The Wounded Knee Incident, 1972-01-01 - 1974-12-31

Item — Box: 67, Folder: 10

Identifier: CAC_CC_009_2_67_7_0007

Staff Only

The Wounded Knee incident began on February 27, 1973, when a group of 200 American Indians under the leadership of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized the Pine Ridge Trading Post in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The Indians took 11 non-Indians hostage and presented a number of demands to the U.S. Marshals, including the right to talk to Senators Fulbright, Kennedy, and Mr. Abourezk. On March 8, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council passed a resolution ordering the AIM group off the reservation. The AIM group refused to leave, and on March 21, a firefight broke out in which a U.S. Marshal was shot and paralyzed. On March 26, the body of Leo Wilcox, a tribal council member and supporter of Tribal President Dick Wilson, was found burned in a car. On March 27, a cease-fire was agreed to by AIM and the Justice Department, and on April 6, an