California
Executes Native American Inmate,Death Penalty Focus of
California
On March 15, the state of California executed
Darrell ‘Young Elk’ Rich, who was convicted for murder. It was the
state’s first execution of the new millennium, and the first
killing of a Native American inmate since it reinstated the death
penalty in 1977. According to a statement on the website of the
anti-death penalty group Death Penalty Focus of California,
‘Young Elk was denied the Sacred Sweat Lodge Ceremony that he had
requested. This Native American ceremony prepares the soul to
travel into the next world. He was allowed, however, to carry with
him into the death chamber an eagle feather and he also
participated in a Native American pipe ceremony earlier in the
evening with his spiritual adviser. Outside the gates of San
Quentin a group of Native Americans gathered with a traditional
drum and sang songs to help carry him over to the next world safely
and in peace.’ Go there>>