Indian burn

It's too bad our old buddy, University of Colorado ethnic studies professor and 9-11 apologist Ward Churchill, doesn't have the "Survivor" immunity necklace — because the tribe has spoken.

The Keetoowah band of Cherokee Indians has kicked Churchill out. Or, more accurately, they've declared that he was never a real member in the first place. Via the Llama Butchers blog, Denver's Rocky Mountain News reports:

Ward Churchill's claim of membership in the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians is fraudulent, according to a scathing statement released by the tribal office.

The statement, issued May 9 in the name of the tribal leader, Chief George Wickliffe, and posted on its Web site Tuesday, does not mince words:

"The United Keetoowah Band would like to make it clear that Mr. Churchill IS NOT a member of the Keetoowah Band and was only given an honorary 'associate membership' in the early 1990s because he could not prove any Cherokee ancestry."

The tribe said that all of Churchill's "past, present and future claims or assertions of Keetoowah 'enrollment,' written or spoken, including but not limited to; biographies, curriculum vitae, lectures, applications for employment, or any other reference not listed herein, are deemed fraudulent by the United Keetoowah Band."

Churchill could not be reached Tuesday, and his attorney, David Lane, did not respond to calls for comment.

The Denver Post reports that despite the tribe's statement, Churchill still claims he's an Indian, and a Keetoowah member. But his evidence, an old videotape of the tribal council considering his "application" for membership, doesn't seem all that conclusive.

As the Post explains, the University of Colorado's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct is currently investigating whether Churchill falsely claimed Indian ancestry to "lend credibility to his work", as well as whether he misrepresented historical events and committed plagiarism in his academic writings.

Ward Churchill had quite a run as an America-bashing ersatz Indian "professor", but his chickens, as Ward himself might say, finally seem to be coming home to roost.