Russell Means’ Contribution to the Fight for Indigenous Rights

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Table of Contents

Contribution to American Life
Representation of the Living First Peoples
Conclusion
Works Cited

Aside from issues of Civil Rights, the problems of Native Americans can be seen in the lack of recognition. The best way that characterizes this statement can be seen in the reaction of Americans watching the evening news o television on November 21, 1969, when Indians occupied the abandoned federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The reaction was their surprise that Indians still existed at all (Weaver). In that regard, a figure such as Russell Means with his activism, biography, media appearances, and popularity, where the L.A. times described him as the most famous American Indian since Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse (“Russell Means – Home Page”), is truly a confirmation that Indians not only exist they also have a voice to be heard of.

Russell Charles Means was born in the reservation of Pine Ridge on November 10^th, 1939 and he is the older son of Harold Means and Theodora Means. Means attended the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) School, and later a normal school in Vallejo, California. He was a good student grade in English language and History considerably above averages. Means was also a good athlete and were an active member of the organization of the American boy scouts. At the age of 16 years transferred from the mixed in racial proportion school in Vallejo to an all-white San Leandro High School. Every day facing the barrier of racial prejudices from schoolmates, it can be said that grievance and anger on a white society arose in Means at that time (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography).

Means changed several jobs, where he worked as a cowboy, a day laborer, and at an advertising firm, but it was his position at the directorship of the government-funded American center in Cleveland, Ohio, which started his active participation in the Indian movement. This facts of his biography that cover this participation include organizing the branch of the American Indian Movement (AIM)in Cleveland, the participation in costumed protests in Plymouth, a symbolic demonstration in Mount Rushmore, the protests In Nebraska, and planning a mass demonstration in Washington D.C (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography).

Russell C. Means has been an outspoken Indian rights activist for more than two decades. The organizer of numerous protests against the U.S. government’s treatment of Native Americans and a major figure in the American Indian Movement (AIM), Means is perhaps best known for leading a 71-day siege at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, which drew national attention to Indian-rights issues in the early 1970s. The head of the American Indian Anti-Defamation League since 1988, Means continues to fight for the unique identity and independence of Native Americans (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography).

Contribution to American Life

The contributions of Means are numerous, and although he spoke for the rights of the Indigenous people mostly, he was also a prominent American figure. His acting career has demonstrated a perfect example of the American dream that comes true and knows no Barriers. He participated in such film hits as “The Last of the Mohicans”, “Natural Born Killers”, “Wind Runner”, “Pocahontas” and others (“Russell Means – Home Page”). His contribution to the American culture also includes musical works, which carried protest lyrics, “Electric Warrior and The Radical”. The main contribution though can be considered his activities to eliminate racial prejudices and equal human rights, which in that regard can be considered as a general contribution to the rise of democracy and freedom in the country.

Personally, I think that his best accomplishments are in eliminating the invisibility of the Indian people in American society and the world. Indian people needed an outspoken person that will show that they still exist and that their problems are no less important in American society. Going back to the article’s excerpt mentioned at the beginning of this paper, regarding the American reaction to the Indian occupation of Alcatraz, this reaction could be understandable. “The media did little to cover issues involving the indigenous inhabitants of the United States.” (Weaver). It should be mentioned that Means has a role in the Alcatraz occupation where he was invited by his father to join the occupation of the abandoned federal prison on Alcatraz Island. (Lorentz) Despite the failure of the occupation,” it stirred up a new feeling of Indian pride in Means and other activists.” (Lorentz). In that regard, aside from his movie roles, Means was always involved in media appearances which brought attention to the Indian issue. An example of the breakthrough that Means achieved can be seen through the ignorance of the American media, through Henry Luce, the publisher of Time and Life magazine, who had “an absolutely and seemingly unbreakable policy against running any stories about Indians anywhere in the country.” (Weaver). Thus, personally, I think that Russell Means’ accomplishments cannot be overrated in such aspects, bring attention and breaking the stereotypes of the Indian nations in the United States.

Representation of the Living First Peoples

Despite the seemingly western career in the film and media industry, Russell Means was a true Indian. Being from the Indian Sioux, Means used the traditional term Lacota when referring to his origins, considering that the term “Sioux was “a derogatory white word.” (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography). Means was involved in every action of protest, even if it implied danger when it came to any acts of injustice toward the Indian people. Means was among the people who occupied Wounded Knee and was shot by a BIA officer in the process, and nevertheless, he was among the negotiators with the government in Washington to end the siege.

The rights of the Native people that Means defended were not strictly connected only to the Indigenous people in the US, where Means became involved with native rights issues in other countries, such as Nicaragua. Accordingly, the activities of Means were always connected to the people he belonged to, rather than fulfilling any leadership ambitions, a statement that he concluded in a chapter written in Marxism and Native Americans”, stating “I am not a ‘leader.’ I am an Oglala Lakota patriot. That’s all I want or need to be. And I am very comfortable with who I am.”(UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography).

The accomplishments of Means are also extended beyond the public actions to the area of individual philanthropy. Means founded the Yellow Thunder Camp which operated from 1981 to 1989, an educational youth village in the Holy Land of the Lakota Nation Black Hills, South Dakota. He was also the founder of Cleveland American Indian Center, a center created in 1969 to serve the needs of the American Indians. Additionally, the list of Russell Means Charities includes KILI FM Radio, the first completely owned and operated radio station by American Indians in the United States of America, Porcupine Health Clinic, the first independent health clinic on American reservation in the US, Total Immersion School, a school which is based on a concept instituted by the Maori people of New Zealand, and Treatment Center for Addictions, a center which considering the problems of alcoholism faced by many Native Americans, helped those to naturally overcome their addictions (“Russell Means – Home Page”). Despite the criticism of many of Means’ radical methods, where the Washington Post called him “…. biggest, baddest, meanest, angriest, most famous American Indian activist of the late 20th century” (UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography), Means admits that he has worked through his defects and finally has found a peace of mind.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that Russell Means is a figure that has an undeniable impact on the course of the Indian movements. Means participated, organized, or led many of the most recognizable events in the history of Indian opposition in the second half of the 20th century. Nevertheless, his most important accomplishment can be seen through bringing the attention of the media to Indian people, whether through his speeches or through the films in which he participated. In that regard, every movement fighting for human rights has one or more figures, which made people associated them with such movement. In black movements, such figures were Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. It can be argued that Means overshadowed other Indian figures in accomplishments, but what cannot be denied is that he was the most recognizable.

Works Cited

Lorentz, Melissa. “Russell Means”. 2009. Minnesota State University.
“Russell Means – Home Page“. 2009. T.R.E.A.T.Y. Web.
UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography. “Russell Means”. 2003. CBS Interactive Inc.
Weaver, Jace. “The Pendulum Swings of Indian Policy”. 2009. America.gov.

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Russell Means’ Contribution to the Fight for Indigenous Rights

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