Russell Means (born November 10, 1939) is one of contemporary America's best-known and prolific activists for the rights of American Indians. He argues that, "Indian people are dying of sympathy. What we want is respect." Means has also pursued careers in politics, acting, and music.
Russell Means, a Sioux, was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation; both of his parents had been educated at Indian boarding schools . In 1942, Means' family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where, as a young man, he became a petty criminal and alcoholic. In 1968, his life turned around when he joined the American Indian Movement and quickly became one its most prominent leaders. He was appointed the group's first national director in 1970. Later that year, Means was one of the leaders of AIM's takeover of Mount Rushmore. In 1972, he participated in AIM's takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Washington, DC, and in 1973 he led AIM's occupation of Wounded Knee, which became the group's most celebrated action.
In 1974, Means first ran for the presidency of his native Oglala Sioux tribe against the incumbent Dick Wilson. Although the official vote count showed Wilson winning by two hundred votes, Means charged that this was due to pervasive vote fraud and intimidation by Wilson's agents. An investigation by a federal court agreed with Means and ordered a new election. However, Wilson's government refused to carry this out, and the court declined to enforce the ruling.
Between 1974 and 1976, as AIM disintegrated from internal conflicts and the efforts of COINTELPRO, Means stood trial twelve times for a variety of charges. The most serious of these was a 1975 trial for the murder of Martin Montileaux, for which Means was acquitted. In 1979 he served one year of a four-year sentence on charges stemming from a riot at a courthouse in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Means was paroled in 1980 and pardoned in 2002.
In 1988, a group describing itself as the Ministry for Information of the American Indian Movement released a statement claiming that Means had publicly resigned from AIM on no less than six occasions, first in 1974 [1]. However, as of 2004, Means' website states that he a board member of the Colorado AIM chapter.
Since the late 1970s, Means has often supported libertarian and conservative political causes, putting him at odds with several of the other leaders of AIM. In 1984, Means campaigned for the Republican nomination for vice-president on a ticket with pornographer Larry Flynt; they lost to Ronald Reagan and George Bush. In 1986 Means travelled to Nicaragua to express his support for Miskito Indians who were allied with the US-funded contra guerillas against the Nicaraguan government. In 1987, Means sought the nomination of the Libertarian Party for president and attracted considerable support within the party, but eventually lost the nomination to former Congressman Ron Paul.
In 2001, Means began an independent candidacy for governor of New Mexico, but was kept off the ballot because of procedural problems. Instead, he again ran for president of the Oglala Sioux, this time narrowly losing to incumbent John Yellow Bird Steele .
Means has memorably argued against the use of the term "Native American" and in favor of "American Indian". He argues that this use of the word Indian derives not from a confusion with India but from a Spanish expression meaning "in God".
Means began an acting career in 1992, appearing as the title character in Last of the Mohicans. He made subsequent appearances in Natural Born Killers and as a voice actor in Pocahontas. In 1997, Means published an autobiography, Where White Men Fear to Tread.
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