Russell Means died 7 years ago today. I thought he was one of the truly great men of our time. Not everyone agreed. His obituary in the New York Times said, “He styled himself a throwback to ancestors who resisted the westward expansion of the American frontier. With theatrical protests that brought national attention to poverty and discrimination suffered by his people, he became arguably the nation’s best-known Indian since Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.“
I vaguely remember some of the earlier stuff, but he really came into my world in 1973 when he was one of the leaders of the American Indian Movement, and the group that occupied Wounded Knee. His detractors criticize his showmanship, but I was 17. It was the showmanship that caught my attention and got me to read about the underlying issues.
I particularly like this video of him, because it has him talking about a wide variety of subject.