to the airport in the middle of the night wearing nothing but chains and boxer shorts, and flown in a small plane with five FBI agents and turned over to McAlester prison in Oklahoma, the prison from which he had escaped ten years earlier. He had been kicked out of the federal prison system without even completing his federal sentence, prompting him to quip, "I've been kicked out of places before, but never a whole prison system!"

Standing Deer's new prison was a Control Unit just like Marion - a cesspool of sadistic mistreatment. Ben Carnes, a young Choctaw brother, filed a lawsuit against the system for the denial of the right to practice Indian religion. Once again Margaret Gold dropped everything and rushed from New York to Oklahoma to conduct a trial along with two local attorneys. The lawsuit was successful in gaining exemptions from forced haircutting for the brothers who hold their hair to be sacred.

In 1992, after seven years in the McAlester supermax Standing Deer discharged his Oklahoma sentence and was extradited to Texas where he faced a life sentence. He was immediately thrown in the hole at the Ellis prison in Huntsville which had the reputation as the toughest prison in Texas.

In spite of the wretched prison conditions and failing health Standing Deer continues to do all he can in the struggle to free Leonard Peltier and save Mumia Abu-Jamal. The Texas prison system has locked him in the hole for telling the truth in his political writings, but he continues to fight for human dignity and religious freedom for imprisoned American Indians.

April 6, 2001 marks Standing Deer's twenty-fifth year of continuous confinement in some of the worst prisons this country has to offer. At 68 his health is very bad. Texas has given him five parole hearings since 1993 but all were denied in spite of the pleas of his family, children and grandchildren.

Standing Deer's words from his prison cell: "I will continue to struggle In Total Resistance whether in here or out there until the day I cross over to the Spirit World. To all of you who struggle in unity to make our Mother Earth a sweeter nesting place for our children and our generations yet unborn I extend the left hand of my left arm which is closest to my heart. My love, Strength and prayers are with you. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. FREE PELTIER-SAVE MUMIA!"  

This solidarity statement was written to be delivered to the People at the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty 3rd annual Memorial Day weekend protest in Huntsville, Texas on May 30, 1998

In The Spirit of Crazy Horse, the chiefs, elders, clan mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers, I send warmest greetings and solidarity to the members, friends and supporters of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty! AHO! My name is Standing Deer, and I am being held captive by the State of Texas at the Pack One Prison in Navasota, Texas.

In america, one of the few things that the poor have better access to than the rich is the death penalty. There are no rich folks on death row. That archaic, barbarous teaching of "an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth" applies only to us, the poor. The official document issued by the coroner when a prisoner is murdered by the state says: "HOMICIDE". Yet the killers walk tall like they were John Wayne before his stomach rejected him. It's madness, but their position is constantly validated by the violence and ragged horror displayed on television. I'm afraid the conscience of america has crawled off under the White House and died.

There are employees of the TDCJ -- it is impossible to know how many because they have to stay in the closet for fear of losing the respect of their fellow employees, or worse yet their jobs -- who believe as we do that EXECUTIONS ARE WRONG! I know one who believes that executions are being carried out by moral imbeciles with high I.Q.s who will be looked upon by history as we, today, look upon Hitler's Nazis.

The day they killed Karla Faye, I dozed off while waiting for some kind of word, and had a dream that I was at the Execution Chamber watching in horror as they strapped her on the gurney. Suddenly, at the last moment, the man with the poison came out from behind a curtain and just said: "NO!" Another guard said, "BASTA!" And one, "STOP!" "ENOUGH!" Shouted another, "I WILL NOT BE AN ACCOMPLICE TO THIS MURDER!" And with that, the first guard threw the poison to the floor and began releasing Karla Faye from her bonds. The preacher and warden (the same ones who had held another victim down at another day, another time) became enraged and attempted to re-secure her bonds, but the guards restrained them while others poured into the murder chamber with tears in our eyes, helping Karla Faye to her feet while there was laughing and crying all around, and she was free at last. The guards were dancing with the people, and in the dream I heard the voice of Nietzche saying, "Whoever fights monsters whould see to it that in the process he does not become a monster." I awakened in my dark, dank cage to the cold reality that our siter was with us no more, and the mass murderer knownas the State of Texas still stalked the land.

When I think about how wrong the death penalty is, a shiver runs up and down my spine: "What if they had murdered my brother, Leonard Peltier?" Leonard, who has been in captivity for more than twenty-two years for a crime he did not commit. If they had taken Leonard's life, who would lead us by his courage and example? Today, good people all over the world know that Loenard is innocent, and because he still lives and breathes he will one day be free. We will yet, one day FREE LEONARD PELTIER!

