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N0KFQ > TODAY 27.02.14 17:52l 78 Lines 3810 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 13971_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Feb 27
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 140227/1545Z 13971@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.58
Feb 27, 1973:
AIM occupation of Wounded Knee begins
On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, some 200 Sioux
Native Americans, led by members of the American Indian Movement
(AIM), occupy Wounded Knee, the site of the infamous 1890
massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. Seventh Cavalry. The AIM
members, some of them armed, took 11 residents of the historic
Oglala Sioux settlement hostage as local authorities and federal
agents descended on the reservation.
AIM was founded in 1968 by Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and other
Native leaders as a militant political and civil rights
organization. From November 1969 to June 1971, AIM members
occupied Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, saying they had the
right to it under a treaty provision granting them unused federal
land. In November 1972, AIM members briefly occupied the Bureau
of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., to protest programs
controlling reservation development. Then, in early 1973, AIM
prepared for its dramatic occupation of Wounded Knee. In addition
to its historical significance, Wounded Knee was one of the
poorest communities in the United States and shared with the
other Pine Ridge settlements some of the country's lowest rates
of life expectancy.
The day after the Wounded Knee occupation began, AIM members
traded gunfire with the federal marshals surrounding the
settlement and fired on automobiles and low-flying planes that
dared come within rifle range. Russell Means began negotiations
for the release of the hostages, demanding that the U.S. Senate
launch an investigation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and all
Sioux reservations in South Dakota, and that the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee hold hearings on the scores of Indian
treaties broken by the U.S. government.
The Wounded Knee occupation lasted for a total of 71 days, during
which time two Sioux men were shot to death by federal agents and
several more were wounded. On May 8, the AIM leaders and their
supporters surrendered after officials promised to investigate
their complaints. Russell Means and Dennis Banks were arrested,
but on September 16, 1973, the charges against them were
dismissed by a federal judge because of the U.S. government's
unlawful handling of witnesses and evidence.
Violence continued on the Pine Ridge Reservation throughout the
rest of the 1970s, with several more AIM members and supporters
losing their lives in confrontations with the U.S. government. In
1975, two FBI agents and a Native man were killed in a shoot-out
between federal agents and AIM members and local residents. In
the trial that followed, AIM member Leonard Peltier was found
guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive
life terms. With many of its leaders in prison, AIM disbanded in
1978. Local AIM groups continued to function, however, and in
1981 one group occupied part of the Black Hills in South Dakota.
Congress took no steps to honor broken Indian treaties, but in
the courts some tribes won major settlements from federal and
state governments in cases involving tribal land claims. Russell
Means continued to advocate for Native rights at Pine Ridge and
elsewhere and in 1988 was a presidential candidate for the
Libertarian Party. In 2001, Means attempted to run for the
governorship of New Mexico, but his candidacy was disallowed
because procedure had not been followed. Beginning in 1992, Means
appeared in several films, including Last of the Mohicans. He
also had a guest spot on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. His
autobiography, Where White Men Fear to Tread, was published in
1997. Means died on October 12, 2012, at age 72.
Leonard Peltier remains in prison, although efforts to win him
pardon continue.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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