Former American Indian Movement activist and actor Russell Means has died. Means helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee, reveled in stirring up attention and appeared in Hollywood films, including 'The Last of the Mohicans.' AIM was founded in the late 1960s to protest the U.S. government's treatment of Native Americans and demand the government honor its treaties with Indian tribes.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - The ashes of Russell Means are being scattered in a private ceremony in western South Dakota's Black Hills, a day after the former American Indian Movement activist was remembered in a ceremony on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Hundreds of people gathered at the high school in Kyle to pay their respects. Means' ashes were brought from his ranch near Porcupine in a horseback procession that included a rider-less horse said to carry his spirit.
Oglala Sioux Tribe Vice President Tom Poor Bear says Means "gave us courage to stand up for what we believe in and to be proud of who you are."
Means died Monday at his ranch after battling cancer. He was 72. Three other ceremonies are planned next year to honor him.
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