It is precisely the condition the FBI and U.S. Marshals had envisioned for AIM a quarter century ago. For AIM members, supporters, and friends, there is a deeply earned sense of fear that provides good incentive for silence. More than 60 Indians were murdered on the Pine Ridge reservation during the early 1970's. Some residents say the number of murdered on the rez was closer to 300. All of them died for their allegiance to the American Indian Movement.
People are afraid to talk.
Eddie Little Crow told Claypoole why. Mickey Aquash, nephew of Anna Mae's second husband, Nogeeshik, told Claypoole that his uncle, in 1996, had finally decided to go looking for those who killed his wife. Nogeeshik made a phone call to a family member, saying that he was ready to go public with the evidence he had gathered. He died a day later in a mysterious fire that consumed his home. Eddie Little Crow and all the others have good reason to be nervous about talking.