All of you who struggle in unity to abolish the heinous crime of state-sanctioned murder are heroines & heros. Work like hell! Agitate, propagate, educate, and remember when you save or extend the life of a single individual the true reward is from Creator to your heart. Remeber the words of Mandela: "There are victories whose glory lies only in the fact that they are known to those who win them."

Let me express my profound thanks and solidarity to all of you who believe in our cause, and especially to all of you on death row throughout the land. I extend to you the left hand of my left arm which is the closest to my heart. My love and strength are with you every step of the way!

IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE,
Standing Deer

Native Religious Rights - What is in Your Heart They Cannot Take

There was this older Lakota man on the yard one time in the middle of a snowstorm. You could hardly see him, and Security had ordered all the prisoners off the yard because visibility was almost down to nil. He was very calmly sitting cross-legged on Mother Earth with his shirt off as the snow began to pile upon his shoulders. It was obvious he was praying with a Sacred Pipe he didn't have, and when I gently touched him on the shoulder he passed to me his invisible Pipe. I took it from him with great respect and puffed on it as I turned to each of the Four Sacred Directions. Then I passed it to the invisible Spirit that was standing to my left. The Brother's lips were turning blue as I helped him to his feet and said, "Let's go inside and drink some coffee." He smiled and said, "I'll be home before the days grow long." I didn't know what he meant, but smiled in return. He followed me into the building and I could feel the presence of his Spirit, and it was overpowering.

I knew that here was a man I could learn from, but in the spring the guards beat him to death over in the hole because they could not make him stop singing a song about his people. Although he had a life sentence, he went home before the days grew long.

In Texas, our Indian religion is against the law, and I see how much the traditional brothers suffer from being denied the religion of their Grandfathers and Grandmothers. For those sisters and brothers who wonder why the most important thing in their lives -- their religion -- has been banned and made against the law, I have written the following poem. I pray my words will lend some comfort to those sisters and brothers who need comforting, and perhaps my poem will help others not of our faith to see what a brutal injustice it is for the prisoncrats to suppress Indian religion in their Iron Houses.

WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART THEY CANNOT TAKE. DO THEY FORBID YOU TO HAVE A SWEAT LODGE? YOU ARE SITTING IN ONE EVERY DAY. THE ROOF OF YOUR PRISON IS THE SACRED COVERING; THE BARS THE SACRED WILLOW; THE STONE FLOOR IS YOUR MOTHER; THE SACRED ROCKS ARE HEATED IN THE FIRE OF YOUR INDIAN HEART. TAKE THE WATER FROM THE SINK IN YOUR CELL AND POUR IT OVER YOUR HEAD AND YOU SHALL BE PURIFIED. DO THEY TAKE AWAY YOUR PIPE, YOUR FEATHERS, YOUR MEDICINE, OR YOUR PRIVILEGES? WHO CAN TAKE YOUR POWER? WHO CAN TAKE YOUR DREAM? WHO TAKES YOUR VISIONS? YOUR PIPE IS YOUR SOUL. IT HAS NO FORM. YET, LOOK AT YOUR BROTHER. DO YOU SEE THE LIVING PIPE? YOU HAVE NO FEATHERS? THEY ARE INVISIBLE. YET WAKAN TANKA KNOWS YOU WEAR THEM AND PRAY WITH THEM. YOUR HOLY MEDICINE IS YOUR TEARS. IT IS GOOD TO CRY LIKE A MAN FOR WISDOM. WHEN YOU SEE YOUR BROTHER CRYING, GO TO HIM AND LICK THE TEARS FROM HIS CHEEKS AND YOU SHALL HAVE MEDICINE. THESE ARE YOUR PRIVILEGES. YOUR POWER IS TO RESIST THROUGH YOUR WILL. STRENGTHEN YOUR WILL. WITH EVERY TEAR YOU GROW STRONGER BECAUSE THEY FEAR YOUR WILL TO ENDURE. THEY ARE ALREADY DEFEATED BECAUSE THEY ABUSE WHAT THEY CANNOT CONQUER. YOUR LIFE IS THEIR DEFEAT.

Standing Deer

MEDICINE BAGS-R-US: TDCJ does us another favor

The week following Lenny's visit, I sent a message to tell Lenny that I would consider it a great honor if he would put together a medicine bag for me. Meanwhile, I went to Chaplain Downs, who is the Christian preacher in charge of religious programs at this prison. I told the good chaplain that I wanted to make arrangements for Lenny to prepare my medicine bag and bring it in to me at our next meeting where we are hoping to be permitted to pray with the Sacred Pipe.

