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.
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January 17, 1974 - Lutheran Church executive, Paul Boe, says 100 AIM members are awaiting trial in jail in South Dakota. Their incarceration is related to the occupation of Wounded Knee. He asks for the public's support in seeing that they receive justice.
January 17, 1974 - Speech excerpt of Lutheran Church executive Paul Boe defending his actions at Wounded Knee.
January 17, 1974 - A spokesperson says Lutheran Church executive, Dr. Paul Boe, refuses to testify at Wounded Knee trial.
January 18, 1974 - Judge Nichol instructed 30 prospective Wounded Knee jurors not to read or listen to news on the trial, nor talk to anyone about it. Russell Means and Dennis Banks are charged with breaking and entering, stealing guns and a car, obstructing justice, blocking roads and firing guns at federal agents. They are also charged with conspiracy to break the law.
January 19, 1974 - Dick Gregory, author and human rights activist, talks in Fargo-Moorhead on the Concordia campus.
January 19, 1974 - Human Rights activist Dick Gregory, speaking in Fargo-Moorehead, talks about his support of the American Indian Movement, its parallels with the black Civil Rights movement, unhealthy conditions on the reservation, and his hopes for a fair trial for Wounded Knee defendants. He also discusses campus unrest around the country.
February 4, 1974 - Voices from the Reservation (Part One). Differing viewpoints from Ogalala Sioux residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation who have been divided over the occupation of Wounded Knee in the Spring of 1973 are shared. Kevin McKiernan reports.
February 5, 1974 - Voices from the Reservation (Part Two). Comments by residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota on the Wounded Knee occupation in 1973 and the coming tribal election (7 February 1974) between Russell Means and Richard Wilson. Kevin McKiernan reports.
February 27, 1974 - Henry 'Big Boy' Senior was chosen to sing the special song, "Tribute to a Fallen Warrior" as those who had fallen at Wounded Knee were remembered. The Wounded Knee cemetery draws many to remember those lost. The gravesites bear a large American flag and artificial flowers. Food and other offerings were placed on the flag as an offering. The BIA stated they would not interfere with the memorial, so long as no laws were broken. 60 BIA officers were imported to Pine Ridge Reservation to supplement the local forces for the event, but they were not needed.
February 27, 1974 - One year after Wounded Knee Occupation, MPR’s Kevin McKiernan presents audio excerpts that provide a powerful aural experience from inside the South Dakota village during the Wounded Knee Occupation on the day of Buddy Lamont’s death. A journalistic rarity of this impactful moment.