R.I.P. Joseph Bickell

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An oddly touching piece on the life of a legend ...
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From: The Salem (MO) News > News
Chief Wana Dubie: In Memoriam
Andrew Sheeley Aug 17, 2017
Updated Aug 17, 2017 (18)
Jerod Welker

Not many people around Missouri were as accomplished at what they set their mind to as Chief Wana Dubie. He devoted his life to being a perpetual thorn in the side of the man, and as an activist, he stood above all others in terms of tenacity and devotion.

Wana Dubie, born Joseph Bickell, was a transplant to the Show-Me State from Flint, Michigan. As a youth, the budding activist had his first brush with the law at 18 years old when the state changed its legal drinking age to 21. In protest, he stole a truck of beer and held it hostage. ...

Wana Dubie beat around the country for years living the hippie life, working odd jobs and stirring up trouble. By the early 1990s he ended up in Cooper Hill, a small town outside Jefferson City in Osage County. It was there he took his most militant stand for legalization. The Chief declared publically he would plant cannabis seeds as an act of civil disobedience. He called it the Cooper Hill Pot Party. Weeks later, after the buds were grown and harvested, The Chief was arrested and thrown in jail.

The government sentenced Wana Dubie to five years in Algoa State Prison, and The Chief made sure officials regretted every second he was there. He still holds the unofficial record for most complaints filed in one day at more than 250 (they’re legally required to answer each one). He also refused to cut his hair. He got tattooed. Danced in protest. And when his beard grew to two inches, Wana Dubie was told to cut half off. He showed up the next day with one cheek shaved clean and the other with a two-inch beard.

The Chief also refused all offers of parole because he knew he’d fail any drug tests while on probation. He served every day of his original sentence. ...


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