AnarWiki/markdown/Wounded_Knee_Occupation.md

The **Wounded Knee Occupation** refers to an
[indigenist](Indigenism "wikilink") uprising in the
[USA](United_States_of_America "wikilink") in
[1973](Timeline_of_Indigenism "wikilink"), when 200 armed indigenous
activists occupied the town of Wounded Knee in protest of the corruption
in tribal government and the failures of the US government to fulfill
treaties with the indigenous population and demanded equality between
indigenous and white citizens of the USA. It was part a global wave of
revolts that rocked the world in the [late 1960s and early
1970s](Revolutions_of_1967_-_1975 "wikilink").

## Occupation

On February 28, 1973, AIM leaders Russell Means (Oglala Sioux) and
Carter Camp (Ponca), together with 200 activists and Oglala Lakota
(Oglala Sioux) of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, including children
and the elderly,<sup>\[5\]</sup> who opposed Oglala tribal chairman
Richard Wilson, occupied the town of Wounded Knee in protest against
Wilson's administration, as well as against the federal government's
persistent failures to honor its treaties with Native American nations.
The U.S. government law enforcement, including FBI agents, surrounded
Wounded Knee the same day with armed reinforcements. They gradually
gained more arms.<sup>\[6\]</sup>

### Disputed facts

According to former South Dakota Senator James Abourezk, "on February
25, 1973 the U.S. Department of Justice sent out 50 U.S. Marshals to the
Pine Ridge Reservation to be available in the case of a civil
disturbance".<sup>\[7\]</sup> This followed the failed impeachment
attempt and meetings of opponents of Wilson.<sup>\[7\]</sup> AIM says
that its organization went to Wounded Knee for an open meeting and
"within hours police had set up roadblocks, cordoned off the area and
began arresting people leaving town...the people prepared to defend
themselves against the government's aggressions".<sup>\[8\]</sup> By the
morning of February 28, both sides began to be entrenched.

### Background

For years, internal tribal tensions had been growing over the difficult
conditions on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which has been one of the
poorest areas in the United States since it was set up. Many of the
tribe believed that Wilson, elected tribal chairman in 1972, had rapidly
become autocratic and corrupt, controlling too much of the employment
and other limited opportunities on the reservation.<sup>\[9\]</sup> They
believed that Wilson favored his family and friends in patronage awards
of the limited number of jobs and benefits. Some criticism addressed the
mixed-race ancestry of Wilson and his favorites, and suggested they
worked too closely with Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officials who
still had a hand in reservation affairs. Some full-blood Oglala believed
they were not getting fair opportunities.

"Traditionals" had their own leaders and influence in a parallel stream
to the elected government recognized by the United States. The
traditionals tended to be Oglala who held onto their language and
customs, and who did not desire to participate in US federal programs
administered by the tribal government.

In his 2007 book on twentieth-century political history of the Pine
Ridge Reservation, historian Akim Reinhardt notes the decades-long
ethnic and cultural differences among residents at the reservation. He
attributes the Wounded Knee Occupation more to the rising of such
internal tensions than to the arrival of AIM, who had been invited to
the reservation by OSCRO. He also believes that the Indian
Reorganization Act of 1934 did not do enough to reduce U.S. federal
government intervention into Sioux and other tribal affairs; he
describes the elected tribal governments since the 1930s as a system of
"indirect colonialism".<sup>\[10\]</sup> Oglala Sioux opposition to such
elected governments was longstanding on the reservation; at the same
time, the limited two-year tenure of the president's position made it
difficult for leaders to achieve much. Officials of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, administrators and police, still had much influence at Pine
Ridge and other American Indian reservations, which many tribal members
opposed.<sup>\[10\]</sup>

