The Last Stand

Eight days had passed, and no compromises had been found. The U.S. government issued an ultimatum stating that if the protesters were not out of Wounded Knee by a certain date, they would forcibly remove them. [1] Protesters, hearing these threats, promised each other they would not move until they got what they wanted, even if it meant bloodshed. Because of the protesters determination, the government decided to shift tactics, as the ultimatum was not doing its job. All roadblocks were removed in the hopes of the occupation dying down.  

Indians from all over the nation came to help the protesters. [3]

Because the roadblocks were taken down, and the occupation was so inspiring, other Indians decided to join the protesters. Along with them, they brought supplies such as food, water, and gunpowder. [2] With a lowered amount of threats, and an abundance of supplies, the Lakotas felt invincible. With this bravery and attitude, they declared themselves an independent country.

"Let it be known, March 11, 1973, that the Oglala people will revive the treaty of 1868, and that it will be the basis for all negotiations. Let the declaration be made that we are a sovereign nation by the Treaty of 1868. We intend to send a delegation to the United Nations." [4]

When Chief Fools Crow traveled to New York to get the help from the United Nations, the U.S. government quickly put their roadblocks back up. When the chief was unable to get help, he returned to the reservation. There, he began teaching the new Indians the ways of the Lakota; they were free to practice and promote their ways. The Indians prayed, danced, and worshiped their Gods for help. Their freedom to do so reigned while other freedoms were taken away.

The government cut off the water and electricity from Wounded Knee in hopes that the protesters would surrender. When this did not work, the government cut off the one other lifeline the protesters had; the media. [5] This way, the government could be more aggressive in their interactions with the Indians and not worry about the rest of the country viewing. 

On day 38, a deal was made. [6]

The government promised to investigate the corruption in the tribe as well as have an immediate White House meeting on their rights, if the Indians promised to take down arms, which they did. [7]


Opposite of the protesters' hopes and beliefs, this was not the end. The men and women occupying Wounded Knee continued to live off of limited resources for 33 days after the deal was made; making the occupation a total of 71 days. During this time, 1200 arrests were made, 12 individuals disappeared, a baby was born, a couple was married, and two protesters were killed. [8]


While these 71 days were filled with strife, the protesters think of as nothing less than 71 days of freedom in their home called Wounded Knee. 

[1] John Kusiak, We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, DVD, Stanley Nelson (2009: PBS), web

[2] Kusiak, We Shall.
[3] Stelleslootmaker, Wounded Knee 1973, photograph, November 12, 2009, GRIID, http://griid.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/wounded_knee_1973.jpg?w=600 (accessed May 5, 2012). 

[4] Dennis Banks and Richard Erdoes, Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 161.  

[5] Kusiak, We Shall.

[6] Kusiak, We Shall.

[7] Johnson, Troy R. American Indian Acitivism: Alcatraz to the Longest Walk. Los Angeles: Regents of the University of California, 1994.
[8] “Siege at Wounded Knee 1973.” Redhawk’s Lodge, 2002. siouxme.com/lodge/aim_73.html

Armed and Ready

Attempting to reach an agreement was hard with the uncompromising U.S. government officials. When the officials insisted that they could not fill the demand to remove Dick Wilson from office, protesters demanded that the U.S. Secretary of State go to Wounded Knee and negotiate. Demands were not met because the White House was distracted with the Watergate Scandal.

Two protesters "armed and ready" [1]

The government was not the only group of people the protesters had to deal with during the occupation. Dick Wilson and his Goons were still inside the perimeter using their power against the Oglalas. Angry with both the government for not taking over Wounded Knee and the Oglalas for protesting, Dick Wilson and his men shot fire at both sides. Their intent was to start a gun fight between the two sides that they could easily escape. The protesters, familiar with Dick Wilson and his games, knew what he and the Goons were doing. Ironically, many protesters had been trained by the government because of military involvement. Because of this, the protesters were able to assign leaders, give orders, and prepare for war, if it were to come. [2] On the other side of things, the government was willing to do whatever it took to avoid bloodshed. An estimated 90% of Americans followed the occupation on the news. [3] If war were to break out on the same site that the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 took place, the millions of Americans viewing would have a bad image of the government, which is the last thing they wanted. 

[1] Levi Rickert, Setting the Record Straight, photograph, South Dakota: Augustana College, April 27, 2012, Native News Network, The 1973 Wounded Knee War, Web, http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/the-1973-wounded-knee-war-setting-the-record-straight.html (accessed April 27, 2012).  

[2] John Kusiak, We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, DVD, Stanley Nelson (2009: PBS), web.

[3] Kusiak, We Shall.

