Impromptu Conference: Russell Means, a leader of the American Indian Movement, tells members of the press about a major announcement that will be made on Monday at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Means would not divulge details Sunday. Talks between AIM and government negotiators have been at a stalemate for several days, Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

The Wounded Knee Incident began on February 27, 1973, when 200 Oglala Lakota in the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The seizure was a protest against the corrupt and autocratic leadership of the reservation. The 71-day occupation captivated the nation and galvanized Indian youth.

Russell Means (1939-2012) was an Oglala Lakota activist working for the rights of American Indian people, a libertarian political activist, actor, writer, and musician. He became a prominent member of the American Indian Movement after joining the organization in 1968, and he helped organize notable events that attracted national and international media coverage.

On recto: typewritten title and date.
On verso: date stamp.

Wire photographs were originally transmitted over phonelines, then later, by satellite. They were first used in the early 1920s. Associated Press became a leader with this. After pigment touch-ups, etc., the print is put into a drum (like a drum scanner). The image gets converted into audio tones that are transmitted. The tones are received and beamed onto photo-sensitive paper. Wire photographs are copies without originals---they are hybrid, transmitted objects. (Britt Salvesen, Curator and Department Head, Photography Department, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 30-31, 2022)

This object has the following keywords:

• American Indian Movement
• Civil Rights Movements
• Injustice
• Male Portraits
• Native American sovereignty
• Oglala
• Pine Ridge Reservation
• Press Conferences
• Racial Discrimination
• Russell Means
• Smoking
• Wounded Knee
• Wounded Knee Indian Occupation

• Image Dimensions: 9 7/8 x 7 1/4 in. (25.08 x 18.42 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin
• Sheet Dimensions: 10 3/8 x 8 in. (26.35 x 20.32 cm) Measured by Cornejo-Reynoso, Aitzin