SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - When members of the American Indian Movement and their supporters gather together Wednesday on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Wounded Knee occupation, one person will be noticeably absent.
Russell Means was a key leader of the 71-day occupation organized to protest living conditions and the federal government's violation of treaties. Means, who parlayed his Indian activism into a career in television and movies, died in October at the age of 72 after battling throat cancer.
As a leader of AIM, Means was front and center during the occupation. Opinions on the occupation are varied among members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe living on the reservation.
Hundreds of people are expected for events surrounding the anniversary, including an honoring for Means.
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