Russell Means

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Means was born on November 10, 1939, in Porcupine, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, to Theodora Louise Feather and Walter "Hank" Means. His mother was a Yankton Dakota from Greenwood, South Dakota and his father, an Oglala Lakota. He was given the name Waŋblí Ohítika by his mother, which means 'Brave Eagle' in the Lakota language. In 1942, the Means family resettled in the San Francisco Bay Area, seeking to escape the poverty and problems of the reservation. His father worked at the shipyard in Vallejo. Means grew up in the Bay Area, graduating in 1958 from San Leandro High School in San Leandro, California. He attended four colleges but did not graduate from any of them. In his 1995 autobiography, Means recounted a harsh childhood; his father was alcoholic and he himself fell into years of "truancy, crime and drugs" before finding purpose in the American Indian Movement in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father died in 1967 and, in his twenties, Means lived in several Indian reservations throughout the United States while searching for work. While at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in south-central South Dakota, he developed severe vertigo. Physicians at the reservation clinic believed that he had been brought in inebriated. After they refused to examine him for several days, Means was finally diagnosed with a concussion due to a presumed fight in a saloon. A visiting specialist later discovered that the reservation doctors had overlooked a common ear infection, which cost Means the hearing in one ear. After recovering, Means worked for a year in the Office of Economic Opportunity, where he came to know several legal activists who were managing legal action on behalf of the Lakota people. After a dispute with his supervisor, Means left Rosebud for Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked with Native American community leaders against the backdrop of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Reader's Guide

Russell Means joined the American Indian Movement in 1968 and rose to become a prominent leader. In 1970, Means was appointed AIM's first national director. He participated in the 1969 Alcatraz occupation, having been there once before to occupy it for 24 hours under the lead of his father and a few other Lakota men in March 1964. On Thanksgiving Day 1970, Means and other AIM activists seized the Mayflower II in Boston to protest the Puritans' and United States' mistreatment of Native Americans. In 1971 Means was one of the leaders of AIM's takeover of Mount Rushmore, a federal monument within the Black Hills, an area sacred to the Lakota tribe. In November 1972, he participated in AIM's occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C., where many records were taken or destroyed and more than $2 million in damage was done. In 1973, Means appeared as a spokesman and prominent leader during AIM's occupation of Wounded Knee, an armed standoff lasting 71 days. In 1974, Means resigned from AIM to run for the presidency of his native Oglala Sioux Tribe against incumbent Richard Wilson; the official vote count showed Wilson winning by more than 200 votes, and a federal court upheld the results despite complaints of intimidation. In the late 1970s, Means worked with Jimmie Durham to establish the offices of the International Indian Treaty Council to work with the United Nations in 1977. He assisted in organizing community institutions at Pine Ridge, such as KILI radio station and the Porcupine Health Clinic. Means traveled to Germany, behind the Iron Curtain to meet with East German AIM supporters, and to Switzerland for the Geneva human rights conference. In the 1980s, AIM divided over Nicaragua; Means supported the Miskito group MISURASATA (later YATAMA), which was allied with the Contras, and traveled to Nicaragua in 1985 and 1986. On January 8, 1988, Means held a press conference to announce his retirement from AIM, saying it had achieved its goals. In 1999, Means and Robert Pictou-Branscombe held a press conference accusing Vernon Bellecourt and Clyde Bellecourt of involvement in the murder of Annie Mae Aquash; Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham were later indicted and convicted. Means also ran for the Libertarian Party nomination for President in 1987, finishing 2nd (31.4%) at the convention and losing to Ron Paul. In 2001, he began an independent candidacy for Governor of New Mexico but failed to meet procedural requirements.

Did You Know?

• Means was given the Lakota name Waŋblí Ohítika, meaning 'Brave Eagle', by his mother.
• A visiting specialist discovered that reservation doctors had overlooked a common ear infection, which cost Means the hearing in one ear.
• On Thanksgiving Day 1970, Means and other AIM activists seized the Mayflower II in Boston to protest mistreatment of Native Americans.
• Means finished 2nd (31.4%) at the 1987 Libertarian National Convention, losing the presidential nomination to Congressman Ron Paul.
• In 1999, Means publicly accused AIM leaders Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt of involvement in the murder of Annie Mae Aquash.