Wounded Knee Occupation (1973): AIM's 71-Day Standoff

The Wounded Knee occupation was a 71-day armed standoff between Native American activists and US federal authorities on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, lasting from 27 February to 8 May 1973. Around 200 Oglala Lakota residents and members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized the village of Wounded Knee, site of the 1890 massacre, to protest against the tribal government and the US government’s broken treaties. The siege drew national attention to Native American grievances and became a defining moment of the “Red Power” movement.

Background

AIM was founded in Minneapolis in 1968 to fight police brutality and poverty among urban Native Americans. It grew rapidly after the occupation of Alcatraz by Native activists in 1969–1971 and the “Trail of Broken Treaties” caravan to Washington, which ended with the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in November 1972.

On Pine Ridge, home to the Oglala Lakota, tensions centred on the tribal chairman Richard (Dick) Wilson. Critics accused him of corruption, nepotism and of using an armed group known as the “GOONs” (Guardians of the Oglala Nation) to intimidate opponents. An attempt by the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) and traditional elders to impeach Wilson failed in February 1973. They then asked AIM for help.

The occupation

On the evening of 27 February 1973 a convoy of about 200 people drove into Wounded Knee, a small village with a trading post and a Catholic church. They took control of the village and declared it the independent Oglala Nation. Their demands included Wilson’s removal, a Senate investigation into the treatment of Native Americans and federal recognition of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.

Federal authorities responded by surrounding the area with FBI agents, US marshals and Bureau of Indian Affairs police, supported by armoured personnel carriers and military equipment. Roadblocks cut off supplies, and supporters smuggled food and ammunition in on foot at night. The occupiers were led by AIM’s Russell Means and Dennis Banks, together with Carter Camp and local Oglala leaders.

The two sides exchanged gunfire frequently. On 26 March a US marshal, Lloyd Grimm, was shot and paralysed. Frank Clearwater, an occupier, was shot on 17 April and died on 25 April. Lawrence “Buddy” Lamont, an Oglala Lakota, was killed on 26 April. A Black civil rights activist, Ray Robinson, who had come to support the protest, disappeared; in 2014 the FBI confirmed he had been killed during the occupation, though his remains have not been found.

Public attention was high. At the Academy Awards on 27 March 1973, Marlon Brando declined his Oscar for The Godfather in protest at the treatment of Native Americans, sending the activist Sacheen Littlefeather, who identified as Apache, to speak on his behalf and referring to Wounded Knee.

Conditions inside the village were hard. Occupiers lived in the church, the trading post and nearby houses, often short of food, fuel and medical supplies during the cold South Dakota spring. Some of the local residents who had not joined the protest later said they had been held against their will, a claim that occupiers disputed.

How it ended

After weeks of negotiations, the occupiers agreed to lay down their arms on 8 May 1973 in return for promises of investigations and a meeting on treaty rights. The government officials who later met the elders said that treaty questions were for Congress to settle, and the promised changes largely failed to materialise.

The trials and aftermath

Hundreds of people were arrested during and after the occupation, and federal prosecutors charged many of them. The most important case was the trial of Russell Means and Dennis Banks in St Paul, Minnesota. On 16 September 1974 Judge Fred Nichol dismissed all charges, criticising the FBI and prosecutors for misconduct, including the handling of evidence and witness testimony. Most other cases also ended without convictions.

The years after 1973 on Pine Ridge were marked by violence between Wilson’s supporters and his opponents, a period many residents call the “Reign of Terror”, with dozens of deaths. On 26 June 1975 two FBI agents and an AIM member were killed in a shootout near Oglala. The AIM activist Leonard Peltier was convicted in 1977 of murdering the agents, a conviction that he and his supporters have long contested.

Timeline

• 29 December 1890: US troops kill some 250 to 300 Lakota at the Wounded Knee Massacre.
• November 1972: AIM activists occupy the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington.
• 27 February 1973: About 200 Oglala Lakota and AIM members occupy Wounded Knee.
• 26 March 1973: US marshal Lloyd Grimm is shot and paralysed.
• 25–26 April 1973: Frank Clearwater dies of his wounds and Lawrence Lamont is killed.
• 8 May 1973: The occupiers stand down after 71 days.
• 16 September 1974: Charges against Russell Means and Dennis Banks are dismissed.

Why it matters

The Wounded Knee occupation brought Native American demands for self-government and treaty rights to national television screens. It exposed deep divisions on reservations and the heavy-handed tactics of federal agencies, and it helped prompt later reforms such as the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.