Iconic activist recognized at MLK Day event

PABLO – In recognition of the holiday celebrating one the country’s most revered civil rights leaders, students and faculty at the Salish Kootenai College took time to learn about the iconic American Indian activist Russell Means.

Part of the school’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Speaker Series, Amanda Means gave a presentation on the life and work of her grandfather, known for his involvement in the American Indian Movement and later political endeavors with the Libertarian Party.

Amanda described her grandfather’s early life on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation as a period of suffering for American Indian people. Means was born in 1939, shortly after a time period in which Amanda said tribes were beginning to recover from the disease and famine that ran rampant in the early days on the reservation.

Such progress was stalled, Amanda said, with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1939, which changed the dynamics of tribal governments.

“These things in history are what inspired my grandfather to say, ‘No, this is not right,’’ she said. “And to take it further.”

Amanda said Means first became active in the burgeoning American Indian Movement in 1969, when a member of the Pine Ridge Reservation named Raymond Yellow Thunder died after he was beaten by two white men in Nebraska. Protests erupted after Yellow Thunders attackers received light sentences.

“The courts didn’t do anything,” Amanda said. “This is what inspired him.”

Means gained media attention two years later when he participated in the occupation of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Amanda said Means climbed between the presidents’ faces one night and recited the 10 commandments, reminding the security forces of their moral obligations.

As the civil rights movement picked up steam, AIM’s actions became more controversial, particularly during the 70-day armed occupation of Wounded Knee.

Amanda said her grandfather participated in the protest to bring attention to the poor housing situations in the town.

“The situation wasn’t economically viable for people to survive,” she said.

One of the major misrepresentations concerning her grandfather and fellow activists, Amanda said, was the decision to take up arms.

“He told me he didn’t want to do it,” she said. “But what do you do if someone hits you and hits you? You fight back.”

After the Wounded Knee incident, Means had a split with AIM leaders. Continuing his activism at the local, state and national levels, Means also acted in many movies and television series.

Amanda said that while Means was portrayed as a stoic leader in the media, he cared deeply about his cause.

“We used to sit there and watch him cry,” she said. “He had a big heart.”

Means died in 2012, but Amanda said recent movements such as the protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline show that the spirit of early activists like her grandfather live on.

“I know he is looking down now and he is smiling,” she said.