250 Armed Men

Going into the town of Wounded Knee, Joseph Trimbach thought it would be an easy task to end of the occupation. He was entirely wrong. When he told a member of AIM that their only option was to surrender, he was laughed at. Trimbach, shocked, became angry and started to accuse the Indians of "forcibly occupying the village." When the AIM member said the marshals were the invaders because Wounded Knee belonged to the Oglala Lakota, the conversation became heated. Trimbach later stated that, "It soon became apparent that [the AIM member] was getting more excited and I [Trimbach] was getting more nervous." Trimbach decided to end the conversation, as simply giving the Indians the option to surrender was going to do no good. [1] "Scared shitless," according to the AIM member he spoke with, Trimbach called in armed U.S. personnel. [2] By the afternoon of the second day, 250 of them surrounded Wounded Knee. Ironically, This gave the Indians hope; their movement was drawing attention and working the way they had strategically planned. 

The U.S. armed personnel weren't the only people to arrive on the second day. Already, the media had arrived. The media, in a sense, was a safe haven for the protesters. This ensured that they would not be attacked because such an unnecessary act of violence by the government could not be viewed by the rest of the nation. Carter Camp told a reporter, "I tell you, if it were not for you people, this government would have slaughtered us as it did in 1890." [3]

"I felt good. This is why AIM was alive. This is why we came to be. Stand up against the FBI. Stand up against the U.S. marshals. Stand up against the Goons, you know, tribal police, and inside we've got freedom. Don't let nobody in." -Dennis Banks (former AIM leader) [4]

With this, the Oglala Lakota's 71 days of "freedom" began. 

[1] Dennis Banks and Richard Erdoes, Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 169.

[2] Banks and Erdoes, 169.

[3] Banks and Erdoes, 170.

[4] John Kusiak, We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, DVD, Stanley Nelson (2009: PBS), web.

February 27, 1973

Pine Ridge Reservation [1]

Filled with adrenaline and anxiousness, the protesters decided to secure Wounded Knee that night. In a caravan of fifty-four cars filled with almost 200 men armed with weapons, they headed east for Pine Ridge. Upon arrival, they "made a show of defiance by driving through the cold night, right past Wilson's headquarters with [their] lights blazing, car horns honking, and AIM flags fluttering from [their] car antennas." [2] When they finally arrived at the town of Wounded Knee, the Oglala Lakota and AIM members held a prayer meeting. Then, they split up and began what they were there to do; get the government's attention and help.

The Gildersleeve family [4]

Gildersleeve's Trading Post, the town's only store, was stripped bare after a few protesters took from it all the necessary firearms, ammunition, and food they would need for the next couple of days. The few white residents of the town, as well as the minister were being held captive in the local church and all the roads leading in or out of the town were completely blocked and stationed with armed protesters. Within just an hour of the occupation, the town was surrounded by about one hundred U.S. marshals. [3] Joseph Trimbach, a former FBI agent decided to go to Wounded Knee and meet with the protesters to settle the problem with no bloodshed. As he arrived, he was met with guns and a list of demands. 


The government's attention is exactly what the protesters wanted. By using force and violence, they hoped that the government would do as they asked and help them gain equality within the reservation. When Joseph Trimbach arrived, they knew it was time to demand what they wanted and when they wanted it. Hearing the demands of a "federal investigation of corruption on reservations in South Dakota" as well as "immediate Senate hearings on broken treaties with Indian Nations," Trimbach knew this was a problem much larger than what he could solve. [5] 


"We were angry about losing our land. Losing our language. Being ripped off of our ability to live as Indian people. Our parents was telling us 'You have to walk the white man road. The Indian ways are gonna be gone. Be a Christian, you know. Go to school and learn that English but don’t learn your own language.' We wanted to give our lives in such a way that would bring attention to what was happening in Indian country and we were pretty sure that we were gonna have to give our lives." -Carter Camp, former AIM member [6]

[1] Glennia Campbell, South Dakota: Burying My Heart at Wounded Knee, photograph, Pine Ridge: The Silent I, Sep. 6, 2008, The Silent I, South Dakota: Mountains & Missles, http://glenniacampbell.typepad.com/silenti/2008/09/south-dakota-bu.html (accessed March 29, 2012).
[2] Dennis Banks and Richard Erdoes, Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 161. 

[3] Banks and Erdoes, 162
[4] Clive Gildersleeve, photograph, Pine Ridge: Blogger, December 8, 2010, Blogger, Wounded Knee Hostages Reveal Their Story, http://woundedkneestory.blogspot.com/ (accessed April 1, 2012). 
[5] John Kusiak, We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, DVD, Stanley Nelson (2009: PBS), web.
[6] Kusiak, We Shall. 

A Risk Worth Taking

Hearing about what was going on at Pine Ridge, AIM was more than willing to step in to help. Members of AIM as well as the tribal leaders and a few members of the Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge met at the Calico Hall Community Center, just five miles west of the reservation. [1] The chiefs of the Oglala, most specifically Fools Crow, explained what had been happening on the reservation. They explained that they had attempted to solve the problems with every legal option; with failures in every attempt, they were ready to take illegal action. With desperation, they asked AIM for help, even though they knew there with risks by asking. "Where AIM goes, chaos often follows. . . as they go down the road, they don't know exactly what is going to happen." [2] Following that reputation, AIM made a plan to help the Oglala nation; they were going to occupy Wounded Knee, a city on the Pine Ridge reservation. This occupation was to force Dick Wilson out of office by drawing the attention of the rest of the nation. 

