WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell today called on the Department of Justice to launch a hate-crimes investigation into a newspaper ad announcing the start of “Indian Hunting Season.”

Campbell received a copy of the ad, which ran in a South Dakota newspaper, that is intended to look like a real hunting season announcement. The ad declares open season on the Sioux reservations, sets a limit of ten kills per day and other regulations for where and in what manner Indians may be killed.

Campbell, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, wrote Attorney General Janet Reno that “when such an ad authorizes hunting season on human beings and places a limit on how many can be killed, surely it is reason for law enforcement to take action. Such a solicitation to commit mass homicide must run afoul of federal law. I am requesting that you direct an investigation by the appropriate hate-crimes office within the Department.”

He also pointed out that in the 1800s, some Coloradans expressed support for the Sand Creek Massacre.

“For those that think anti-Indian sentiment and feelings are a relic of the past, I urge them to read this product of a twisted and hateful mind,” Campbell said in a Congressional Record Statement last week. “At the turn of the millennium here in the greatest nation on earth, there are pockets of hate that continue to thrive. After my tenure here in Congress, I know full well the limits of government. I know we can pass no law forcing people to respect each other, or forcing them to be tolerant. But this ad goes beyond mere hurtful words and actually advocates murder and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

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Nov. 4, 1999

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