Family of Russell Means hosts honoring ceremony in Pine Ridge


Longtime activist and actor Russell Means, Oglala Lakota, spoke at the Dakota Conference on the campus of Augustana College in Sioux Falls on April 27, 2012. The theme for this year’s conference was “Wounded Knee 1973: Forty Years Later.” PHOTO COURTESY/STEW MAGNUSON

The family of the late Russell Means, a prominent Indian activist who died on Monday at the age of 72, will host an honoring ceremony tomorrow on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The “Honoring the Life of Russell Means” ceremony will highlight the life and achievements of Means, who was a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe It takes place at 10am in the Little Wound High School Gymnasium in Kyle.

Means, a self-described “Oglala Freedom Fighter," began his journey to the spirit world at 4:44 am on Monday, with the Morning Star, at his home and ranch in Porcupine. He passed after battling a recurrence of cancer

In addition to tomorrow's honoring, three more ceremonies are being planned. They are tentatively scheduled as follows: 2nd Honoring at Wounded Knee ’73 Occupation Memorial (February 2013); 3rd Honoring at Wind Cave State Park, South Dakota (June 2013); and 4th Honoring on Russell’s birthday (November 10, 2013) at a location to be determined.

Contact: Natalie Hand, (605) 441-0605; Tatanka Means, (505) 288-8390

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