Darlene Ka-Mook Nichols facts for kids

Darlene Nichols, also known by the names Kamook, Ka-Mook, Kamook Nichols and Ka-Mook Nichols, is the name of a former AIM member and Native American protester. She is best known for her role in the American Indian Movement for organizing (and participating in) The Longest Walk, and for serving as a key material witness in the trials of Arlo Looking Cloud, Richard Marshall, and John Graham that ultimately led to the conviction of two AIM members in the murders of Anna Mae Aquash.

Early life

Darlene "Ka-Mook" Ecoffey was born Darlene Pearl Nichols in the city of Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. She is from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Personal life

Nichols had previously lived with AIM leader Dennis Banks for 17 years and is mother of four of Banks' thirteen children. She would separate from Banks in 1989. In 2004, Nichols would marry Robert Ecoffey, who served as the Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in September 2004.

Activism

Nichols had previously participated in a Gordon, Nebraska rally related to Native American causes. One of the greatest hallmarks of Nichols' career as a civil rights activist and organizer was "The Longest Walk." In response to 11 bills introduced in the United States Congress intended to dismantle American Indian tribal sovereignty, tribal lands and water rights in 1978. The Longest Walk was thought of with the Trail of Broken Treaties of 1972 in mind, a similar form of protest which consisted of a caravan by car and subsequent march in Washington, D.C. and occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to protest the government's during the throes of the Termination Era. The Longest Walk also symbolized the last major event of the Red Power Movement. Organized by Nichols and then husband, Dennis Banks, the former organized over 30,000 Native Americans from 80 different Tribal nations in the city of Davis, California and marched 5,800 kilometers (3,600 miles) from Alcatraz to Washington, D.C. in a span of 5 months. The Longest Walk came to an end on 15 July 1978 when approximately 2,000 people entered the United States nation's capital, traveled to Meridian Hill Park and stopped at the Washington Monument. The Longest Walk was a resounding success, as the demonstration brought international attention and outrage against the federal paternalism the nation's Native Americans were facing, and resulted in the bills being defeated.

FBI informant

Nichols originally served as a staunch supporter of the American Indian Movement. Even while one of her daughters was born in federal prison, Nichols refused to cooperate with the FBI. However, following the murder of activist and friend Anna Mae Aquash, she began to reconsider her steadfast alliance with the group. After reading newspaper reports about the murder of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, Nichols began to suspect that the American Indian Movement was involved with Anna Mae's murder. Nichols contacted the FBI, agreed to cooperate in Aquash's murder investigation and later wore a wire to record conversations with Arlo Looking Cloud, Dennis Banks and others.

Testimony

Nichols testified in three trials concerning the murder of Anna Mae Aquash. Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham were convicted of first degree murder while Richard Marshall was acquitted. Some of her testimony involved Leonard Peltier, who is serving a life sentence for the 1975 murder of two FBI agents

Legacy

Nichols-Ecoffey has been both praised and condemned for cooperating with the federal government and testifying against John Graham, Richard Marshall, and Arlo Looking Cloud. She has also been castigated by some American Indians for cooperating with the FBI. Barry Bachrach, one of Leonard Peltier's defense lawyers, claimed Nichols had received money from the FBI in exchange for her testimony.

During United States v. Looking Cloud, Nichols acknowledged receipt of $42,000 from the FBI in connection with her cooperation on the case, money she explained was compensation for the expenses she incurred while traveling to collect evidence by wearing a wire while visiting her ex-husband, Dennis Banks. The money was also paid to her to cover relocation expenses due to her fear of Banks. Nichols testified that she received $42,000 from the federal government, some of it reimbursement for her travel expenses. The government also paid to move Nichols from California to a safer location in New Mexico because of her involvement with the case. She said she moved again after Banks learned where she was living.

During that period covering almost four years, Nichols was reimbursed some $42,000 for moving twice for security reasons when Dennis Banks found out where she lived, and for travel, lodging, phone and meal expenses. According to FBI agent caseworker for the Aquash case, the $42,000 reimbursed was accounted for by receipt according to Jim Graff, FBI agent caseworker for the Aquash case. Nichols, who worked in the movie industry, had to pass up several contracts for movie casting over a three-year timeframe that cost over $100,000 in personal income, including one three month casting offer that alone would have paid her around $50,000.

The Indigenous Women for Justice, where Denise Maloney-Pictou, one of Aquash's daughters, serves as executive director, thanked Nichols-Ecoffey for the heroism she displayed in the testimony that led to convictions in her mother's (Aquash) murder. Joseph H. Trimbach, one of the special agents who was part of the Wounded Knee incident and Anna Mae Aquash murder investigation, and his son, John H. Trimbach (who is also a special agent), chronicled the testimony provided by witnesses, including Nichols-Ecoffey, in the book, which served as a recount of the events which surrounded the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the American Indian Movement during the 1970s from the perspective of a former FBI Chief Agent.

On 27 August 2008, Nichols-Ecoffey and her husband opened a Subway restaurant on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

See also

• American Indian Movement
• Wounded Knee incident
• Ray Robinson
• Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash
• Leonard Peltier