Today in Labor History May 8, 1973: A 71-day standoff at the Pine Ridge Reservation, at Wounded Knee, ended today, after American Indian Movement (AIM) members surrendered. In 1890, U.S soldiers massacred nearly 300 Lakota people at Wounded Knee. Ever since, native peoples on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where Wounded Knee is located, have faced poverty, and racism by their neighbors. They also had a corrupt local government on the reservation. So, on February 27, 1973, 200 Lakota activists and members of AIM, seized control of Wounded Knee. They demanded the resignation of their corrupt tribal leader. They also demanded that the U.S. government start obeying its treaties with indigenous peoples. Within hours of the occupation, police surrounded the them, marking the beginning of the siege. The cops were joined by federal marshals and national guards, who traded fire with AIM activists on a daily basis. Two native activists died in the conflict and one federal agent was shot and paralyzed. AIM leaders Dennis Banks and Russell Means were arrested, but their case was dismissed by the federal court for prosecutorial misconduct. Two years later, there was another shootout at Pine Ridge. AIM leader Leonard Peltier was wrongfully arrested and imprisoned until 2025.

#LaborHistory #workingclass #massacre #indigenous #WoundedKnee #genocide #AmericanIndianMovement #LeonardPeltier #fbi #racism #genocide #lakota #prison
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Today in Labor History May 6, 1973; The FBI attacked Native Americans at Wounded Knee. The town of Wounded Knee had been surrounded and cordoned off by the FBI and marshals since February 27. Members of the American Indian Movement had gone to Wounded Knee for a meeting, but were immediately locked in by FBI. Members who tried to leave were arrested. They were opposing the autocratic and corrupt rule of Oglala Tribal Chairman Dick Wilson. Throughout the 3 months of occupation, gunfire was repeatedly traded between the two sides. Several activists were killed by the gunfire.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #woundedknee #pineridge #oglala #AmericanIndianMovement #indigenous #fbi #murder

HAPPENING NOW!

#LakotaYouths are Locked Down to #Drilling Equipment at #PeSla

Drilling is Shut Down Now at 1 P.M. on Thursday: Two Drilling Sites are Shut Down and All Workers Were Sent Home. Lakota Youths Protecting Their Water Demand that all Drilling be Halted Until this is Heard in Court on Monday.

Posted by #NDNCollective, April 30, 2026, via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Photos by Angel White Eyes

"Lakota youth have locked down onto the drilling equipment at Pe’ Sla. An alter has been set up and community members have offered prayers. The drilling company said that law enforcement is on the way.

"At this time, we are calling on Tribes, Nations, Organizations, Collectives, and Coalitions to show support and sign the 'Stop the Drilling at Pe’ Sla' sign-on letter:

"If you are nearby, we encourage you to visit the #MysticRanger station and tell them to Rescind the permit and stop the drilling at Pe' Sla.

"#Mining activity is currently taking place at Pe' Sla despite community opposition. The Rochford Mineral Exploratory Drilling Project (#RMEDP) which seeks to drill for graphite, proposed by #PeteLien & Sons, must be stopped.

"The 2026 #MMIR March is a collaborative effort between the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition (#MIWSAC), the Minneapolis American Indian Center (#MAIC), the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (#MIWRC), the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis, the Native American Community Development Institute (#NACDI), the Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (#MMIR) Office, #GatheringsCafe, #Minneapolis Public Schools American Indian Education, the #IndigenousProtectors Movement, the #TRADISH Project (a MAIC program), the Culture Language Arts Network (a MAIC program), Indigenous Women’s Life Net (a MAIC Program), the Many Shields Society, Mending the Sacred Hoop, Make Voting a Tradition (a NACDI program), and the #AmericanIndianMovement (AIM)."

Source [includes photos]:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/04/lakota-youths-are-locked-down-to.html

Sign on letter:
https://ndnco.cc/signtosavepesla

#USPol #IndigenousNews #IndigenousResistance #ProtectTheSacred #BlackHills #NoMining #OcetiSakowin #SiouxNation #PLS #RapidCreekWatershed

Today in Labor History April 18, 1977: Native American activist Leonard Peltier was found guilty of murdering two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation. However, he was actually framed by undercover FBI agents who were conducting counterintelligence on the reservation. During the trial, some of the government’s own witnesses testified that Peltier wasn’t even present at the scene of the killings. In 2017, President Obama denied Peltier's application for clemency. He was still in prison in 2025 and his health had deteriorated. On June 7, 2022, The UN Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Peltier’s imprisonment violates the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Biden, as one of his final acts as president, commuted his sentence to indefinite house arrest. In February 2025, he was released and transferred to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #leonardpeltier #fbi #obama #AmericanIndianMovement #indigenous #prison #racism #nativeamerican #politicalprisoner #pineridge #biden

Black Panther Park opens in Seattle. It has been in the works for 8 years now. TL:dR version: Its all about building community

https://southseattleemerald.org/community/2026/03/16/murals-and-memories-new-black-panther-park-opens-in-skyway

#Seattle #Skyway #BlackPanther #BlackPanthers #AIM #AmericanIndianMovement #Justice #Community

Today in Labor History February 27, 1973: 300 Oglala Sioux activists from the American Indian Movement (AIM) liberated and occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota. This was the site of the infamous Massacre at Wounded Knee (1890). They occupied the site to protest a campaign of terror against them by the FBI, and corrupt tribal officials, and the tribal thugs knowns as GOONs (Guardians of Oglala Nation). The occupation lasted over 2 months, before being quashed by the U.S. government. 3 Native activists were killed. Dennis Banks and Russell Means were indicted for their roll, but charges were later dropped due to prosecutorial misconduct.

#aim #indigenous #WoundedKnee #massacre #genocide #occupation #fbi #oglala #sioux #workingclass #LaborHistory #native #terrorism #AmericanIndianMovement

Indigenous-Led Collectives Are Keeping Minnesotan Communities Safe From ICE

https://murica.website/2026/02/indigenous-led-collectives-are-keeping-minnesotan-communities-safe-from-ice/