A Native American Dream with Russell Means

Program Description

What was it like growing up to be a Lakota Sioux activist? Russell Means is an Oglala speaker, writer and the actor who played the title role in The Last of the Mohicans.

Means’s autobiography, written with Marvin J. Wolf, is Where White Men Fear to Tread (St. Martin’s 1995).

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• Memories of his grandfather and his extended Native American family
• The Native takeovers of Alcatraz, Mount Rushmore and Wounded Knee
• The recovery of personal identity and pride
• The early days of the American Indian Movement (AIM)
• Plymouth Rock and other political protests in the sixties
• How history is repeating itself in modern America
• The situation and significance of Leonard Peltier
• Where racism comes from, and what is needed to replace it
• How older Native elders choose their time of death
• How Means became an actor, and his current and upcoming work
• His vision of freedom and independence for American Indian peoples
• The use of Indian spirituality by other peoples

Program Number: 2546               Host: Michael Toms              Interview Date: 10/12/1995