Second Battle of Wounded Knee

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1973 standoff at Wounded Knee

Second Battle of Wounded Knee

United States [1973]

Also known as: Wounded Knee Occupation

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July 16, 2026

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1973 standoff at Wounded Knee — 1973 standoff at Wounded Knee American Indian Movement members and U.S. authorities meeting to resolve the 1973 standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

The Second Battle of Wounded Knee occurred in 1973 at the Wounded Knee hamlet on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Approximately 200 members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), led by Russell Means and Dennis Banks, occupied the site, declaring it the Independent Oglala Sioux Nation. Their demands included changes in tribal leadership, a review of treaties with Native peoples, and a Senate investigation into the treatment of Native Americans. The occupation ended on May 8, 1973, after a 71-day siege, with AIM members surrendering in exchange for a promise of government negotiations. Two protesters were killed and one federal marshal was wounded during the event. This 1973 event is distinct from the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, where U.S. troops killed approximately 150-300 Lakota men, women, and children.1234

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Anna Mae Aquash
…the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. The purpose of the protest was to end a corrupt administration on the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. After 70 days, federal intervention ended the occupation. Aquash and Nogeeshik Aquash (whom she married in 1973) were instrumental in supplying food and other goods…
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…the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. The purpose of the protest was to end a corrupt administration on the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. After 70 days, federal intervention ended the occupation. Aquash and Nogeeshik Aquash (whom she married in 1973) were instrumental in supplying food and other goods…
Read More

Dennis Banks
Founding the American Indian Movement
…and their allies in the occupation of Wounded Knee, a town on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Wounded Knee was the site of an 1890 massacre in which U.S. troops killed as many as 300 Lakota Sioux. Banks and AIM wanted to call attention to local corruption…
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…and their allies in the occupation of Wounded Knee, a town on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Wounded Knee was the site of an 1890 massacre in which U.S. troops killed as many as 300 Lakota Sioux. Banks and AIM wanted to call attention to local corruption…
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Mary Crow Dog
…child in 1973, during the Wounded Knee incident (a two-month-long occupation of the hamlet of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation). Thereafter she married AIM activist and medicine man Leonard Crow Dog (later divorced),
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…child in 1973, during the Wounded Knee incident (a two-month-long occupation of the hamlet of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation). Thereafter she married AIM activist and medicine man Leonard Crow Dog (later divorced),
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Russell Means
Activism and involvement in the American Indian Movement
…his role in AIM’s armed occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. Wounded Knee, a town on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, had been the site of a massacre of as many as 300 Sioux by U.S. troops in 1890. AIM occupied the town to protest corruption in local tribal leadership…
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…his role in AIM’s armed occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. Wounded Knee, a town on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, had been the site of a massacre of as many as 300 Sioux by U.S. troops in 1890. AIM occupied the town to protest corruption in local tribal leadership…
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Wounded Knee
…by federal marshals, and a siege began. It ended on May 8 when AIM members surrendered and evacuated Wounded Knee in exchange for a promise of negotiations with the federal government. Two protesters were killed and one federal marshal was seriously wounded during the siege, which alternated between negotiation and…
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…by federal marshals, and a siege began. It ended on May 8 when AIM members surrendered and evacuated Wounded Knee in exchange for a promise of negotiations with the federal government. Two protesters were killed and one federal marshal was seriously wounded during the siege, which alternated between negotiation and…
Read More