Lakota Indians are still in distress

On occasion of the 40th anniversary of the occupation of Wounded Knee at the Lakota Indian reservation in South Dakota (February 27), the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) in Göttingen would like to point out that these Native Americans are still living in distress. "The Pine Ridge Reservation is one of the poorest districts of the entire United States, even until today." reported the STP's Indigenous Peoples Consultant, Yvonne Bangert. "The unemployment rate is at almost 80 percent and the Indians are suffering from miserable living conditions, diseases and a high suicide rate – especially among the young people. The average life expectancy is 49 years. Almost 40 percent of the households have neither clean water nor electricity. Promising self-help initiatives for the Lakota – such bison farms or smaller solar power plants – receive too little support."

In 1973 – on February 27 – about 200 Native Americans of the civil rights group American Indian Movement (AIM) had occupied the historic site of Wounded Knee, to draw attention to the disastrous living conditions of the Lakota. Tradition-conscious residents of the reservation had asked the movement for help, because the Lakota suffered from the tyranny of the corrupt tribal president Dick Wilson. He had ordered 60 Indians to be beaten to death to oppress any opposition against the sale of parts of their land that held extensive uranium deposits.

Back then, the US Government had deployed the National Guard and the FBI against the civil rights movement. The Indians held out for 71 days – despite being threatened with tanks and helicopters – before they had to give up on May 8. Two demonstrators were shot dead by the security forces in the course of the protest campaign.

"Another tragic historical event of Wounded Knee – where at least 300 unarmed Indians, including the elderly, women and children, were massacred by the 7th US Cavalry – is the fate of the Native American civil rights activist Leonard Peltier," said Bangert. The now 68-year-old was one of the AIM leaders of 1973. He was sentenced to a double life imprisonment for the murder of two FBI officials four years later, although he was innocent. The two men were killed in a shootout at Pine Ridge in 1976. The judgment was characterized by several procedural errors and by Peltier being unlawfully extradited from Canada to the USA before the proceedings. The civil rights activist is still imprisoned today. Despite his serious health problems, he will not be eligible for parole before 2024. "His only for a release is to be pardoned by President Barack Obama, as demanded by many human rights activists and public representatives. As he would be 96 years old in 2040, he will probably not live to be released on a regular basis."