Gunfire, chants mark Wounded Knee anniversary

Members of the American Indian Movement stand near the Wounded Knee Massacre Monument, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 in Wounded Knee, S.D. / AP Photo/Kristi Eaton

WOUNDED KNEE, S.D. A Pine Ridge Indian Reservation resident who found herself in the middle of the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation said Wednesday amid ceremonial gunfire and chants that little has changed since the fatal standoff.

Faith White Dress was on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation 40 years ago when about 200 members of the American Indian Movement and their supporters huddled in houses, some with guns, to protest alleged corruption within the tribal government. Two Native Americans were killed, an activist went missing and a federal agent was wounded.

White Dress and others gathered Wednesday to remember the fatal 71-day standoff. During gunfire to mark the anniversary of the start of the occupation, she said the Oglala Sioux Tribe is still struggling.

"Unemployment is so high and the oppression is still so bad," she said. "I don't think it's going to take violence. It's going to take a gathering to determine how to bring jobs here. We need libraries. We need more of our children to have a better future."

Hundreds of people walked from nearby villages to the site of the occupation, drumming and chanting. Once at the site, the same place where in 1890 soldiers slaughtered an estimated 300 Native American men, women and children, AIM and their supporters continued to drum and chant and fire off gunshots into the air.

This year's events include memorials for AIM's charismatic leader, Russell Means, who died in October at age 72 after batting throat cancer. This is the first anniversary of the occupation since Means' death.

About 200 people gathered at a high school on Pine Ridge for the second of four planned ceremonies to honor Means. Friends, family and colleagues recalled Means as a man who taught his people how to stand up for themselves.

"He was articulate ... a proud Lakota," said Oglala Sioux president Bryan Brewer. "Today he is a version of our modern day Crazy Horse."

AIM leaders herald how much life has improved for Native Americans since the Wounded Knee occupation and other events in the 1970s. AIM was started in the late 1960s to protest the U.S. government's treatment of American Indians and demand that it honor its treaties with Indian tribes.

During the standoff, White Dress and two of her friends from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation skipped school, sneaked through barricades and stumbled into the middle of the action. The 14-year-olds were able to find shelter with a woman who persuaded the girls to sing songs to drown out the gunfire that erupted at all hours of the day.

Tribal members such as White Dress now quietly acknowledge that although the occupation put Pine Ridge on the map, it has had little lasting effects. With unemployment on the reservation as high as 80 percent, a job in tribal government is coveted. And for those who don't have one, life can be hard, White Dress said.

"There's a lot of animosity amongst the people," added White Dress, who is unemployed and takes care of her grandchildren.

Those same divisions were evident 40 years ago at the start of the occupation and the previous decade when members of AIM and their backers fought then-tribal President Dick Wilson and his supporters, as well as the FBI, which has jurisdiction on tribal land.

"It hasn't changed at all, which is sad," said Wendell Bird Head, a tribal member who now lives in Cresent, Iowa, and teaches Lakota. Bird Head was 19 when the standoff started and tried unsuccessfully to get past the road blocks to join in.

Others, however, are adamant that the occupation brought about greater sovereignty for tribes.

"Tribes started getting independent and speaking up," said Herb Powless, 76, of Oneida, Wis.

Powless, a member of the Oneida Nation, traveled to Pine Ridge in the early 70s at the behest of AIM following the death of Raymond Yellow Thunder, an Oglala Sioux tribal member killed by four white men.

Powless later was arrested in Hot Springs after authorities found 600 pounds of dynamite and a variety of weapons in his car. Already a convicted felon, he spent a year in prison in Sioux Falls.

[NowandThenReader]

For those interested in this historic event, be sure to check out: "Wounded Knee 1973: Still Bleeding" -by Stew Magnuson. Recently released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of WK 1973, this short ebook explores the events and personalities behind the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee.

[oldoc44]

Looks like they've had a bit of "fire water" too! LOL Are those assault-type weapons subject to the same scrutiny, etc on reservations?? Maybe they started a gun trust?

[peacefulperson]

We used to create little libraries on Pine Ridge. It was an uphill struggle. Although people say they want help to make the rez better, they are largely unwilling to participate in activities that would make things better. They refuse to work to find grants or even to apply for grants we found, they wouldn't help select the books or join committees or boards of directors, they won't go to meetings to discuss the future of education in communities like Wanblee or Potato Creek. Yet them complain when someone off rez takes charge and makes things happen. Although Pine Ridge suffers from inadequate infrastructure to bring jobs there, the residents won't do anything about it. We found 5 grants that would have brought high-speed internet to Sharps Corner and other towns, but no one would fill out the application. After 7 years of trying to help things happen, we finally gave up. They want all the benefits of having someone else do all the work, while complaining that all the work should be done by Native Americans. Pine Ridge doesn't need libraries, it needs mental health treatment so that people will have hope for a better future, and the ability to follow through on the many opportunities to make it better.

[arkajun-2009]

Tread lightly AIM members. BObama, POTUS, has given himself the power to unleash his drones against Americans and will wipe you out if you don't agree with him.

[nohater]

the indians and settlers fought in lengthy wars for the time. the indians lost tribe by tribe. even the indian tribes across the country couldn't unite to fight the settlers. the tribes lost, end of story. some indians leave the res and find good careers, jobs, off the res. some go to college. this grandstanding does nothing but show they are stuck in the past.

[bobnjersey]

[Powless later was arrested in Hot Springs after authorities found 600 pounds of dynamite and a variety of weapons in his car. Already a convicted felon, he spent a year in prison in Sioux Falls.]
----------------------------------------------------
a person w/ an existing felony conviction has 600 pounds of dynamite in his car ... and he gets a year in prison?

[Montana5]

Freedomfighter-Enlighten us, where are these exceptions to the law found? Did this come to you while doing shots?

[kbbpll]

A flag with a peace sign and goofballs with assault rifles. Sorry, you lost me.

[eteamer]

That's funny becase I see at least 4 Ar15 type rifles and one with a banana clip. I'm sick of you gun nuts acting like your something speacial because you know all the details of weapons. Why don't you just stay in your bunker and play with your gun.

[Raindog9]

Free college education, free health care, doesnt look like the folks in the picture are starving. The guns thier toting are not cheap, what they ******** about. I'm paying $80,000 for my childs college education.

[cubscout09]

Really?
Even the ultra conservative CATO Institute doesn't say that.

http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/interior/indian-lands-indian-subsidies

[gorgeousm]

I'm very sorry for the injustices that were committed against American Natives by the EuroCaucasian settlers, as well as the unjust sequences of events, never restoring the Original Americans' rightful ways of life.

If we all cooperate and accommodate one another, we will be able to improve a number of aspects of Native Americans' lives.

[cubscout09]

The injustices didn't stop. You need look no further than the GOP blocking the new and improved Violence Against Women Act with added protections for Native American Women. The GOP choses to protect the attacker/rapist.

David and Charles Koch stole $50 million dollars of Native American Oil, Bob Dole made sure that they never stood criminal trial. Check out what's going on with Native American resources in the Dakotas right now.

http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/atw-land-grab-cheats-north-dakota-tribes-out-of-1-billion-suits-allege.html