The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke in Lakota) is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation in South Dakota.
The Reservation, which was originally called the Great Sioux Reservation by white settlers, was established with the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and encompassed roughly 60 million acres. However, the U.S. government violated the treaty in 1876 by opening up 7.7 million acres to homesteaders and private interests.
In 1890, the U.S. 7th Cavalry killed more than 300 men, women and children, near Wounded Knee Creek, who were trying to get to Pine Ridge. The massacre has come to be known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.
In the 1970s, the reservation was the site of a 71-day-stand-off between American Indian Movement (AIM) activists and FBI Agents and the National Guard. AIM was lead by Dennis Banks and Russell Means. Two FBI agents were killed and two Oglala Lakotas were killed.
Minnesota Public Radio’s Kevin McKiernan was inside the Pine Ridge Reservation when the firefight broke out. MPR also covered the trial of the AIM leaders and other issues surrounding the reservation.
For additional resources, please search the Minnesota Historical Society collections.
September 2, 1973 - MPR’s Kevin McKiernan interviews unknown speaker, most likely Vernon Bellecourt, after arrest with Russell Means at Baptist Hospital while visiting Clyde Bellecourt on Aug. 30, which immediately followed indictments handed down by the Indian grand jury in Custer.
September 3, 1973 - MPR’s Kevin McKiernan reports on the condition and fall out from shooting of AIM leader Clyde Bellecourt.
September 4, 1973 - The FBI stakeout car's license plate was recorded by two legal workers who were subsequently arrested. Action was taken against the FBI for false arrest. There are currently 54 FBI agents in South Dakota; usually there are five. 48 are stationed in Rapid City. Mark Lane, attorney representing AIM, talks about FBI harassment in South Dakota. He comments on John Dean's (at the Watergate hearings) remarks on taping the activities of American Indians, FBI agents' testimonies, guns removed from agents in court, government conspiracy against American Indians, and goon squads that resulted with a little girl shot in eye.
September 4, 1973 - MPR’s Kevin McKiernan interviews unknown responder to AIM attorney Mark Lane’s accusation of FBI agents harassing his office.
October 18, 1973 - Clyde Bellecourt talks about the federal government conspiracy to assassinate the leadership of the AIM. He says the government is blatantly trying to silence voices of oppressed, such as the Black Panther leaders, the May Day 1971 crowds, and the Indians indicted for Wounded Knee. Bellecourt states that Oglala Nation and AIM accept the challenge of BIA.
December 8, 1973 - Opening arguments are given in the Wounded Knee trial of Russell Means and Dennis Banks in St. Paul.
December 10, 1973 - Russell Means talks about his candidacy on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Per Pine Ridge Tribal Council he must be on the reservation on election day, Jan. 22. He hopes to be in the courthouse in St. Paul on that day, and says his campaign has been threatened with violence by BIA police and the "Goon Squad". He's fearful for campaign workers. He expects a mandate. He's been asked to speak to the UAW on strip mining. The Northern Cheyenne of Montana, facing strip mining on their reservation, have asked for help from AIM. Department of the Interior Solicitor General Ken Frezel says Northern Cheyenne and Indian people will have to sacrifice their land and their resources for the good of the rest of America.
January 7, 1974 - Both Richard Banks and Russell Means express their views on the Wounded Knee trial. Banks speaks first, interrupted by Means. He says Wounded Knee happened because of over 200 years of neglect by the BIA, total repressive action on the reservation. There's been total ignorance of treaties and sacred trust. The U.S. is on trial because of treaty rights. The trial is for all American people and their constitutional rights. Gladys Bissonette: "American government has put us under so much repression that we cannot stand up under it any more. After Wounded Knee we can stand up and fight back for our children, our people who are suffering".William Kunstler: "If we get a fair and impartial jury it will see through the grotesque and bizarre federal conspiracy prosecutions that have the goal of curtailing social movements. The trial has nothing to do with claims of indictment whatsoever, has to do with destruction of an entire movement. The government is trying to buy off witnesses."
January 17, 1974 - Five jurors were excused and three jurors accepted in preparation for the Wounded Knee Trial. A previous motion made by the defense asking that 7 of 10 indictments against Russell Means and Dennis Banks be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction was responded to by the prosecution. The federal government said that according to American law, they do have jurisdiction, including crimes committed on Indian reservations.
January 17, 1974 - Lutheran Church executive Paul Boe says his position with AIM was one of trust and that he should not be questioned about the events of Wounded Knee.