Specifically, opponents of Wilson protested his sale of grazing rights
on tribal lands to local white ranchers at too low a rate, reducing
income to the tribe as a whole, whose members held the land communally.
They also complained of his land-use decision to lease nearly one-eighth
of the reservation's mineral-rich lands to private companies. Some
full-blood Lakota complained of having been marginalized since the start
of the reservation system. Most did not bother to participate in tribal
elections, which led to tensions on all sides. There had been increasing
violence on the reservation, which many attributed to Wilson's private
militia, Guardians of the Oglala Nation (informally called the GOONs),
attacking political opponents to suppress opposition. The so-called
“GOONs” were initially funded with $62,000 from the BIA to be “an
auxiliary police force."<sup>\[11\]</sup>

Another concern was the failure of the justice systems in border towns
to prosecute white attacks against Lakota men who went to the towns for
their numerous saloons and bars. Alcohol was prohibited on the
reservation.<sup>\[9\]</sup> Local police seldom prosecuted crimes
against the Lakota, or charged assailants at lesser levels. Recent
murders in border towns heightened concerns on the reservation. An
example was the early 1973 murder of 20-year-old Wesley Bad Heart Bull
in a bar in Buffalo Gap, which the tribe believed was due to his race.
AIM led supporters to a meeting at the Custer courthouse, where they
expected to discuss civil rights issues and wanted charges against the
suspect raised to murder from second-degree manslaughter. They were met
by riot police, who allowed only five people to enter the courthouse,
despite blizzard conditions outside. Reinhardt notes that the
confrontation became violent, during which protesters burned down the
chamber of commerce building, damaged the courthouse and destroyed two
police cars, and vandalized other buildings.<sup>\[10\]</sup>

Three weeks before the Wounded Knee Occupation, the tribal council had
charged Wilson with several items for an impeachment hearing. However,
Wilson was able to avoid a trial, as the prosecution was not ready to
proceed immediately, the presiding official would not accept new
charges, and the council voted to close the hearings. Charges had been
brought by a coalition of local Oglala, grouped loosely around the
"traditionals", the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO), and
tribal members of the American Indian Movement. Wilson opponents were
angered that he had evaded impeachment. U.S. Marshals offered him and
his family protection at a time of heightened tensions and protected the
BIA headquarters at the reservation. Wilson added more fortification to
the facility.

### Siege

After AIM's confrontation at the Custer courthouse, OSCRO leaders asked
AIM for help in dealing with Wilson. <sup>\[9\]</sup> The traditional
chiefs and AIM leaders met with the community to discuss how to deal
with the deteriorating situation on the reservation. Women elders such
as OSCRO founder Ellen Moves Camp, Gladys Bissonette, and Agnes Lamont
urged the men to take action.<sup>\[10\]</sup> They decided to make a
stand at the hamlet of Wounded Knee, the renowned site of the last
large-scale massacre of the American Indian Wars. They occupied the town
and announced their demand for the removal of Wilson from office and for
immediate revival of treaty talks with the U.S. government. Dennis Banks
and Russell Means were prominent spokesmen during the occupation; they
often addressed the press, knowing they were making their cause known
directly to the American public. The brothers Clyde and Vernon
Bellecourt were also AIM leaders at the time, who generally operated in
Minneapolis.<sup>\[12\]</sup>

The federal government established roadblocks around the community for
15 miles in every direction. In some areas, Wilson stationed his GOONs
outside the federal boundary and required even federal officials to stop
for passage.<sup>\[13\]</sup>

About ten days into the occupation, the federal government lifted the
roadblocks and forced Wilson's people away as well. When the cordon was
briefly lifted, many new supporters and activists joined the Oglala
Lakota at Wounded Knee.<sup>\[11\]</sup> Publicity had made the site and
action an inspiration to American Indians nationally. About this time,
the leaders declared the territory of Wounded Knee to be the independent
Oglala Nation and demanded negotiations with the U.S. Secretary of
State.<sup>\[13\]</sup> The nation granted citizenship to those who
wanted it, including non-Indians.<sup>\[11\]</sup>

