Darlene Ka-Mook Nichols facts for kids

Darlene Nichols, also known as Ka-Mook, is a Native American activist. She was once a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). She is famous for helping to organize "The Longest Walk." She also shared important information in legal cases involving the death of Anna Mae Aquash.

Early Life and Family

Darlene Pearl Nichols was born in Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. She grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Darlene met Dennis Banks, a co-founder and leader of the American Indian Movement, when she was a teenager. They later had four children together.

Personal Connections

Nichols lived with AIM leader Dennis Banks for 17 years. They had four children together before separating in 1989. In September 2004, Nichols married Robert Ecoffey. He was a lead investigator in the case of Anna Mae Aquash's death. He is now a superintendent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Anna Mae Aquash also had a relationship with Dennis Banks. This relationship caused some tension among women in the movement. They felt it could make AIM less stable. Nichols and Aquash became friends in 1973. In 1975, Nichols' second daughter was born while Nichols was in jail in Wichita, Kansas.

Activism and The Longest Walk

Nichols was a dedicated civil rights activist. She participated in a rally in Gordon, Nebraska, for Native American causes. One of her most important achievements was organizing "The Longest Walk." This event happened in 1978. It was a response to 11 bills in the United States Congress. These bills aimed to take away American Indian tribal sovereignty, tribal lands, and water rights.

The Longest Walk was inspired by the Trail of Broken Treaties from 1972. That protest involved a car caravan and a march in Washington, D.C. It also included an occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This was to protest government actions during the Termination Era. The Longest Walk was also the last major event of the Red Power Movement.

Nichols and Dennis Banks organized the walk. Nichols brought together over 30,000 Native Americans from 80 different Tribal nations. They started in Davis, California, near Alcatraz. They marched 5,800 kilometers (3,600 miles) to Washington, D.C. over five months. The walk ended on July 15, 1978. About 2,000 people entered the nation's capital. They traveled to Meridian Hill Park and stopped at the Washington Monument.

The Longest Walk was a great success. It brought international attention to the unfair treatment of Native Americans. This public outcry helped defeat the harmful bills in Congress.

Sharing Information with Authorities

Darlene Nichols was a strong supporter of the American Indian Movement. Even when one of her daughters was born while Nichols was in federal prison, she did not cooperate with the FBI. However, after her friend Anna Mae Aquash died, Nichols began to have doubts. She read newspaper reports about Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash's death. Nichols started to suspect that the American Indian Movement was involved.

Nichols then contacted the FBI. She agreed to help with the investigation into Aquash's death. She later wore a hidden recording device. This helped her record conversations with Arlo Looking Cloud, Dennis Banks, and others.

One conversation with her former husband, Dennis Banks, was very important. Dennis Banks was being investigated regarding the death of Ray Robinson. Robinson was an African-American civil rights protestor. He disappeared after traveling to Wounded Knee to join the Wounded Knee incident. Banks had claimed he knew nothing about Robinson until after the Wounded Knee siege ended. However, Nichols' recordings suggested otherwise.

In 2001, Nichols spoke with Banks to learn more about the 1975 death of AIM activist Anna Mae Aquash. Banks did not want to talk about Aquash. Instead, he talked about Robinson. He said Robinson was shot by another AIM officer. Robinson bled to death because the group was surrounded and could not get him proper medical help. Banks said he saw Robinson's body. He then told someone named Chris Westerman to "bury him where no one will know." Banks said Westerman was "gone for about five hours." He added that Robinson was buried "over by the creek."

Testimony in Legal Cases

Nichols shared information in three legal cases about Anna Mae Aquash's death. Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham were found responsible for a serious crime. Richard Marshall was found not responsible. Some of Nichols' information also involved Leonard Peltier. He is serving a life sentence for the 1975 deaths of two FBI agents.

Information About Leonard Peltier

In the Graham case, Nichols described a conversation between Pictou-Aquash and another AIM member, Leonard Peltier. Pictou-Aquash told Peltier to either shoot her or protect her. Nichols said that Leonard Peltier believed Aquash was an informant. He said he would give her "truth serum" to make her tell the truth. Nichols also said she heard Peltier "put a gun to her [Aquash's] head." He wanted to know if she was an informant.

Nichols shared a jail cell with Aquash in the fall of 1975. During that time, Aquash openly talked about her fears. Nichols said, "She was upset, she was crying, she was afraid. I knew she was scared of Leonard and Dennis at that point." Nichols also told the jury that she was with Aquash when Peltier talked about killing two FBI agents in 1975. This was the last time Nichols saw Aquash alive.

United States v. Looking Cloud

Fritz Arlo Looking Cloud, an Oglala Sioux, was arrested on March 27, 2003, in Denver, Colorado. He was accused of shooting Pictou-Aquash during a kidnapping in December 1975.

