For two months in 1973, Wounded Knee, in the Pine Ridge reservation, was occupied by members of the American Indian Movement. Leaders of the siege declared the territory an independent Oglala Nation. Members of AIM set up barricades in opposition to racism, corruption, and the policies of then-tribal president Dick Wilson.
Following the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, there were conversations over what sort of support the federal government should give to reservation schools. In a new episode of the oral history project, educational administrator John Haas and former Oglala Sioux Tribe President Bryan Brewer talk about changes in education and how schools often had to cut corners with their budget.