A small delegation, including Frank Fools Crow, the senior elder, and
his interpreter, flew to New York in an attempt to address and be
recognized by the United Nations. While they received international
coverage, they did not receive recognition as a sovereign nation by the
UN.<sup>\[13\]</sup>

John Sayer, a Wounded Knee chronicler, wrote that:<sup>\[14\]</sup>

The data gathered by the historians Record and Hocker largely
concur:<sup>\[15\]</sup> "barricades of paramilitary personnel armed
with automatic weapons, snipers, helicopters, armored personnel carriers
equipped with .50-caliber machine guns, and more than 130,000 rounds of
ammunition". The statistics on the U.S. government force at Wounded Knee
vary, but all accounts agree that it was a significant military force
including "federal marshals, FBI agents, and armored vehicles". One
eyewitness and journalist described "sniper fire from...federal
helicopters", "bullets dancing around in the dirt", and "sounds of
shooting all over town" \[from both sides\].<sup>\[16\]</sup>

On March 13, Harlington Wood Jr., the assistant attorney general for the
Civil Division of the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ), became the first
government official to enter Wounded Knee without a military escort.
Determined to resolve the deadlock without further bloodshed, he met
with AIM leaders for days. While exhaustion made him too ill to conclude
the negotiation, he is credited as the "icebreaker" between the
government and AIM.<sup>\[17\]\[18\]</sup>

After 30 days, the government's tactics became harsher when Kent Frizell
was appointed from DOJ to manage the government's response. He cut off
electricity, water and food supplies to Wounded Knee, when it was still
winter in South Dakota, and prohibited the entry of the
media.<sup>\[13\]</sup> The US government tried starving out the
\[occupants\], and AIM activists smuggled food and medical supplies in
past roadblocks "set up by Dick Wilson and tacitly supported by the US
government".<sup>\[8\]</sup> Keefer, the Deputy U.S. Marshal at the
scene, said there were no persons between federal agents and the town,
and that the federal marshals' firepower could have killed anyone in the
open landscape. The Marshals Service decided to wait out the AIM
followers in order to reduce casualties on both sides. Some activists
organized an airlift of food supplies to Wounded Knee.<sup>\[13\]</sup>

Throughout the siege, the FBI perpetuated misinformation to weaken AIM
in terms of unity and public support. Initially, the federal government
claimed that AIM had hostages at Wounded Knee, but this was soon
discovered to be false.<sup>\[11\]</sup> On April 1, the FBI began to
hint at division within AIM leadership and other occupiers, but this was
refuted by Means and Banks the next day.<sup>\[11\]</sup>

Both AIM and federal government documents show that the two sides traded
fire through much of the three months.<sup>\[6\]\[8\]</sup> The U.S.
Marshal Lloyd Grimm was shot early in the conflict and suffered
paralysis from the waist down.<sup>\[7\]</sup> Among the many Indian
supporters who joined the protest were Frank Clearwater and his pregnant
wife, who were Cherokee from North Carolina.<sup>\[13\]</sup> He was
shot in the head April 17, within 24 hours of his arrival, while resting
in an occupied church, during what was described by both sides as a
vicious fire fight with federal forces.<sup>\[19\]</sup> AIM supporters
evacuated Clearwater from the village but he died in a hospital on 25
April.<sup>\[7\]</sup>

When Lawrence "Buddy" Lamont, a local Oglala Lakota, was killed by a
shot from a government sniper on April 26, he was buried on the site in
a Sioux ceremony. After his death, tribal elders called an end to the
occupation.<sup>\[13\]</sup> Knowing the young man and his mother from
the reservation, many Oglala were greatly sorrowed by his death. Both
sides reached an agreement on May 5 to disarm.<sup>\[7\]\[8\]</sup> The
terms included a mandated meeting at Chief Fools Crow's land to discuss
reinstating the 1868 Treaty.<sup>\[11\]</sup> With the decision made,
many Oglala Lakota began to leave Wounded Knee at night, walking out
through the federal lines.<sup>\[13\]</sup> Three days later, the siege
ended and the town was evacuated after 71 days of occupation; the
government took control of the town.<sup>\[7\]\[8\]</sup>