Chaplain Downs informed me that Lenny Foster could not bring me a medicine bag, nor could he prepare one for me. The only way I will be allowed to have a medicine bag is to order it from an "approved vendor". My medicine bag cannot be made sacred by my spiritual advisor, but must instead be bought from a commercial, profit-making business similiar to "MEDICINE BAGS-R-US". The preacher gave me a flyer advertising the medicine bag that the "approved vendor" would sell me. Their ad is reproduced below:

(on a page with a border of feathers) "The Adobe has put together a medicine bundle that is institution approved to fit the needs of Native American ceremony & worship. It contains the following: 1 feather, 7 polished assorted stones, 1 cup size shell, 1 plain headband, 1 leather pouch (color will vary due to availability of leather)

All bundles are ready to use and are guaranteed to have been smudged and blessed! Total for this kit will be $16.95, which includes tax, shipping and handling. To order send check or money order to The Adobe.

Meets AD 30 7.30 (Rev.) Requirements.
number of kits @ $16.95 ENCLOSED_$_____________
ALLOW 4-6 weeks for delivery" (end of sales pitch)

Today, I sit in my cage and wonder which of our winged brothers or sisters they plucked the feather from; who "smudged and blessed" the "ready to use" medicine bundle they sell; and, whether the sacred stones are made of plastic.

A long time ago, my teacher taught me that there is a spirit dwelling in a sacred stone. He called it tunkan wasicun, which means roughly "spirit of the stone". I have to wonder how carefully these stones were selected, and whether the selection was done in a sacred manner by the faceless medicine man -- if there is one -- who works for and promotes the sale of "prison approved medicine bags, Inc."

Is his name something like Chief Piercing Eyes, of the Thunder Chicken band?

I guess I'll never know. The one thing I do know is that ever since the invasion of america it seems like the more they "give" us the less we have.

IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE,
Standing Deer
June 1999

Because it is nearly impossible to obtain factual information about what's going on in the world outside my cage, my report entitled "PHOENIX RISING: The New RFRA in Texas" is completely wrong. I wrote my article on June 2, 1999, and George Dubyou Bush, Jr. signed the RFRA into law but only after prisoners were excluded at the last minute. He signed the Texas RFRA bill on June 10, 1999 sans Indians. Prisoners were denied protection under the bill due to the protests of right-wing religious fascists who demanded that prisoners and homosexuals be denied equal protection of the law. Prisoners were removed; homosexuals were not. Prisoners can't vote; homosexuals can. Simple as that. The Christian right-wing has one of the most powerful lobbies in Texas, and they were concerned that the RFRA would put an end to their right to discriminate against prisoners and homosexuals for religious reasons.

The chief protester was The Justice Fellowship which is the Public Policy affiliate of Chuck Colson's ministries to prisoners. Chuck Colson didn't need protection for his hustle because he is already in with TDCJ thick as thieves. Plus, he is dispensing the religion of the dominant culture.

Pat Nolan, President of Fascist Fellowship Oh, excuse me but Justice Fellowship seems to me to be an oxymoron, anyway, he sniveled about the Gays not being kicked out of the bill along with the prisoners, saying, "This is the first victory for Gay Rights groups around the country to get a civil rights exception carved out of the religious freedom bill!"

Also protesting prisoners and homosexuals in the bill was Gary Bauer, Former President of The Family Research Council and rival of Bush, Jr. for the GOP nomination.

Contrary to the view I expressed in my article about the Native American Church being our champions, I have learned, to my utter dismay, that the NAC does not support religious rights for prisoners. The position of the Native American Church is that prisoners should wait until they get out to practice their religion. I suppose they think that if we never get out -- as most of us in Texas prisons never do -- we should have no religion at all.

Here is the mindset of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) when it comes to Indian religion. In the June 17-23, 1999 issue of CURRENT magazine, Jenny Browne interviewed John V. Martinez, Director of the Prisoners Defense Committee in San Antonio. In that article, Glen Castlebury, TDCJ, Director of Public Information (read Propaganda Minister) is reported to have said, when asked by Jenny Browne about spiritual advisors and sweat lodges, that TDCJ needs to prevent inmates from selecting what Castlebury sees as "inappropriate spiritual advisors" from the Ku Klux Klan or radical Muslim groups. Castlebury also, says, "We will fight until the last court with Native Americans about that sweat lodge thing."

So then it's settled: We won't be allowed to have Ku Klux Klansmen as spiritual leaders and radical Muslims can't run our sweat lodges. In George Dubyou Bush. Jr.'s Execution Capitol of the Western World IGNORANCE REIGNS SUPREME and all's right with the religious right because THAT SWEAT LODGE THING IS DEAD!!!