The life of Vernon Bellecourt

Last update: October 14, 2007 - 11:19 PM

Oct. 17, 1931: Born on Minnesota's White Earth Indian Reservation.

1930s-40s: Attends St. Benedict's parochial school, White Earth.

1947: At age 16, moves to Minneapolis with family.

Late 1940s-early '50s: Serves time in St. Cloud prison for St. Paul bar robbery. In prison, learns barbering skills. Later opens hair salons in Twin Cities.

1960s: Moves to Colorado with family, where he works as a barber and becomes increasingly politically conscious.

1968: American Indian Movement (AIM) founded by his brother, Clyde Bellecourt, and others. Vernon soon becomes active in it.

November 1972: Acts as negotiator after AIM occupies Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C., as part of the Trail of Broken Tears caravan.

1973: Serves as spokesman and fundraiser during AIM occupation of town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

1975: Two FBI agents killed during shootout at Pine Ridge. Bellecourt subsequently becomes active in campaign to free AIM activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in the shootout.

1976: Defeated by Darrell (Chip) Wadena in race to become chairman of the 22,000-member White Earth Band of Chippewa.

1979: Conviction for bar robbery during his teen years is expunged from his record.

1989: Travels to Libya and meets with Moammar Gadhafi.

1991: Meets with Yasser Arafat to talk about similarities they see between American Indian and Palestinian situations.

1997: Arrested in Cleveland during World Series protests of the Cleveland Indians' mascot, Chief Wahoo. Charges dropped. Also, demonstrates on the property of Alliant Techsystems in Hopkins in protest against production of land mines.

1998: Arrested again in Indian nickname protest. Never charged.

August 2007: Travels to Venezuela to meet with President Hugo Chavez.

Oct. 13, 2007: Dies of pneumonia at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis at age 75.

Source: Star Tribune files

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