P
from a government grant, Wilson assembled a
heavily armed force of policemen who refer to
themselves as “goons” (an acronym for “Guardians
of the Oglala Nation”). To protect themselves from
the goons, the reservation’s traditionalists and elders
formed the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization.
The group asked the Justice Department for help
and tried to impeach Wilson. When both efforts
failed, the traditionalists turned to the young activ-
ists of AIM, who on the suggestion of several female
elders decide to take over the symbolically charged
site of Wounded Knee.
The morning after the takeover, Wounded
Knee is surrounded by more than 200 FBI agents
and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials with machine
guns and armored cars. The standoff between the
Indian protesters and the U.S. government will
continue for more than two months and become
a news event of international importance. (See also
entry for MAY 8, 1973.)
“I thought of the old warrior
societies.... The Kit Foxes—the
Tokalas—used to wear long
sashes. In the midst of battle, a
Tokala would sometimes dis-
mount and pin the end of his
sash to the earth. By this he
signified his determination to
stay and fight on his chosen
spot until he was dead, or until
a friend rode up and unpinned
him, or until victory.... None
of us had any illusions that we
could take over Wounded Knee
unopposed. Our message to the
government was: ‘Come and dis-
cuss our demands or kill us!’”
—Lakota Sioux activist Mary
Brave Bird on the decision to
occupy Wounded KneeMarch 27Marlon Brando refuses the Academy Award
to protest Hollywood’s portrayal of Indians.
At the 1972 Academy Awards ceremony, Marlon
Brando is named best actor for his performance
in The Godfather. When his name is announced,
a young woman wearing a Plains Indian costume
walks on stage in his behalf and pushes away the
Oscar statuette offered to her by presenter Roger
Moore. In her “acceptance” speech, she explains that
she is Sacheen Littlefeather, an Apache representative
of the National Native American Affirmative Image
Committee. Acting for Brando, she refuses the Oscar
because of “the treatment of American Indians today
by the film industry and on television in movie re-
runs and also... the recent happenings at Wounded
Knee” (see entry for FEBRUARY 28, 1973).
The protest is widely criticized as inappropri-
ate to the awards ceremony. Representative of the
entertainment industry’s response is the remark of
actor Charlton Heston, a political conservative: “It
was childish. The American Indian needs better
friends than that.” Sacheen Littlefeather—actually
a professional actress named Maria Cruz—is per-
sonally criticized when she exploits her fame by
appearing as “Pocahontas-in-the-buff ” in an issue
of Playboy magazine.May 8The Wounded Knee occupation ends.
After more than two months, American Indian
Movement (AIM) members and other protesters
agree to leave the site of Wounded Knee (see entry
for FEBRUARY 28, 1973). In the “peace pact” that
ends the occupation, the U.S. government guaran-
tees that the activists will be treated fairly. However,
the FBI, embarrassed by the standoff with AIM, will
push for the arrest of 562 people in connection with
the protest. Only 15 will be convicted of a crime.
The Wounded Knee occupation succeeds in
bringing worldwide attention to Indian disputes
with the United States, but it fails in its original
intention to end tribal chairman Dick Wilson’s