Word: knees
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FROM the start, the confrontation at Wounded Knee, S. Dak., between militant Indians and local, state and federal authorities had all the elements of bad theater. The Indians insisted on outmoded makeup (war paint) and melodramatic lines ("Massacre us or meet our human needs"). The Federal Government brought in outrageous props, including war planes. There were too many theatrical asides aimed at the TV cameras and too many studied parallels to the Viet Nam War, including a "demilitarized zone" and "ceasefire observers." Finally there was the self-conscious symbolism of the choice of the site itself, the mass burial ground...
...days ticked by, the drama drew an ever larger American audience under its spell. By midweek, after Justice Department officials issued an ultimatum to the Indians to abandon the trading post at Wounded Knee by 6 p.m. on Thursday, the suspense grew. In the rolling hills surrounding the Indian enclave, U.S. Army armored personnel carriers rumbled in preparation for an assault. At the roadblocks and in command posts, several of the FBI agents and marshals-there were 300 in all-restlessly broke down their M-16 rifles and adjusted the straps on their gas masks. At one point...
...prevent further infractions, 34 observers from the council, clearly identified by their white armbands with the NCC logo, took up positions around Wounded Knee...
...despite their efforts, sporadic shooting continued-and so did the negotiations. Attorney William Kunstler, known for his defense of the Chicago Seven, arrived at Wounded Knee to represent the leaders of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Carrying fresh proposals in a brown briefcase, two Indian lawyers dashed back and forth in a Cadillac between the Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Pine Ridge and the AIM fortress. A major sticking point was the Justice Department's threat to arrest any Indian militants leaving the trading post and confiscate their weapons as evidence. It was largely to carry out that...
...withdrawal of federal agents also did nothing to redress the underlying grievances that had brought the militants to Wounded Knee in the first place. Those remained to be thrashed out with officials from the Department of Interior, which runs the BIA. Rather than leave Wounded Knee, several AIM leaders claimed that they were planning to stay on there to meet with Interior officials this week...