Original 1973 poster : Rally in Support of Wounded Knee Original lithograph printed on paperboard. 15 5/16″ x 20″ Illustrated with an image of Native Americans, seated and on horseback. Vernon Bellecourt was present at this rally. (see below for more information on Bellecourt). Note that this is an ORIGINAL POSTER from the period of creation. It is NOT a reproduction. By next Spring this poster will be 50 years old. ————– The text : Rally in Support of Wounded Knee Vernon Bellecourt National Director American Indian Movement A. Al Hallowell Boston Indian Cncl. [Council] Franklin Alexander, Natl. Mass Committee To Support Wounded Knee. Commuter Assembly, New American Movement. Program Council, Southwest Assembly. Valley Peace Center, Young Workers Liberation League Also : Films Made At Wounded Knee During The Present Occupation Weds. 18 – 1PM Campus Center U. This original poster is almost 50 years old. Staining, wear at the edges. Small damaged area at the right side/margin next to A. The corners show signs of removed tape (from when this poster was originally hung in 1973). ————– Historical information : Wounded Knee Occupation February 27, 1973 – May 8, 1973 Location : Wounded Knee, South Dakota The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota (sometimes referred to as Oglala Sioux) and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, United States, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The protest followed the failure of an effort of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) to impeach tribal president Richard Wilson, whom they accused of corruption and abuse of opponents. Additionally, protesters criticized the United States government’s failure to fulfill treaties with Native American people and demanded the reopening of treaty negotiations to hopefully arrive at fair and equitable treatment of Native Americans. Oglala and AIM activists controlled the town for 71 days while the United States Marshals Service, FBI agents, and other law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area. The activists chose the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre for its symbolic value. In March, a U. Marshal was shot by gunfire coming from the town, which ultimately resulted in paralysis. A member of the Cherokee tribe and a member of the Oglala were both killed by shootings in April 1973. Ray Robinson, a civil rights activist who joined the protesters, disappeared during the events and is believed to have been murdered. Due to damage to the houses, the small community was not reoccupied until the 1990s. The occupation attracted wide media coverage, especially after the press accompanied the two U. Senators from South Dakota to Wounded Knee. The events electrified Native Americans, and many Native American supporters traveled to Wounded Knee to join the protest. At the time there was widespread public sympathy for the goals of the occupation, as Americans were becoming more aware of longstanding issues of injustice related to Natives. Afterward AIM leaders Dennis Banks and Russell Means were indicted on charges related to the events, but their 1974 case was dismissed by the federal court for prosecutorial misconduct, a decision upheld on appeal. (this is only a brief summary from the Wiki page, which has lengthy information on the history of this incident) ————– Vernon Bellecourt (WaBun-Inini) (1931 – 2007) was a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe (located in Minnesota), a Native American rights activist, and a leader in the American Indian Movement (AIM). In the Ojibwe language, his name meant Man of Dawn. Bellecourt was a long-time leader in the American Indian Movement, which his younger brother, Clyde Bellecourt, helped found in 1968. He co-founded the AIM chapter in Denver, and was its first Executive Director. It worked in urban areas to ensure civil rights for American Indians, as well as to educate people about their cultural and spiritual heritage. Bellecourt took part in the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties caravan to Washington, DC. He served as a negotiator during AIM’s occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters building at the Department of Interior. Bellecourt was present briefly during the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He acted as an AIM spokesman and fundraiser during the 71-day standoff with federal agents. After Wounded Knee, Bellecourt worked with the International Indian Treaty Council, which advocates on behalf of indigenous rights throughout the Western Hemisphere. He became a leader of AIM’s work abroad, meeting with foreign leaders such as Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya, and Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat. Bellecourt was active for many years in the campaign to free AIM activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in 1977 of killing two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Peltier continues to serve two consecutive life sentences. As president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media, Bellecourt worked to end the unauthorized use of American Indian tribal land nicknames in American sports. Bellecourt fought against nicknames such as the Washington Redskins, Atlanta Braves or Kansas City Chiefs. He was arrested twice in Cleveland in protest of the Cleveland Indians’ mascot, Chief Wahoo. During the 1997 World Series Bellecourt was arrested for setting fire to a stuffed doll of Chief Wahoo while protesting outside of Jacobs Field. Charges against him were dropped. Bellecourt was arrested in 1998 but was not charged. He died of pneumonia at age 75, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. —————- The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement founded in July 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, initially centered in urban areas to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police brutality against Native Americans. AIM soon widened its focus from urban issues to include many Indigenous Tribal issues that Native American groups have faced due to settler colonialism of the Americas. These have included treaty rights, high rates of unemployment, Native American education, cultural continuity, and preservation of Indigenous cultures. ————— Boston Indian Council Today, known as The North American Indian Center of Boston, Inc. The NAICOB began as the Boston Indian Council (BIC) on October 20, 1970, following meetings in 1969. During this period the Native American population in Boston and other cities was growing rapidly, and urban centers like the BIC arose to provide health care and other services. In 1970, BIC joined with members of the American Indian Movement in what became ” Day of Mourning ” in Patuxet, in contrast to the colonial holiday of Thanksgiving. From time to time the center published a newsletter, The Circle; editors of that paper included the now well-known Ojibwe author Louise Erdrich. The BIC was also involved in curriculum development, producing a curriculum for the Boston Public Schools focused on the indigenous cultures of Maine and the Maritimes, as many BIC members hail from that region. Additionally, the center engaged in various forms of activism, including a 1973 protest against a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party. This item is in the category “Art\Art Posters”. The seller is “rickl711″ and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped worldwide.

• Unit of Sale: Single Piece
• Al Hallowell Boston Indian Council: University Massachusetts
• Size: Medium
• Material: Paper
• Item Length: 15 5/16 in
• Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
• Region of Origin: Massachusetts, USA
• Framing: Unframed
• Subject: Native American Indian Protest Support Rally
• Vernon Bellecourt National Director: American Indian Movement AIM Ojibwe
• Type: Poster
• Year of Production: 1973
• Item Height: 20 in
• Theme: Americana, Community Life, Cultures & Ethnicities, History, Politics, Social History
• Features: 1st Edition
• Featured Person/Artist: Second Wounded Knee South Dakota
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Vintage Second Wounded Knee: Oglala Lakota Sioux South Dakota
• Culture: Sioux
• Item Width: less than 1 in