"On May 8, 1973, members of the militant American Indian Movement who had occupied the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee surrendered to federal agents after a 10-week standoff.

The episode began after members of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tried to impeach the Oglala tribal chairman Richard (Dick) Wilson, whom they accused of being corrupt, authoritarian and biased against full-blooded and traditional Indians. (Mr. Wilson himself was of mixed ancestry.) When the impeachment charges were dropped, the Oglala brought in the militants to aid their cause. On Feb. 27, about 200 armed activists and members of the Oglala seized Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Wounded Knee held a special significance for American Indians. It was the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre of 200 to 300 Sioux Indians by federal forces, considered to be the last major conflict of the Indian Wars."

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May 8, 1973 | Standoff at Wounded Knee Comes to an End (The New York Times 5/8)