This week on From the Vault, we remember the 125th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre with a 1998 Pacifica program commemorating the 25th anniversary of the American Indian Movement's (AIM) occupation of three buildings on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The occupation was an attempt to force the United States government to relinquish Indian lands guaranteed in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie; after a 71-day standoff, AIM leaders surrendered to federal agents in return for a promise to establish a commission to negotiate land issues and to address other Native American concerns.
The archival footage begins with Voices of Pacifica series narrator Kathy Still introducing the program as a special Thanksgiving program broadcast in 1998... then we'll hear a 1998 California State University, Fullerton address by Charlene Teters, a member of the Spokane Indian Tribe in Washington State and a leader in the national fight to eliminate the use of racist Native American Indian caricatures. At that time, Teters was the Senior Editor of Indian Artist Magazine, a professor at the University of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, and a founding board member of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media. The program closes with actuality of a Wounded Knee Massacre commemoration concert from February 1998 featuring the late John Trudel performing "Shoot out a Jumping Bull and Great Spirit or Great Lie;" Steve Emery performing "Hoka Blues;" the Lakota Student Alliance Welcome with Corrie Trimble; "Redbird" Dave Baker, performing "From the East Come Freedom;" and Redsoul performing at Wounded Knee in 1973.
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the GRAMMY Foundation and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives and Records Administration, and past grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners. We also thank our partners and collaborators at the Pop-Up Archive, Amara, Other Minds Archives, George Blood Audio, and the California Audio Visual Preservation Project.