Fools Crow, Oglala Chief [3]

The Oglalas were hesitant to agree but finally the women lost patience and took over the discussion. Ellen Moves Camp, one of the founders of OSCRO (Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization), said many things that inspired a lot of the Oglala Lakota to abandon their fears and take action. [4] "Dicky Wilson has forbidden any meetings, speech making, or traditional dancing on the reservation. But this is our land, Lakota land. It belongs to us, not him and his goons. . .  [5] I don't see why they can't take him  and throw him out or throw him in jail or something the way he's been terrorizing people here on the reservation. . . I'm not scared of them anymore." [6] Inspired by Ellen Moves Camp, Fools Crow made a decision for the entire tribe. "Then we'll go to Wounded Knee," he said, "The AIM warriors will lead us." [7]

[1] Dennis Banks and Richard Erdoes, Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 160.
[2] John Kusiak, We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, DVD, Stanley Nelson (2009: PBS), web.
[3] Otto Bettman, photographer, Frank Fools Crow at Wounded Knee Occupation, photograph, South Dakota: Corbis, March 6 1973, CORBIS Images: Bettman Collection, Web, http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/BE054415/frank-fools-crow-at-wounded-knee-occupation (accessed March 26, 2012). 
[4] Reinhardt, Akim D. Ruling Pine Ridge: Oglala Lakota Politics from the IRA to Wounded Knee. Lubbock, Texas: Texas Tech University Press, 2007.

[5] Banks and Erdoes, 160.
[6] Kusiak, We Shall.
[7] Banks and Erdoes, 161.

[

American Indian Movement and Dick Wilson

AIM's Symbol

In 1968, the American Indian Movement (AIM) was created in Minneapolis. This group of young Indians had become expertise at using occupation as a protest. [1] In 1974, AIM occupied the headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and vandalized the building. In 1973, a white man killed an Indian by Custer, South Dakota. This man was charged with manslaughter, not murder, by local officials, causing AIM to react with anger. At the courthouse, 200 AIM members forced their way in and were attacked by law enforcement. The AIM members retaliated by lighting the courthouse in flames and destroying the town surrounding. [2]

Dick Wilson

Meanwhile, 50 miles from Custer, the Oglala Lakota (more often known as the Sioux) living on Pine Ridge Reservation were having their own difficulties. Elected chairman, Dick Wilson, had taken the job of traditional chiefs and used his power to disadvantage many of the Oglala Lakota living on the reservation. Wilson favored those who were "mixed race, assimilated Indians, like himself" over the full-blooded Sioux who still spoke their language and followed the customs of the traditional chiefs of the past. [3] Because of Wilson's favoring toward the non-traditional Oglalas, food, protection, and funds were distributed unequally throughout the reservation. Wilson and his people, referred to as GOONS (Guardians of our Oglala Nation), were challenged for corruption within the tribal government by the traditional Sioux and responded with violence. When charges were pressed, Wilson threw them out of court, making it impossible for the people to gain fairness and equality. [4] Because of Wilson's powerful threats and actions, many policemen were afraid to arrest any one of Wilson's "Goons," regardless of the fact that they constantly broke the law. In addition to this, many of the men in the police force were non-traditional Oglalas, meaning that Wilson favored and helped them. In an effort to keep that favor and support, these men did not arrest any Goons. In an interview for PBS's documentary We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, Marvin Stoldt, a BIA police officer and non-traditional Oglala, said, "He helped me a number of times, so I felt that I owed him a loyalty and so I didn't support everything he did but [regardless] of what he did, I still felt that loyalty." [5]


Finally, the traditional Sioux having enough of being treated so poorly, started a civil rights commission and began gathering evidence of the corruption within the tribal government. In February 1973, impeachment hearings were held by the tribal council, but failed due to Wilson's threats to witnesses and council members. Many tribal members felt no hope. One traditional Oglala woman said, "Well I believe that the time has come that we have to commit violence in order to be heard. I don't wanna see anybody killed or anything, but the time is gonna come one of these [times when] violence might have to be in order to wake the people up." [6] It was with this attitude, that the Sioux living in Pine Ridge approached the AIM for help.








[1] Faragher et al., Out of Many: A History of the American People, vol. 2 (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2012), 78.

[2] Columbia University, Press. 2011. "American Indian Movement." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition 1. History Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed March 4, 2012).
[3] John Kusiak, We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, DVD, Stanley Nelson (2009: PBS), web.
[4] “Siege at Wounded Knee 1973.” Redhawk’s Lodge, 2002. siouxme.com/lodge/aim_73.html
[5] John Kusiak
[6] John Kusiak