Russell Means, American Indian Activist, Dies at 72 - NYTimes.com

Russell Means outside the U.S. Courthouse where he was on trial 

Russell Means was an extravagant person.  Handsome, impetuous, a battler, and a brawler.  His role in the Wounded Knee reservation protests by the American Indian Movement alerted the nation to the misery and injustices of the the reservation system to which Native Americans (as we came to call them) were subjected.  As a kid at Saturday afternoon movies, cheering the U.S. Cavalry as our men on horseback routed the indians who threatened the wagon train, we never gave the reality a thought.  Until Russell Means, Dennis Banks and other leaders of the movement reminded us that we had stolen their land and left them destitute and - until then - broken. The Times obituary is well worth reading.  - gwc
Russell Means, American Indian Activist, Dies at 72 - NYTimes.com: 
by Robert McFadden
"Undeterred, Means led a caravan of Sioux and Cheyenne into a gathering of 500 people commemorating the centennial of Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s last stand at Little Big Horn in Montana in 1876, the nation’s worst defeat of the Indian wars. To pounding drums, Mr. Means and his followers mounted a speaker’s platform, joined hands and did a victory dance, sung in Sioux Lakota, titled “Custer Died for Your Sins.”" 'via Blog this'