[2] Much of Churchill's work focuses on the historical treatment of political dissenters and Native Americans by the United States government, and he expresses controversial views in a direct, often confrontational style.

[7][8] In July 2009, however, a District Court judge vacated the monetary award and declined Churchill's request to order his reinstatement, holding that the university had "quasi-judicial immunity".

"[9] In a 1987 profile in the Denver Post, Churchill claimed to have attended paratrooper school and to have volunteered for a 10-month stint on Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol in Vietnam.

Churchill also claimed to have spent time at the Chicago office of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and provided firearms and explosives training to members of the Weather Underground.

He also lectured on issues relating to Native Americans in the United States in the ethnic studies program.

In 1990, the University of Colorado hired him as an associate professor, although he did not possess the academic doctorate usually required for the position.

[13] In 1994, then CU-Boulder Chancellor James Corbridge refused to take action on allegations that Churchill was fraudulently claiming to be an Indian, saying "it has always been university policy that a person's race or ethnicity is self-proving.

[16] In January 2005, during the controversy over his 9/11 remarks, Churchill resigned as chairman of the ethnic studies department at the University of Colorado — his term as chair was scheduled to expire in June of that year.

[18] In 2005, the University of Colorado's Research Misconduct Committee conducted a preliminary investigation into whether Churchill misrepresented his ethnicity to "add credibility and public acceptance to his scholarship".

[6] The quality of Churchill's research had been seriously questioned by legal scholar John LaVelle and historian Guenter Lewy.

On May 16, 2006, the university released its findings; the Investigative Committee unanimously concluded that Churchill had engaged in "serious research misconduct", including falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism.

[6][27] The next day, Churchill filed a lawsuit in state court claiming that the firing was retribution for his expression of politically unpopular views.

[37][38] According to the University of Colorado investigation, Churchill's academic publications "are nearly all works of synthesis and reinterpretation, drawing upon studies by other scholars, not monographs describing new research based on primary sources."

"[5] Historian Gavriel Rosenfeld criticized Churchill for "numerous errors reflecting sloppy or hasty scholarship".

[39] In 1986, Churchill wrote the essay "Pacifism as Pathology: Notes on an American Pseudopraxis" criticizing pacifist politics within the U.S. left as being hypocritical, de facto racist and ineffectual.

The book included a preface by Ed Mead (of the George Jackson Brigade), a new introduction to the essay by Churchill and a commentary by Michael Ryan.

The book sparked much debate in leftist circles and inspired more aggressive tactics within the anti-globalization movement in the following few years.

[42] George Lakey, a co-founder of the pacifist Movement for a New Society, published a detailed response in 2001 titled "Nonviolent Action as the Sword that Heals: Challenging Ward Churchill's 'Pacifism As Pathology'".

(1994), a sequel to Fantasies of the Master Race, further explores Native American issues in popular culture and politics.

[50] Churchill argues that the United States instituted blood quantum laws based upon rules of descendancy in order to further goals of personal enrichment and political expediency.

[51] For decades in his writings, Churchill has argued that blood quantum laws have an inherent genocidal purpose.

Following the controversy, the University of Colorado interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano said, "While Professor Churchill has the constitutional right to express his political views, his essay on 9/11 has outraged and appalled us and the general public.

[60] Two days later, the United Keetoowah Band replaced its earlier statement with the following: "Because Mr. Churchill had genealogical information regarding his alleged ancestry", and because he was willing "to assist the UKB in promoting the tribe and its causes, he was awarded an 'Associate Membership' as an honor".

The Band's spokesperson, Lisa Stopp, stated the tribe enrolls only members with certified one-quarter American Indian blood.

"[66] Churchill has been a leader of Colorado AIM's annual protests in Denver against the Columbus Day holiday and its associated parade.