Letter from Yankton Prison Camp

The
Sower
True justice is the harvest reaped by peacemakers
from seeds sown in the spirit of peace.
James, 3:18
Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker Farm, Maloy, Iowa
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Maloy!
We have gone from busy Fall, to a quieter holiday
season than usual, and headed back to busy again
now.
Brian was busy with traveling and speaking in
November-as he describes in his letter from Yankton.
I was busy with weaving orders and craft sales. Veronica finished up with owl banding (see her report
on birding activities on page 2) toward the end of the
month we hosted Kansas City CW friends Gina and
Rachael on their way Chicago for Thanksgiving with
Rachael’s family.
In December we were occupied with weaving, and
the plans for the craft retreat coming in January.
Becky went to Chicago, to her family, for a couple
weeks (Jezebel too) and my sister Kathy came to visit
here after Christmas. In the week of Christmas we
had a caroling party here at the house- a good sharing
of music-making at that time of year when people
still take time to sing together. It was not a big partybut we sang dozens of carols- and it was great fun.
New Year’s Eve, instead of our usual party at
Strangers and Guests, Kathy and I went to Yankton
and saluted the old year with the Emmaus House
folks, while Veronica went dancing in Des Moines
with Sophie.
Veronica celebrated a big birthday on Epiphany,
and hosted a party in Kellerton- more dancing and
great food. Old friends Jon Krieg and Patti McKee
came down from Des Moines for the festivities, Sophie Ryan lead us in dancing that night.
When Becky got back to Maloy, she participated in
a fast in solidarity with Witness Against Torture in
Washington, which and Brian attended in the
past.(See page 3 for more about the fast.)
A report on the 2013 Craft retreat that we hosted in
Maloy can be found on pages 4 &5-Friends, feasting
and creativity!. I am so happy to have a space to provide for this kind of gathering!
Continued on page 7
Number 12, Winter/Spring 2013
Letter from Yankton Prison Camp
Dear Friends,
Greetings from the Federal Prison Camp in Yankton,
South Dakota! As of this writing, I am two months
into a six month sentence imposed due to my protest
of war crimes committed by remote control from
Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri against the
people of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Betsy accompanied me here to Yankton on November 29, and that evening the Emmaus House Catholic
Worker community, Beth Preheim, Michael Sprong
and Dagmar Hoxie, hosted an evening of music, good
food and good company to see me off. Activists
from around the Midwest attended, and some sisters
from the Benedictine monastery here.
In the morning after a great breakfast and Gospel
prayer, Betsy and Dagmar and Michael, along with
Continued on page 6
The Sower
Winter/Spring, 2013- No. 12
Fall and Winter
Birding Activities
By Veronica Mecko
From mid-October to mid-November I spent most
of the evenings doing a project studying Northern
Saw-whet Owls. These small owls are about the size
of a kitten (with a bigger head and bigger eyes) and
raise their young in Canada and northern U.S. They
are one of a few species of owls that migrate south in
the fall. The species has nocturnal habits and migrates during the night and until the past 15 years or
so, not much was known about their movements. For
the past four years my friend Jerry Toll has been
banding Northern Saw-whet Owls during fall migration. This year he applied for a sub-permit for me
through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in order to
run a satellite banding station in southern Iowa.
On 21 nights between Oct. 16 and Nov. 14, with
the help of many volunteers, I banded 41 individual
owls. The study includes taking measurements of the
owls and determining, when possible, if they are
male or female and if they were hatched during the
past season or if they are older birds. The owl’s
weight and length of the wing are used to determine
the sex of the bird. Females are generally larger than
males. Thirty of the owls I banded were females, four
were males and seven were unknown. An audio lure
of the male’s mating call is used in the project which
is the reason for the greater number of females.
To determine the age of the owl, we look at the
molt pattern of the primary and secondary feathers in
the wings. When the underside of the wing is viewed
under UV light, a pigment in new feathers will show
as fluorescent pink while older feathers will have
faded to white. Most of the owls I caught were
Hatch-year birds, meaning they were hatched in the
spring or early summer of 2012. The rest of the owls
were at least in their second year and these showed a
wide variation of patterns of newer and older feathers
in their wings.
