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| Russell Means 1939-2012 |
Russell
Means was an activist, a musician, an
actor, politician and a writer and led protests
that called attention to the nation’s history of injustices against Native
Americans. Russell – named Wanbli
Ohitika by his mother, which means "Brave Eagle" in the Lakota
language-- was born in Porcupine, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation. His mother was a Yankton Dakota from Greenwood, South Dakota, and
his father was an Oglala Lakota.
Russell
was active outside of the United States helping other indigenous peoples in
Central and South America, and worked with the United Nations for their rights.
In 1992 he appeared on numerous television series and in several films,
including The Last of the Mohicans, and released his own music CD. He published
his autobiography: “Where White Men Fear to Tread” in 1995. Russell walked on
in 2012, less than a month before his 73rd birthday.
When
Russell walked on ABC News said he "spent a lifetime as a modern American
Indian warrior, railed against broken treaties, fought for the return of stolen
land and even took up arms against the federal government, called national
attention to the plight of impoverished tribes and often lamented the waning of
Indian culture." The New York Times said Russell " was as
well-known a Native American as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse."
Being
famous didn’t prevent him from being mistreated like many other Native
Americans. While at the Rosebud Indian
Reservation in south-central South Dakota, he developed severe vertigo – he couldn’t
walk straight. Doctors at the reservation clinic thought he was drunk. They
refused to examine him for several days. Then they said he had a concussion probably
due to a fight in a saloon. A visiting specialist later found that the
reservation doctors missed the real diagnosis: a common ear infection. This
stereotyping and neglectful behavior cost Russell the hearing in one ear.
The
ashes of Russell Means were sprinkled throughout the sacred Black Hills, SD. Ruth
Hopkins writing in the Indian Country Media Network (2014) about the Black
hills: “To say that the Black Hills hold special significance for the Oceti
Sakowin (The Great Sioux Nation) is an understatement. They’re not only our
traditional homelands, where our ancestors once lived, they’re sacred. The
Black Hills (K?e Sapa) are the birthplace of our Nation, where we rose from
Mother Earth’s womb. Our legends took place there. The Black Hills itself is a
terrestrial mirror of the heavens above and thus forms the basis of our ancient
star maps and Lakota astronomy. The entirety of K?e Sapa is a sacred site. Our
rituals observe the natural cycles of the planet and our Universe. There are
ceremonies that we must conduct at specific locations within the Black Hills.
These ancient ceremonies benefit the whole of humanity. No, we aren’t talking
about dirt protected by ‘No Trespassing’ signs. K?e Sapa is holy ground. It is
where we are meant to pray.”
Listening
to Russell Means talk about his people (http://tinyurl.com/gs5smcw)
can only put some humanity in our hearts – it should go viral; share it with
everyone you know.
