The Occupation of Wounded Knee (which Mary also calls the Siege of Wounded Knee) was an act of protest led by American Indian Movement (AIM) activists and members of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO). It was an attempt to impeach Richard “Dicky” Wilson, the notoriously corrupt tribal president of Pine Ridge Reservation. To protest Wilson’s regime, AIM and OSCRO activists occupied Wounded Knee (the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre) for 71 days. During the occupation, U.S. marshals, FBI agents, and other law enforcement officers encircled the protestors, cut off their supplies, and exchanged fire with the activists.
1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee Quotes in Lakota Woman
The Lakota Woman quotes below are all either spoken by 1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee or refer to 1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 9
Quotes
At one time a white volunteer nurse berated us for doing the slave work while the men got all the glory. We were betraying the cause of womankind, was the way she put it. We told her that her kind of women’s lib was a white, middle-class thing, and that at this critical stage we had other priorities. Once our men had gotten their rights and their balls back, we might start arguing with them about who should do the dishes. But not before.
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So there was a lot of sneaking through the perimeter, a lot of coming and going. Indians from Denver, New Mexico, and L.A. trickled in, a dozen or half-dozen at a time. A group of Iroquois from New York joined us for a while […] Among the groups walking in were some Northwest Coast people, Pullayups and Nisquallies, led by Sid Mills who had fought so long for native fishing rights in Washington State. These were among our toughest fighters.
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Chapter 11
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I had been promised that I would not be arrested, but the moment I passed the roadblock I was hustled to the Pine Ridge jail. They did not book me, just took all my things away and were about to take my baby too. They told me I would have to wait, they could not put me in the tank before the Welfare came for my baby. Being poor, unwed, and a no-good rabble-rouser from the Knee made me an unfit mother. The child would have to be taken to a foster home.
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1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee Term Timeline in Lakota Woman
The timeline below shows where the term 1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee appears in Lakota Woman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: A Woman from He-Dog
...gave birth to her first child during a firefight that was part of the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee, she was given another name by her people: Ohitika Win, or Brave...
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Chapter 9: The Siege
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...
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...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...
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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...
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...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...
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It was during the siege that Mary had a chance to meet Annie Mae Aquash, a Micmac woman who became...
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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...
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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...
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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....
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Chapter 10: The Ghosts Return
...Wounded Knee Massacre, so were several Native American religious rituals at the heart of the siege of Wounded Knee. Leonard Crow Dog was the primary spiritual leader during the siege, where...
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Leonard was also the primary doctor at Wounded Knee during the siege. He used various herbs and animal parts to heal the wounded. The white doctors who...
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The night before the first Ghost Dance at the siege of Wounded Knee, Leonard gave a speech to the activists. Having learned the songs and...
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...nation’s hoop is broken and scattered.” When the activists joined together at the Wounded Knee siege to revive the Ghost Dance, they demonstrated that the dream is not dead—they “mended the...
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Chapter 11: Birth Giving
...funeral process, so she agreed to leave Wounded Knee with them. When she left the siege, she and Pedro only had the clothes they wore, a blanket for Pedro, a few...
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The siege of Wounded Knee officially ended when Leonard signed an agreement with the federal officers. Many...
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After the siege, government officials bulldozed all that was left on Wounded Knee. Mary suspects that they wanted...
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Chapter 12: Sioux and Elephants Never Forget
Although Mary wasn’t romantically interested in Leonard Crow Dog around the time of the siege, she married him shortly afterward. It wasn’t the fact that he was a medicine man...
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...his first sexual advance at the Rosebud Fair that took place after the Wounded Knee siege. He drove her to a party, kissing her on the way. But Mary wasn’t interested...
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Chapter 13: Two Cut-off Hands
...to the AIM cause and often worked together. Like Mary, they were both at the siege of Wounded Knee, where they got married. Unfortunately, Nogeeshik was mentally and physically abusive to...
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Chapter 14: Cante Ishta—The Eye of the Heart
...1974, Leonard and his father hosted another Ghost Dance, his second Ghost Dance after the siege of Wounded Knee. Although originally intended to be for Lakota only, many indigenous people from...
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Chapter 15: The Eagle Caged
After the siege of Wounded Knee, Leonard knew that government agents would find a reason to imprison him....
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