Ray Robinson, a black civil rights activist, went to South Dakota to
join the Wounded Knee occupation. He was seen there by both a journalist
and a white activist.<sup>\[20\]</sup> He disappeared during the siege
and his body was never found. One AIM leader, Carter Camp, said years
later that Robinson had walked away under his own power, seeking aid for
a wounded leg. Others have recalled open conflict between Robinson and
activists over FBI claims.<sup>\[20\]</sup>

His widow Cheryl Robinson believes he was murdered during the incident.
In 2004, after the conviction of a man for the murder of Anna Mae
Aquash, Robinson renewed her calls for an investigation into her
husband's death.<sup>\[21\]</sup> Paul DeMain, editor of *News From
Indian Country*, has said that based on interviews, he believes
"Robinson was killed because, based on a misinformation campaign, some
thought he was an FBI spy".<sup>\[22\]</sup>

### Support for action

Public opinion polls revealed widespread sympathy for the Native
Americans at Wounded Knee.<sup>\[23\]</sup> They also received support
from the Congressional Black Caucus as well as various actors,
activists, and prominent public figures, including Marlon Brando, Johnny
Cash, Angela Davis, Jane Fonda, William Kunstler, and Tom
Wicker.<sup>\[23\]\[24\]</sup>

After DOJ prohibited the media from the site, press attention decreased.
However, actor Marlon Brando, an AIM supporter, asked Sacheen
Littlefeather, an Apache actress, to speak at the 45th Academy Awards on
his behalf, as he had been nominated for his performance in *The
Godfather*. She appeared at the ceremony in traditional Apache clothing.
When his name was announced as the winner, she said that he declined the
award due to the "poor treatment of Native Americans in the film
industry" in an improvised speech as she was told she could not give the
original speech given to her by Brando and was warned that she would be
physically taken off and arrested if she was on stage for more than a
minute. Afterwards, she read his original words about Wounded Knee
backstage to many of the press. This recaptured the attention of
millions in the United States and world media. AIM supporters and
participants thought Littlefeather's speech to be a major victory for
their movement.<sup>\[25\]</sup> Although Angela Davis was turned away
by federal forces as an "undesirable person" when she attempted to enter
Wounded Knee in March 1973,<sup>\[26\]</sup> AIM participants believed
that the attention garnered by such public figures forestalled U.S.
military intervention.<sup>\[24\]</sup>

## Aftermath

Following the end of the 1973 stand-off, the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation had a higher rate of internal violence. Residents complained
of physical attacks and intimidation by president Richard Wilson's
followers, the so-called GOONS or Guardians of the Oglala Nation. The
murder rate between March 1, 1973 and March 1, 1976 averaged 56.7 per
100,000 per annum (170 per 100,000 over the whole period). Detroit had a
rate of 20.2 per 100,000 in 1974 and at the time was considered "the
murder capital of the US". The national average was 9.7 per
100,000.<sup>\[27\]</sup> More than 60 opponents of the tribal
government died violently during this period, including Pedro
Bissonette, executive director of OSCRO. AIM representatives said many
were unsolved murders, but in 2002 the FBI issued a report disputing
this.<sup>\[28\]</sup>