There are a few sites in Iowa where Northern
Saw-whet Owls can be seen perched during the day
during the winter, although I haven’t ever seen them.
They have been found as far south as Arkansas in the
winter. Now in February, they will be heading back
north to their summer nesting areas.
In December I participated in two different
Christmas Bird Counts in southwestern Iowa. CBCs
are open to anyone interested in learning more about
birds. Some of the more exciting moments for me on
the counts this year were to hear and see a Hermit
Thrush, hear a Winter Wren, and see two Short-eared
Owls fly by at dusk while my birding partner and I
were trying to dig out our vehicle stuck in a snow
drift.
The last weekend
in January I did a new project, a winter raptor survey
of a 60-mile loop around Maloy following protocol
from Hawk Migration Association of N. America.
Becky Lambert was the official driver and extra set
of eyes. From 9 am to almost 2 pm we saw 36 different raptors including 4 Northern Harriers, 7 American Kestrels, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 3 Bald Eagles,
17 Red-tailed Hawks including a Harlan’s Hawk and
1 short-eared owl. While we were watching an eagle
fly past over a river bed, Becky spotted a Great Blue
Heron walking and then flying along the river.
For more
information go to www.projectowlnet.org, and
www.hmana.org.
Page 2
The Sower
Winter/Spring, 2013- No. 12
For 11 years the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has been illegally
detaining, torturing and abusing prisoners deemed "enemy combatants”.
In 2007 a group called Witness Against Torture convened in Washington,
holding a fast that aimed to draw attention to the illegal activities
being committed in the 'war on terror' by the U.S. government. This
year I participated in the week-long fast from Maloy, centering and
focusing on our brothers being held indefinitely, without trial,
without voice, at the prison."
Becky
haven't
hadUNDER
muchTHAT
oppurtunity
on the
THERE
IS A MAN
HOOD
Luke Nephew, January 2011
busy,
computer. it's been a really
full
weekend. Odd how much you can fit into 48 hours.
I plan to leave
We are not here to make angels out of prisoners.
I will speak for the change that was promised,
around
11,But
so we
home
bythat
7ish
(i are
canmen…
do the goats).
truck
We here
don’t know
them.
know
they
I’m notThe
ashamed
to be honest: And tell you:
And so
we
defend
those
who
disappear
under
hoods
and
We
have
all
cried,
doesn't really like going over 60-ish, so it took longer than i Mr. President,
into jumpsuits,
Clouds of consciousness overflowing out our eyes, Mr.
Bringing back into the light every CIA thought
black cite, because
President…
right
now…
Becausewell
theylately.
fell like corpses into the category of ‘eneIs this okay? I know it's not good, i'm just not writing
There is a man under that hood
my combatants’
There is a brother breathing prayers ofYikes.
desperation,
I will not act like nothing happened when it’s happening
Striking
hunger so hard
that his Yup,
ribs are
about
to crack,
Just checked
my phone.
looks
like
you called now
yesterday afterThere is a man under that hood in Afghanistan, GuanI will not bow to this injustice.
noon.
tanamo and Iraq
No matter how beaten and bruised
That is being treated
as less didn't
than human…
Obviously
tell me i had missed aThere
call.is a man under that hood
His rights have been dismissed with the label terrorist
That is exactly as human as you
See you this evening
And just for saying this, they’ll probably put my name on
There is a man under that hood
a list
Regardless of his religion,
But
this
is
too
dangerous
for
us
to
not
resist…
is a man
"For 11 years the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba There
has been
illegally
Mr. President, I want you to know, that if it were you
Who doesn’t understand, why we don’t see him…
detaining,
torturing and abusing prisoners deemedWhy
"enemy
hooded
and chained
it’s so combathard for us to imagine what it would be like
We would be standing right here, demanding
to be him…
ants.'the samebasic human rights for you…
There
In 2007
a group
called
Witness
convened
If it were
you facing
indefinite
detention
Mr.Against
Senator, Torture
Where
they sit on
in our prisons, hidden from our justice
We would march in these streets with
your
name
on
our
system,
locked
away,
Washintgon,
backs
Are we going to pretend that they are less than men and
holding a fast that aimed to draw attention to thejust
illegal
activities
We would fast
walk away?
being
committed
the 'war
terror'
by the U.S.Orgovernment.
