Wounded Knee Occupation
1973 occupation by Oglala Lakota and AIM protesting corruption and treaty failures.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The protest followed the failure of an effort by the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) to impeach tribal president Richard Wilson, whom they accused of corruption and abuse of opponents. Protesters also criticized the U.S. government's failure to fulfill treaties with Native American people and demanded the reopening of treaty negotiations.
Quick Facts
- Conflict
- Wounded Knee Occupation
- Part Of
- the Pine Ridge Insurgency, Red Power movement
- Location
- Wounded Knee, South Dakota
- Result
- American government victory / Occupation ended
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The occupation was rooted in long-standing internal tribal tensions on the Pine Ridge Reservation, one of the poorest areas in the United States. Many Oglala believed tribal chairman Richard Wilson, elected in 1972, had become autocratic and corrupt, controlling employment and benefits, favoring family and friends, and working too closely with Bureau of Indian Affairs officials. Traditionalists, who held onto their language and customs, opposed the U.S.-recognized tribal government, which historian Akim Reinhardt described as a system of 'indirect colonialism.' Opponents also protested Wilson's sale of grazing rights at low rates and leasing of mineral-rich lands to private companies.
Reader's Guide
The Wounded Knee Occupation was a pivotal event in Native American activism, highlighting ongoing injustices and treaty violations by the U.S. government. It brought national attention to the conditions on the Pine Ridge Reservation and the corruption of tribal chairman Richard Wilson. The occupation inspired many Native Americans and garnered widespread public sympathy, as Americans became more aware of longstanding issues of injustice. However, Wilson remained in office and was re-elected in 1974 amid charges of intimidation and voter fraud. Violence on the reservation escalated in the following years, with AIM claiming 64 unsolved murders, though an FBI report in 2000 concluded only four were unsolved homicides. The occupation's legacy includes its role in the broader American Indian Movement and its symbolic use of the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.
Did You Know?
- The occupation lasted 71 days, from February 27 to early May 1973.
- Frank Clearwater, of Eastern Cherokee and Apache nations, was shot on April 17 and died on April 25, 1973.
- Lawrence 'Buddy' Lamont, an Oglala, was shot and killed on April 26, 1973, leading to a truce.
- Ray Robinson, a civil rights activist, disappeared during the events and was later determined to have been buried on the reservation after allegedly being killed during a confrontation with AIM members.
More in Rebellions against the United States 1-23
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