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Chapter 8
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lakota Woman, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Activism and Resistance
Assimilation, Tradition, and Identity
Unity, Inclusion, and Equality
Racism and Sexism
Summary
Analysis
The three main buildings that the activists used during the 71-day-long occupation of Wounded Knee were the Sacred Heart Church, the museum, and the Gildersleeve Trading Post. The trading post was the most important, as it had food and other supplies. Mary adds that the Lakota people had always resented the trading post, as it exploited their tragedy by making the site of the massacre a tourist hot spot.
The insensitivity of making Wounded Knee a tourist spot highlights the callousness of white society toward Native Americans. Not only was it white people who murdered the Lakota at Wounded Knee, but the white population later exploited the tragedy to make money. The resentment that Mary and the other Lakota feel appears to have strengthened their resolve during the occupation, as they take all the supplies within the trading post to support their efforts.
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Themes
People each assumed different roles. Someone made an inventory of groceries, and another was appointed head of security. Leonard Crow Dog was the spiritual leader. By the afternoon of the day of their arrival, they could see the approaching cars of the FBI and U.S. marshals.
Mary shows how the activists worked together to sustain the occupation. People assumed various roles to make it possible for the group to survive and for the occupation to last as long as possible. The implication is that the success of the protest depended on everyone working together.
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Themes
Mary interjects to say that not every day of the Wounded Knee Occupation was done doing heroic deeds. In fact, much of it was spent completing the tasks and routines of everyday life, from doing dishes to getting married.
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Themes
At one point, a white volunteer nurse scolded the Native American women for "betraying the cause of womankind" by agreeing to do all the domestic chores, like cooking, washing dishes, preparing the men's sleeping quarters, and sewing. They responded by saying that "her kind of women's lib was a white, middle-class thing." Until the Native American men had their civil and political rights, they (the women) wouldn't "argu[e] with them about who should do the dishes."
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Mary adds that both men and women put in a lot of work. For example, Bob Free, an engineer, organized a crew of men who did a lot of manual labor, from constructing latrines to making bunkers. Meanwhile, some women carried pistols and participated in the exchange of fire between activists and U.S. government officials.
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Themes
After a few days, the exchanges of fire started happening daily. A one-day ceasefire was arranged to let the women and children leave, but many women—Mary included—refused to go. Even at eight months pregnant, Mary continued to do her share of chores. During this period, she and Pedro Bissonette became good friends, with him always making sure that she had enough food.
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Even though the federal officers were far better equipped than the AIM and OSCRO activists, they were generally unable to really tighten the perimeter, as they avoided getting lost in the land surrounding Wounded Knee. So, throughout the siege, groups of Native Americans from all across the continent snuck through the perimeter to join the activists.
Mary interjects to add that there were many light-hearted moments during the siege, such as when several of the activists made a big scene while burying empty film canisters. The federal agents were alarmed, thinking that they were planting mines. For a moment, the federal officers scattered from the area, and the activists "scored another coup."
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Themes
After a few days, the government tightened its grip on Wounded Knee, bringing in a sniper helicopter and a special kill-and-destroy team. On the other hand, the Native American activists had old weapons and only a meagre amount of ammo.
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Mary interrupts her narrative to insert a Cheyenne saying: "A nation is not lost as long as the hearts of its women are not on the ground." During the siege, many women stepped up to fight, such as when one woman took over her husband's bunker after he was wounded in crossfire.
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It was during the siege that Mary had a chance to meet Annie Mae Aquash, a Micmac woman who became one of Mary's dearest friends. They met when Annie Mae confronted a group of Native American women who weren't doing their fair share of chores; Mary liked Annie Mae's attitude, and from that moment on, the two women became friends.
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On March 12, 1973, the activists at Wounded Knee declared the area to be a sovereign territory of the Oglala Nation. Anyone, no matter what race, could join. Mary adds that this was a reference to how, in 1868, the Lakota had been recognized as an independent nation in the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Shortly thereafter, however, the U.S. government revoked the treaty.
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Every now and then, the leaders of both sides—the activists and the government officials—met to try to negotiate an agreement. Each time, the government officials insisted that the activists had to surrender their weapons before the officials would consider the activists' demands. The activists refused, saying that they would only surrender their weapons when the officials would hear out the activists' demands.
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Switching back to the narrative of the siege, Mary reminisces on the two airdrops that happened during the siege. Food supplies started running low rather early on, so the airdrops were greatly appreciated. The first one was carried out by a part-Mohawk man who flew with a Vietnam veteran to drop off food for the activists. On the day of the second airdrop, one of the activists, a man named Frank Clearwater, was killed.
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Themes
Frank Clearwater was one of two men who were killed during the siege of Wounded Knee. Mary adds that both of the men were activists—the government officials had no casualties, and only one man was badly injured, while many of the activists were wounded.
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Themes
Frank Clearwater, a Cherokee man, arrived the day before the airdrop with his pregnant Apache wife, Morning Star. He was killed by a bullet that flew through the wall of the church, where he was resting. The activists immediately radioed to the government officials that one of their men had gotten badly wounded and needed immediate medical assistance. The government officials agreed to cease fire, only to start shooting as soon as the nurses—who were waving a white flag—tried to move Clearwater. It wasn't until later that evening when the activists managed to carry Clearwater down the hill to a federal helicopter. Clearwater died a few days later; his wife was arrested and jailed overnight.
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The other man who died during the siege was Buddy Lamont, an Oglala marine veteran. He was shot and killed instantly in crossfire. As in Clearwater's situation, the government officials didn't stop firing to allow medics to reach him. When relatives tried to leave Wounded Knee with Buddy's body, they were arrested. He was buried at Wounded Knee.
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