NaBloWriMo #22~~Another American Legend has Crossed the Veil~~

I got home from work today, sparked up Ye Olde Lapptoppe and saw that Russell Means had died...dang...I remembered him from one of my Fate Magazine articles. I hadta look up which one though;
it was way back in 96 with an article entitled, "Russell Means, Mystic Warrior." 



He was one of the leaders of AIM, the American Indian Movement. If you're old enough, you'll remember Wounded Knee...he was there. He was actually a member of AIM right at the beginning in the late 60's. He was always part of a controversy. He really didn't pull any punches, as well he shouldn't.

AIM was originally started to be a protest against the United States' treatment of the Native Americans and to make the government live up to its treaties to the various nations.  We all know how well THAT has done...

Wounded Knee turned into the precursor of WACO, and the Branch Davidians. A giant mess! But that's what happens when your intell is shite and noone knows what they're really doing. That's why an innocent person has been in jail for the past 30 some years. Leonard Peltier was a part of AIM and got railroaded for allegedly killing 2 Fibbies which he didn't do.

Also out in good old Pine Ridge was Annie Mae Aquash. She was found dead out there after she had also participated in Wounded Knee, and was a squeaky wheel.  The feds dragged their feet after figuring out it was murder. A bullet hole in the skull doesn't usually indicate death by exposure which was the first COD.  KWIM?

Russell Means held a press conference wondering why so little was being done.  AIM was blamed for Annie Mae's death at first too because it was alleged that she was an informant but there was never any proof of that.

He also said "That before AIM, there had been no advocate on a national or international scale for American Indians, and that Native Americans were ashamed of their heritage." AIM has sorta faded away, but now the Native Americans will stick up for themselves and act like the proud people that they have always been.  

Russell Means was also a movie actor. His first big role was "Chingachgook" in Last of the Mohicans. He was also in the movie "Pathfinder" and had a voice acting role in Pocahantas as "Powhatan."  

He was arrested and tried a couple of times for his involvement with AIM, but had always been cleared especially when there's government chicanery going on.  He ran for Vice President on a ticket with Larry Flynt in the 80's. Interesting pairing that one...

These are some pretty good quotes from him:

The one thing I've always maintained is that I'm an American Indian. I'm not politically correct. Everyone who's born in the Western Hemisphere is a Native American. We are all Native Americans.
All European tradition, Marxism included, has conspired to defy the natural order of all things. Mother Earth has been abused, the powers have been abused, and this cannot go on forever. No theory can alter that simple fact. Mother Earth will retaliate, the whole environment will retaliate, and the abusers will be eliminated. Things come full circle, back to where they started. That's revolution.
You see the one thing I've always maintained is that I'm an American Indian. I'm not a Native American. I'm not politically correct. Everyone who's born in the Western Hemisphere is a Native American. We are all Native Americans. And if you notice, I put "American" before my ethnicity. I'm not a hyphenated African-American or Irish-American or Jewish-American or Mexican-American.

 So in honour of this wise elder, I shall sit, spark up the Tsola and remember the deeds he accomplished here.
Mitayuke Oyasin (We are all related)