This
In solidarity
with yourinhunger
strike,on
Mrs.
Congresswomwill we raise our
eyes above the walls,
an
Raise
our
voices
up
to
year I participated in the week-long fast from Maloy, centering and call out our government,
Even while months of breathing through black cloth
To say we see you, we are watching what you’re doin’,
focusing
on our brothers being held indefinitely,
trial,
made
you cough
Nowithout
matter how
many times you call them terrorists,
We would speak for you without voice, at the prison." We’ll still recognize them as human
Mr. Newsman, Mrs. Citizen, we would be here for you
And to the detainees,
Because no matter how hollowed out the night
No matter how tortured or shattered or forgotten you
We remember that human rights are universal,
feel
This is life, not a rehearsal!
Please know that there are people in these United
You cannot steal years of men’s lives based on lies exStates,
tracted from torture and
Who see you and hear you and know that you are real
bribes,
And to the people of my country,
We cannot decide who is human and who is not
Do not pretend we are seeking freedom,
Without becoming the greatest threat to ourselves
Or justice, or any common good,
I have sat inside a cell, and it taught me how wrong it is
Until we are ready
to cage men
To respect the human rights
And then say it’s all right to keep them…
Of every
For those brief seconds when we’ve had the courage to
Single
realize
Man…
That there is a man under that hood,
under that hood.
Page 3
The Sower
Winter/Spring, 2013- No. 12
Craft
Retreat
January
2013
Alice McGary arrived early for our
craft retreat, with a
mission in mind!
This was her 3rd trip
to Maloy for a craft
retreat, and she was
prepared with boxes
of prepared rags,
made into strips and
sewn to assemble a number of rugs she planned to
sell at a fundraiser for the Mustard Seed Community
Farm. We selected some warm reds, oranges and
purples to her taste and Alice set up the loom and
wove. I was setting up our other floor loom to make
dish cloths with a “waffle weave”. By the time we
officially started the retreat Friday, she had completed 5 warm-to-hot rugs, and we set up a second, milder colored warp for the rest of the weekend.
Friday morning we welcomed Sandy Maxa who
came to share her basket making skills. She had samples of some basket woven with gourd bases using
plastic bags with a coil technique. I was excited to
try another use for gourds we’d grown in years past
and started one with some fabric stitched around it,
while Sophie and Sandy made ones reusing shopping
bags of various colors.
Friday evening a carload arrived from the Quad cities with Elizabeth, Monique, her daughter Ella and
Ella’s friend Alex. Saturday morning they got busy
tearing and sewing rags. This involved the lessons in
how to use a rotary cutter, to prepare knit fabrics that
wouldn’t tear, and using the sewing machine, weav-
ing dishcloths in a waffle weave pattern on the smaller loom, and making rugs on the big one. Veronica
and Becky were home and helped assist the beginning weavers on Saturday and Sunday. After lunch
Saturday we were joined by our friend Betty Little
from southern Taylor county, who demonstrated
technique for rolling beeswax candles from stamped
sheets of wax in various colors. And many lovely tapers appeared, while the looms thumped
on.
Judy Henderson a fiber artist from Bedford, Iowa
also joined in crafting Saturday afternoon and several
were practicing or trying their hand at drop spinning
and knitting And most folks tried their hands at that,
when they weren’t working at one of the looms After
supper, when everyone else was tired, Alice stepped
up to the loom for one more rug. Reflecting on her
time at the craft retreat, Judy told me, “I sensed behind all the crafty things there was a sense of purpose, a higher meaning to the intentions of the
group.”
Sunday morning, four of us drove down to Clyde ,
Missouri for Mass at the Benedictine Sisters’ Monastery, and a look around their beautiful Chapel. The
others had a little more sleep and a pancake breakfast, and got going with more weaving. Monique’s
project had involved deconstructing an old family rug
to reuse those rags, which included some vintage
prints from the Amana Mills in a new rug, with some
of her own homespun wool.
