From the newswire: “Christopher Alex Cornstalk, age 44, died July 17, 2006 from natural causes in the city of Markham, Illinois… A funeral was held and Mr. Cornstalk was buried. The story should have ended there…[But] a number of "Chicago Rescue Workers" (emergency room, fire department and police staff from several Chicago-area cities and villages) participated in a Facebook group named ‘Did You Know This Alcoholic Indian?’.”

The group appears to violate the federal law which mandates strict confidentiality of medical information and identity. What’s more, Native American Facebook users who discovered the group expressed outrage over the characterization of the group. Facebook has since deleted the group, and the Chicago Fire Department has all but disavowed any connection, but the controversy continues. Read more