Members of the American Indian Movement took over the town of Wounded Knee on Feb. 27, 1973, starting a 71-day occupation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The standoff with the federal government grew out of turmoil within the Oglala Sioux Tribe as well as a protest of the federal government’s treatment of Native Americans. It became violent at times, and two Native American men were killed. The siege left a lasting impact on members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the future of Native American activism. On the 50th anniversary of the start of that occupation, The Associated Press is republishing a 1973 story by reporter Terry Devine.
But legacy of activism lives on among those who have followed in their footsteps, including new generations of Native people who turned out at Standing Rock beginning in 2016 for pipeline protests
Tensions were already high on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota when activists from the American Indian Movement took over the town of Wounded Knee 50 years ago