"Is down the only future for the Native American?"

[Native Americans]: Jones, Ronald:

[Collection of Documents Pertaining to Ronald Jones of the Onondaga Nation and His Family's Conflicts with Local Authorities].

[Syracuse, NY and surrounding areas]: 1973-1974. Twelve printed documents, between one and four pages, mostly mimeographed, totaling thirty pages. Stapled together. Minor wear. Very good overall. Item #12802

An informative assortment of printed documents pertaining to a curious legal situation involving Ronald Jones of the Snipe Clan of the Onondaga Nation, his family, and the local police, mostly mimeographed for distribution by Jones himself. The earliest items are from December 1973, when Jones's wife Ruth was arrested by police in Lafayette, New York on her way to her job as a bus driver for the local school. The reason for the arrest is unclear -- there is mention of license plate infractions, while Jones says it was because she fought for her rights -- but the larger question was whether Lafayette police had the right to arrest a member of the Onondaga Nation under the circumstances. The rest of the documents, continuing into 1974, reflect Jones's dispute over this and other tribal rights, with many references made to treaties going back to the 18th century. One document is an open letter to the President of the United States, in which Jones expounds on the dilution of indigenous rights in America, eventually pondering, "Is down the only future for the Native American?"

Jones's distribution of these leaflets led to tensions with the police, described in a January 1974 leaflet from the local American Indian Movement chapter, which protests his arrest and beating on charges of attempted murder; AIM charges that the police brought charges against Jones simply to "stop him from distributing leaflets critical of their actions." Another four-page document presents a transcript of a statement by Mark Silverstein, who witnessed the police beating. A petition included in the packet, designed to be signed by members of various nations within the Iroquois Confederation, demands that Jones be released to the custody of tribal authorities. Jones was long seen as a "radical" not only by non-tribal authorities but by the Onondaga leaders, whose legitimacy and loyalty Jones called into question. Jones's family was banished from the Nation in 1984. In 1999 he was murdered, in an unsolved case which led his supporters to suspect the tribal leaders he had criticized were responsible for his death.

Price: $850