Nichols-Ecoffey stated that Peltier told her and Aquash that he killed two FBI agents. This happened during a June 1975 shootout at a Pine Ridge ranch. According to Nichols-Ecoffey, Peltier said, "He said the (expletive) was begging for his life, but I shot him anyway." Nichols-Ecoffey said she, Leonard Peltier, her sisters, Bernie Nichols-Lafferty and Barbara Robideau, her then-husband Dennis Banks, and others were in a recreational vehicle. This vehicle was lent to the American Indian Movement by actor Marlon Brando. It was during this time that Peltier talked about the event. Nichols-Ecoffey also said she heard Peltier say he thought Aquash was an informant.

During the trial, Nichols-Ecoffey talked about several violent events involving the American Indian Movement. These included The Custer Courthouse Riot Incident, the seventy-one day occupation of Wounded Knee, and a shoot-out near her home. She also discussed rumors that Aquash was an informant. Many members of the American Indian Movement knew about or suspected this. Nichols-Ecoffey also said that some members took Aquash away for weeks to "watch her." Aquash was constantly watched by AIM members. She was not allowed to go anywhere alone or go home, even though she asked to. Mathalene White Bear, another former AIM member, said Aquash believed her life was in danger as early as September 1975. Nichols-Ecoffey stated that Leonard Crow Dog and Leonard Peltier thought Aquash was an informant.

In February 2004, a jury found Arlo Looking Cloud responsible for the 1975 death of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash. Looking Cloud appealed in 2005, but his appeal was denied. In August 2011, his sentence was reduced to 20 years. This was in exchange for his testimony against John Graham.

State of South Dakota v. Graham

John Graham, from the Yukon, was charged in the United States on March 30, 2003. He was accused of being involved in the 1975 death of Anna Mae Aquash.

On December 6, 2007, Graham was sent from Canada to the United States. The federal charge was later dismissed. However, he was then charged by a Pennington County grand jury with state charges related to the death. The underlying charge was the kidnapping of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash.

On December 2, 2010, a judge ruled that certain details from Aquash's first autopsy report could not be mentioned to the jury.

On December 3, 2010, Nichols-Ecoffey testified. She said an AIM activist made an "incriminating" statement in front of her and Aquash. Aquash was later shot and killed. The "incriminating" statement referred to Peltier saying he "shot the motherf* that was begging for his life, and still shooting him." The judge did not allow Nichols-Ecoffey to say exactly what she claimed Leonard Peltier told her six months before Pictou-Aquash died. The judge considered it hearsay. However, she was allowed to say that Peltier made an "incriminating" statement.

Graham was found responsible for a serious crime on December 10, 2014. The jury heard evidence that he helped in taking Aquash from Denver in December 1975.

Legacy and Impact

Darlene Nichols-Ecoffey has received both praise and criticism for working with the government. She shared information in the cases against John Graham, Richard Marshall, and Arlo Looking Cloud. Her information also suggested Leonard Peltier's involvement in the separate deaths of two FBI agents. Some American Indians have criticized her for cooperating with the FBI.

Barry Bachrach, one of Leonard Peltier's lawyers, claimed Nichols received money from the FBI for her information. He said, "This case was nothing more than smearsay. They coached Kamook and she admitted she had been paid $40,000 by the FBI. Her evidence should never have seen the light of day." Robert Robideau, a relative of Leonard Peltier, also claimed Nichols accepted $47,000 to say Peltier talked about killing two agents. Some people believe Nichols-Ecoffey had a financial reason to lie about AIM members' actions.

During the United States v. Looking Cloud case, Nichols confirmed she received $42,000 from the FBI. She explained this money was to cover her expenses. These expenses included travel to collect information by wearing a hidden recording device when visiting her former husband, Dennis Banks. The money also helped her move to a safer location because she was afraid of Banks. The government paid to move Nichols from California to New Mexico. She said she moved again after Banks found out where she was living. According to FBI agent Jim Graff, the $42,000 reimbursed was accounted for with receipts. Nichols, who worked in the movie industry, said she missed out on several movie roles over three years. These roles would have paid her over $100,000, including one three-month offer for about $50,000.

The Indigenous Women for Justice organization thanked Nichols-Ecoffey for her bravery. Denise Maloney-Pictou, one of Aquash's daughters, is the executive director of this group. They thanked Nichols-Ecoffey for her information that led to convictions in her mother's case. Joseph H. Trimbach, a special agent involved in the Wounded Knee incident and Anna Mae Aquash investigation, and his son, John H. Trimbach, wrote a book. It described the information provided by witnesses, including Nichols-Ecoffey. The book told the story of events around the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the American Indian Movement in the 1970s from an FBI agent's view.

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

Related Topics

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