March 6, 1991 - “An Indian life does not have a very high value in the city of Lawrence”

Article angers Indians

Officer apologizes for insensitivity

1991, March 6. The Salina Journal.

Lawrence - A police spokesman apologized.. for an article he wrote that many Indian leaders said was cavalier about the unexplained deaths of three Indian students and was based on negative stereotypes.

“I would like to say publicly that it was never my intention to alienate, ridicule or make light of the victims of recent tragic deaths of Native Americans,” Chris Mulvenon of the Lawrence Police Department said.

“I am completely sorry and wholeheartedly regret any perceptions of insensitivity that my article satirizing media responsibility may have caused.”

His column appeared in the latest issue of a statewide police magazine.

Mulvenon was criticizing the Wall Street Journal for writing about Indians’ fear that a serial killer could be responsible for the deaths, a theory police had dismissed. They said all three men had been drinking.

“The only evidence pointing to a serial in the deaths was cereal malt beverage,” Mulvenon wrote.

But some Indian leaders said his apology was not enough.

“Apologies at this point, while appreciated, are not going to solve the problem,” said Daniel Wildcat, president of the Lawrence Indian Center.

“How can we expect to be safe if attitudes of racism exist within the police force?” asked a statement from the Haskell Indian Junior College student senate. “Why must we be an isolated community in Lawrence? Why can’t we walk the streets of Lawrence without fear for our lives?”

Steve Cadue, chairman of the Kickapoo tribe, asked Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan, for a Senate hearing on the unsolved deaths of Indians in Douglas County since April 1989.

“An Indian life does not have a very high value in the city of Lawrence,” Cadue said in a letter.

The deaths of John Sandoval, Cecil Dawes Jr. and Christopher Bread made some Indians fear a killer was targeting Haskell students.

“Do we lampoon and deride real fears that are present in our community by drawing upon painful stereotypes?” Wildcat asked. “The answer must be a simple and unwavering no.”

Sandoval’s body was found in April 1989 in the Kansas River that flows through Lawrence. Dawes was discovered in the river in October of that year. Police have said the two may have fallen and drowned in the river in separate accidents.

Bread was discovered along a rural road with a fractured skull. Police believe a hit-and-run driver was responsible for his death.

All three men were last seen leaving parties or social events.