From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Russell Means (born November 10, 1939) is one of contemporary America's best-known and prolific activists for the rights of American Indians. Means has also pursued careers in politics, acting, and music.

Means, an Oglala Sioux, was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation; both of his parents had been educated at Indian boarding schools. In 1942, Means's family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Means attended San Leandro High School, graduating in 1958.^[1]

In 1968, his life turned around when he joined the American Indian Movement and quickly became one its most prominent leaders. In 1969, Means was part of a group of Native Americans that occupied Alcatraz Island for a period of 19 months. He was appointed the group's first national director in 1970. Later that year, Means was one of the leaders of AIM's takeover of Mount Rushmore. In 1972, he participated in AIM's takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Washington, DC, and in 1973 he led AIM's occupation of Wounded Knee, which became the group's most celebrated action.

In 1974, Means first ran for the presidency of his native Oglala Sioux tribe against the incumbent Dick Wilson. Although the official vote count showed Wilson winning by two hundred votes, Means charged that this was due to pervasive vote fraud and intimidation by Wilson's agents. An investigation by a federal court agreed with Means and ordered a new election. However, Wilson's government refused to carry this out, and the court declined to enforce the ruling.

Between 1974 and 1976, as AIM disintegrated from internal conflicts and the efforts of COINTELPRO, Means stood trial 12 times for a variety of charges. The most serious of these was a 1975 trial for the murder of Martin Montileaux, for which Means was acquitted. In 1979 he served one year of a four-year sentence on charges stemming from a riot at a courthouse in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Means was paroled in 1980 and fully pardoned in 2002. His troubles with the law have continued, however; on August 23, 2005, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that under the Indian Civil Rights Act, the Navajo Nation has criminal jurisdiction over Means for an assault he allegedly committed on Navajo land, even though he is not a member.^[2]

In 1988, a group describing itself as the Ministry for Information of the American Indian Movement released a statement claiming that Means had publicly resigned from AIM on no less than six occasions, first in 1974.^[3] However, as of 2004, Means's website states that he was a board member of the Colorado AIM chapter. Means has also been closely associated with the controversial activist Ward Churchill. Churchill gave the nominating speech for Means in 1987 when Means sought the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party in a heated race against Representative Ron Paul.^[4] He was defeated by Paul, who later returned to the Republican Party.

Since the late 1970s, Means has often supported libertarian political causes, putting him at odds with several of the other leaders of AIM. In 1984, Means campaigned for the Republican nomination for vice president on a ticket with Larry Flynt; they lost to the incumbents, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In 1986 Means traveled to Nicaragua to express his support for Miskito Indians who were allied with the US-funded contra guerillas against the Nicaraguan government. In 1987, Means sought the nomination of the Libertarian Party for president and attracted considerable support within the party,^{[citation needed]} but eventually lost the nomination to former Congressman Ron Paul.^[5]

In 2001, Means began an independent candidacy for governor of New Mexico, but was kept off the ballot because of procedural problems. Instead, he again ran for president of the Oglala Sioux with the help of Twila Lebeaux, this time narrowly losing to incumbent John Yellow Bird Steele. Means has argued against the use of the term "Native American" and in favor of "American Indian". He argues that this use of the word Indian derives not from a confusion with India but from an Italian expression indios, meaning "in God" or "as God made them". He also states that since treaties and other legal documents say "Indian" on them, and not "Native American", use of the term Indian can help today's Indian people forestall any attempts at loopholes as they engage in legal proceedings to regain their land.

Means began an acting career in 1992, appearing as the chief Chingachgook in Last of the Mohicans. He made subsequent appearances in Natural Born Killers and Into the West, and was a voice actor in Pocahontas as the title character's father, Chief Powhatan. In 1997, Means published an autobiography, Where White Men Fear to Tread. He also appears as a character in the Access Adventure Game "Under a Killing Moon." ^[6]

In 2004 Means made a guest appearance on the HBO program Curb Your Enthusiasm. Means played Wandering Bear, a calm and resolute American Indian with skills in both landscaping and herbal medicine. Means also stars in Pathfinder, a 2007 movie about Vikings battling Native Americans in the New World.

• Russell Means, personal website
• A collection of critical statements about Means from a rival AIM group
• Russell Means at the Internet Movie Database