James Clearwater

Chief James Clearwater is a tribal leader and the CEO of an indigenous casino in California, introduced in Bones of Contention. He cherished is tribe and it broke his heart as maintaining its title turned more into capitalism, more tribal descendants lost their status day by day. When Clearwater was horrified a skull was found that could prove his tribes' ancestry didn't always reside in the North American territories, he feared the loss of their diplomatically preserve sacrosanct lands a well as the disbandment and devastation of the tribe he cherished. Frank Lopez, a guard with a fraction of his ancestry from the tribe who was also disowned and laid off, was bribed with his reinstatement by Clearwater so the chief could retrieve the skull and bury it in a tribal land only he knows. To eliminate a witness and prevent the crucial damning reveal of the skull's dangers to the tribe, he also murdered the attending archaeologist, Jennifer Abernathy, by grabbing her and throwing her down a flight of stairs. His lawyer, Thomas Morris, was with him for representation when he was questioned, speaking to his duties in the positions he stands as well as the conflict between the tribe and the archaeologists. A break-in to their official embassy by Abernathy's college, as well as an attack on Clearwater, further demonstrated such troubles. But Lopez was found out realizing he had to know the killer was on the premises. When Clearwater was confronted, he berated Morris for turning their people away to treat their tribe as a company. He then refused to disclose the burial site of the skull and allowed himself to be arrested for robbery and murder.