Page 4
The Sower
Winter/Spring, 2013- No. 12
Sunday afternoon we went to the Frontier Hall in
Redding and met Sophie there for some folk dancing
and a potluck where some more local folks joined usBetty brought her husband Lee. Judy came to the potluck and dance and was pleased she could join in so
many different dances. Becky also exceeded her own
expectations- I wish I had some photos of the actionbut we were all busy dancing! Sophie is a great
teacher. Alice had to go home to Ames for work on
Monday, but she had woven 8 rugs during her Maloy
stay!
Monday morning Monique was finishing up her
new/old heirloom rug, and Alex and Ella some dishcloths. Veronica shared with them photos of her work
with hummingbirds in Costa Rica last winter.
Sue Buck joined us for lunch Monday and afterward demonstrated how she uses a
frame loom to make rag rugs twining.
Sophie had been given two of this
type of frame looms and was excited
to see the technique, and examples of
the result of this type of rag rug production that is feasible in her apartment.
.
Sue also touched
on how to crochet rag rugs, in
ovals or round
shapes- that
could have been
a whole other
project. This was
the first time she
had been involved in this
kind of gathering
and she was very
excited about it.
“ I came away
with ideas and a desire to keep creating. I didn't know
I could unravel old woven rugs and reuse the material. I enjoyed the wonderful food and companionship
at lunch as well.”
Spools ready for warping the loom
Once colors for the warp are selected,
they are placed on a smaller rack,
then wound on to the back beam, 24
at a time. At left Alice learns how to
wind warp onto the loom, first by
watching, then by doing. The next
step is threading the warp threads
through the heddles and reed. Then
the weaving begins! For the rugs, rag
strips are selected to weaving through
the warp threads. Alice, Ella, Elizabeth, Alex and Monique each made
rugs on this warp set-up, and I got
one more after they went home
Sandy Maxa shows
how she uses recycled shopping bags
to make a
basket, cutting
them into strips,
bunching them and
stitching one row
to the next, forming the shape with
your hands as you
go.
Page 5
The Sower
Winter/Spring, 2013- No. 12
Brian’s letter (continued from page 1)
Renee Espeland and Elton Davis, Catholic Workers
from Des Moines, and Jerry Ebner, a Catholic Worker from Omaha, walked a “last mile” with me to the
gate of the prison where I expect to remain until the
end of May.
An article in that morning’s Yankton Daily Press and
Dakotan, “Terrell: American Drone Strikes Must
Stop”, based on an interview from the previous day,
was widely read by prisoners and keepers alike and
made for an interesting reception. It helped to have a
sympathetic introduction to the local paper with a
clear explanation of the issues that led me to
Whiteman and then to Yankton.
This prison camp occupies the derelict shell of Yankton College founded in 1881. For more than a century Yankton College operated under the motto, “Christ
for the world.” A federal prison since 1988, this
place retains the appearance of the small, private, liberal arts college in a small Mid-American town that it
once was. Most buildings are on the historical register and still bear the names of alumni and benefactors. The class of 1938 is still memorialized in a
marble tablet set in the sidewalk that hundreds of
convicts walk each day.
The well kept grounds are especially lovely in a
snowfall and all reports are that in the spring and
summer the foliage and flowers are splendid. This
bucolic illusion is shattered every few minutes by the
rude squawk and squeal of the public address system
barking out orders and summoning inmates by name
and number.
In its present incarnation, the “campus” is demographically far more diverse and colorful than the
student body of even the most progressive of small
institutions of higher learning. On the other hand,
there is no church college so puritanical and rigid as
to impose a dress code austere as this prison’s, with
its uniform and unrelieved khaki, olive drab and grey.
I do not know if the old Yankton College was co-ed,
but it definitely is not now.
My fellow prisoners are all convicted of nonviolent
federal crimes, mostly drug related and most based
on the most tenuous of conspiracy allegations. Most
are here for many years, many for decades. Few
have been found guilty at trial by judge or jury as
most plead out to avoid even harsher penalties.
These are victims of the “war on drugs”, in reality
merely one front in the U.S. Empire global war
against the poor.
Michelle Alexander’s bestselling book, The New Jim
Crow, effectively indicts America’s penchant for
mass-incarceration as the successor to slavery and
“separate but equal”, the latest tactic of a racist society to maintain white dominance.
