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Article: Like a Hurricane: The American Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee.
- Article from:
- The Progressive
- Article date:
- June 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 The Progressive, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In February 1972, several hundred people confronted authorities in Gordon, I Nebraska. The police in that town had neglected to prosecute the torture-murderers of a middle-aged Oglala Lakota named Raymond Yellow Thunder. The crowd demanded a trial, and got one.
The guilty parties became the first whites in Nebraska history sent to prison for killing an Indian. Movement members and their leaders, Native American activists Russell and Ted Means, became heroes on the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. It was a crucial win for the American Indian Movement.
During the early 1970s, the American Indian Movement had "an incredible ride across this country, the ...