Despite the FBI's claims, there were many suspicious events surrounding
murders of AIM activists and their subsequent investigations or lack
thereof. Deaths of AIM activists went uninvestigated, even though there
was an abundance of FBI agents on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at the
time. <sup>\[11\]</sup> For instance, Annie Mae Aquash was an activist
who had been present at Wounded Knee and was later suspected of being a
spy for the government.<sup>\[9\]</sup> It was later revealed that most
of this campaign to discredit her can be traced to Douglass Durham, an
FBI informant.<sup>\[9\]</sup> Aquash was found dead near Highway 73 on
February 24, 1976.<sup>\[11\]</sup> Her cause of death was initially
ruled as exposure, suggesting that alcohol had been involved, even
though there was none in her bloodstream.<sup>\[9\]</sup> Dissatisfied
with this finding, an exhumation was requested by OSCRO, which found
that Aquash had been shot in the back of her head at close
range.<sup>\[11\]</sup> Despite the new evidence, the FBI never
re-opened the case to look into who had killed her.<sup>\[11\]</sup>

### 1974 Tribal Chairman Election: Means vs. Wilson

In 1974, Russell Means ran against Wilson. Wilson won the election, even
though he lost to Means in the primary. At AIM's behest, the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights investigated the election and found that it
had been “permeated with fraud."<sup>\[11\]</sup> The fraudulent actions
included voter fraud, a lack of poll watchers, and a lack of
oversight.<sup>\[11\]</sup> However, no formal action was taken to
rectify this, and Wilson remained in charge.<sup>\[11\]</sup>

### 1974 trial of Banks and Means, 1975 appeal

After an eight-and-a-half-month trial the U.S. District Court of South
Dakota (Fred Joseph Nichol, presiding judge) dismissed the charges
against Banks and Means for conspiracy and assault (both Banks and Means
were defended by William Kunstler and Mark Lane). The jury had voted
12-0 to acquit both defendants of the conspiracy
charge,<sup>\[29\]</sup> but before the second vote one juror suffered a
stroke and could not continue deliberations. The government refused to
accept a verdict of eleven jurors and sought a mistrial; in the meantime
the defense team filed a motion for judgment of acquittal.

The judge ruled to dismiss, citing prosecutorial misconduct, stating:
"It is my belief, however, that the misconduct by the government in this
case is so aggravated that a dismissal must be entered in the interests
of justice."<sup>\[30\]</sup> In 1975 the Eighth Circuit Court of
Appeals held that the government's appeal was barred by the Double
Jeopardy Clause and dismissed it, "despite Government's argument that
jurisdiction should be assumed due to the public interest in fair trials
designed to end in just judgements."<sup>\[31\]</sup>

## Legacy

The legacy of the Siege of Wounded Knee is rife with disagreements, due
to the controversial approaches of AIM and the FBI. The FBI has faced
criticism for their potentially underhanded attempts to undermine AIM
through COINTELPRO-like methods, such as releasing false information and
having undercover individuals sow disorder within AIM and Wounded Knee.
<sup>\[11\]</sup> It is has also been suggested that the FBI and the
federal government in general were too focused on Watergate at the time
to give the situation at Wounded Knee the attention it deserved.
<sup>\[13\]</sup> If the federal government were more focused on Wounded
Knee, it might not have lasted as long as it did. <sup>\[13\]</sup>

AIM's handling of Wounded Knee has also met its fair share of critics.
Special Agent in Charge at the time, Joseph Trimbach, has argued that
AIM used federal funds to purchase weaponry, rather than aid the
American Indian people. <sup>\[32\]</sup> Trimbach and others have also
suggested that AIM members murdered Anna Mae Aquash because they thought
she was a spy. <sup>\[32\]</sup> Even individuals within the movement,
such as Mary Crow Dog, have been critical of AIM. In her autobiography,
Mary Crow Dog says, “There were a lot of things wrong with AIM. We did
not see these things, or did not want to see them." <sup>\[9\]</sup>

Despite disputes about the handling of Wounded Knee, Wounded Knee shed a
light on the problems facing American Indians and showed them that they
could have a voice. <sup>\[13\]</sup> Wounded Knee is now an important
symbol of American Indian activism, fittingly building on its initial
symbolic meaning of the atrocities committed by the US government
against American Indian people. <sup>\[13\]</sup>