Brian Kavanaugh
Many of the other middle aged white men here are
“white collar” criminals, not more guilty though than
their peers who are outside and making out like bandits in business and finance. A corrupt and morally
bankrupt political and economic system requires
scapegoats, a ritual bleeding as it were, to maintain a
façade of rectitude and self-correction.
At Christmas, especially, the cost of this senseless
incarceration on these men and their loved ones was
painfully apparent.
I am an anomaly here, and not only as the lone antiwar protestor. My own unlawful detention will only
be for a few months compared to the years of the others. As a petty offender I will not be followed when I
Page 6
The Sower
Winter/Spring, 2013- No. 12
leave by a felon’s record or subject to years of supervised release. In many ways, I am a visitor in this
place.
For the first time in years, I am on a payroll, 11
cents an hour, sweeping and mopping two flights of
stairs twice a day. Three afternoons a week I take an
aerobics class and in all but the worst weather, I walk
for an hour or two around a quarter mile track. It is a
blessing and a pleasure that I cannot take for granted,
walking under the trees and the evening sky. The
ubiquitous surveillance cameras cannot spoil this.
The track is where I can find something close to solitude, especially when the temperature is in the single
digits and the snow is blowing. The track also offers
the rare opportunity for two people to have an almost
private conversation.
Stamps are rationed to 20 per week and can’t be sent
from outside, and so I cannot begin to reply to the
hundreds of cards and letters I’ve received. I am
deeply grateful for each message of solidarity and
friendship, of each promise of prayers.
Most encouraging is the daily word that comes in the
mail of growing awareness, outrage and resistance to
drone warfare. Friends recount for me a movement
of protest growing in numbers and creativity in
communities around the country and abroad.
In the weeks before my “surrender” to authorities, I
met with activists in Minnesota, Illinois, New York,
Missouri and Iowa, speaking in churches, halls, and
taverns and gave countless interviews to the media.
This all came to an abrupt halt as the prison doors
shut behind me.
With so much going on, it is hard to be caged up here
on the frozen prairie, a discipline that chafes. I confess to feeling envious of those doing the work and at
times feel as though I have abandoned them. I find
some consolation deep in the old Catholic tradition
that holds that one contributes to the good works of
others through prayer and by “offering up” deprivations and humiliations for their intentions. From this
penitential place, I have nothing more to give. I am
involuntarily and against my nature consigned to a
“little way” of contemplation for this little while.
My thanks to all who help spread the word and who
give material, emotional and spiritual support for me
here in prison and for the folks on the farm in Maloy.
We are well provided for.
Your loving prisoner 06125-026,
Brian
Ground the Drones
The Trial of the ‘Creech 14’
An adaptation from the courtroom transcripts of the
trial of the State of Nevada versus the ‘Creech 14’
Copies are available at Strangers and Guests CWSuggested donation: $5
Maloy news-continued from page 1
After the craft retreat, we began looking forward to
Spring, checking seed inventory and browsing the
many catalogs with their visions of plenty and deliciously beautiful vegetables and fruits. We made
plans for our plantings and we’ve been order ing supplies, watching the mailbox for their arrival.
Friends Angie and Bill Hynek took me on another
trek to Yankton and the 3 of us visited Brian in early
February. The following weekend we had help from
Colyn Burbank of the Des Moines CW while Becky
and I traveled to Dubuque for a National C.W. Gathering for farmers and urban gardeners working to fulfill Peter Maurin’s vision.
As Brian says gratefully we have been well supported during this winter of his imprisonment. Looking ahead we know we will need to replace the car
that is not worth expensive repairs any longer- according to our mechanic.. The roof, of both garage
and house will need replacing, when we can manage
it, the shingles are deteriorating, and a few come
down in every storm, though we aren’t leaking yet.
We have some folks coming to volunteer in March,
and still looking for help to get the spring work done,
until Brian gets out on May 24th.
The robins are here already- can Spring be far behind?
Peace,
Betsy
Page 7
May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work you do
with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your
own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing,
light, and renewal to those who work with you and
to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of
refreshment,
inspiration, and excitement.
From Anam Cara, by John O’DonohueMazMMMM
The Sower
Strangers and Guest
Catholic Worker Farm
108 Hillcrest Drive
Maloy, Iowa 50836
641-785-2321
Betsy Keenan, <keenanweaving@yahoo.com>