I camped out a few days at the campsite of AIM when they made their first claim to retake the Black Hills; many years ago.

Russel Means is a very impressive person. Later I stayed overnight at his house once. He -- and almost all the Lakota I've met, have more guts than most white people could ever imagine; and we also can't image the PERSPECTIVE they come from: This (the
USA) was their land until the European immigrants came over and stole it from them.

Their PERSPECTIVE is that this was done with lies and deceit and harsh violence. They don't buy it. They never accept the deal. It's their land and their culture and if we want to live side-by-side or work out something like that, ok, I ...

I camped out a few days at the campsite of AIM when they made their first claim to retake the Black Hills; many years ago.

Russel Means is a very impressive person. Later I stayed overnight at his house once. He -- and almost all the Lakota I've met, have more guts than most white people could ever imagine; and we also can't image the PERSPECTIVE they come from: This (the
USA) was their land until the European immigrants came over and stole it from them.

Their PERSPECTIVE is that this was done with lies and deceit and harsh violence. They don't buy it. They never accept the deal. It's their land and their culture and if we want to live side-by-side or work out something like that, ok, I suppose...but accepting foreign occupation and domination (which is how they see it) is not in the cards.

n2sooners says Russel Means is nothing but an activist...but an activist fighting great odds for what he or she believes in is something and someone I would admire rather than a status quo sell-out.

n2sooners mentions how Russell ran for president of the tribe and lost...but what if the tribe were sell outs, a 'puppet government,' willing to go along with the status quo, and/or corrupt making cash for themselves at the expense of the tribe??

And n2sooners brings up the issue of validity. Good point. A lot of Native American Indian land was stolen by making deals with individuals who never had any such authority to sell land or sign treaties that were binding upon a whole tribe or anyone else.

Russel Means, I'll also mention, also acted in a few Hollywood movies and his role in the Last of the Mohigans is very impressive.

I'll also mention that he also was a political prisoner, spending time in jail and dealing with death threats and conditions that would make most people give up with a spirit I never heard of before (although later the deaths of the Irish hunger strikers impressed me and made me think).

Good luck, Russell. Let me know again if your web site crashes.

I appreciate your clarification n2sooners, but still disagree "it is no more significant than if a private citizen of the US signed a treaty with another country."

Revolutions and the formations of new governments often start with the ideas and actions of a few: The American Revolution, the Israeli re-invasion of the Middle East, The South American revolutions against Spain, the French Revolution, The English Civil War, etc., etc., etc.

Russell Means is NOT a single individual doing this and although it may be an almost instinctual, knee-jerk reaction to disparage the American Indian Movement, they have been around for decades, they have fought armed battles with US government agents, they...

I appreciate your clarification n2sooners, but still disagree "it is no more significant than if a private citizen of the US signed a treaty with another country."

Revolutions and the formations of new governments often start with the ideas and actions of a few: The American Revolution, the Israeli re-invasion of the Middle East, The South American revolutions against Spain, the French Revolution, The English Civil War, etc., etc., etc.

Russell Means is NOT a single individual doing this and although it may be an almost instinctual, knee-jerk reaction to disparage the American Indian Movement, they have been around for decades, they have fought armed battles with US government agents, they raise money, they are moving into more positions of power, education and influence, etc.

One day, for example, in Ireland a man named Michael Collins was considered a gangster and an outlaw. A few years later this individual was signing a 'peace treaty,' with England.

This is NOT to defend the Good or the Bad, nor the Perfection of all these men and movements, but to respond to your point that the actions of an individual (most frequently in all these cases, an individual who has already connected himself to a group) can change governments, can form new government, especially if their PERSPECTIVE is
1. They have never surrendered.
2. They have never legally consented to a deprivation of the land, liberties and culture.
3. They existed before the invasions and intrusions upon them and they will exist after these invasions and intrusions are thrown off.
4. Their ideas and their actions come from generations past and will move into generations future.

Let's say Michael Collins is shot down. Let's say they many even dispute what and how he did what he did. Let's say that it is not even fair to single him out at the 'prime leader -- these things are also said about Russel Means.

Yet their actions will stand above the heads of us all and will be remembered by those who care and k