Not the world’s most famous fake indian, this one is longtime “pinkskin” (groups of Whites who pretend to be Indians, often with the blessing of New Age activists like Sunbear) and convicted sex offender David Weber who leads a unrecognized “tribe” called the Kaweah Indian Nation. The tribe told illegals that they could join for the fee of $600 dollars and that membership in the tribe would confer automatic legal U.S. citizenship. That last claim is of course bogus, even if they were a real tribe.
Questions about the legitimacy of Webber’s tribe and his Indian ancestry have dogged the tribe and its self-proclaimed chief since its beginnings.
In its 1984 ruling against federal acknowledgment, the Bureau of Indian Affairs found that the Kaweah Indian Nation Inc. did not exist before 1980 when it was formed under the leadership of Webber, a non-Indian. The BIA called it an urban Indian interest group from Porterville, Calif., that had no relation to the aboriginal Kaweah Indians.
The BIA finding documented the tribe’s contentious history, noting it was formed as a result of an internal dispute with a similar group formed by Webber in 1976, the United Lumbee Nation of North Carolina and America, Inc. It also noted his tumultuous relationship with Oatman, Ariz., residents and his conviction there on a sex-related charge.
Weber, who goes by the name Grand Chief Thunderbird IV, isn’t happy about the court cases and the media attention and has issued a warning to local authorities:
Webber has likened his tribe’s struggles to the Indian militants who occupied Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973.
While in Oatman, he sent letters to Nevada’s governor and the BIA, telling them, “Our people (Kaweahs) are mad and we are trying to hold our warriors back from causing trouble in Oatman and against the Mohave County Sheriff’s Department … before you know it the Mojaves and Hualapais will get into the act. It will make Wounded Knee look like and (sic) Sunday School picnic,” according to the BIA report.
That I’d like to see.