- Development & Aid - Economy & Trade - Human Rights - Global
Governance - Civil Society Sunday, May 19, 2013 - Among Tiokasin
Ghosthorse’s childhood memories is the “reign of terror” that
engulfed the Lakota native reservations from 1973 to 1976
following the 72-day indigenous occupation at Wounded Knee. The
protest culminated in an armed standoff between the federal
government (the FBI, U.S. marshals, and Bureau of Indian Affairs
police) and Native American communities. Following the incident,
a period of intense local surveillance by the FBI ensued. At the
time, “Many were afraid of the government and of white skin. You
were victimised if you had long hair and spoke indigenous
language. You were persecuted if you stood up to the government
or the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” Tiokasin, a Lakota Sioux who
grew up on the South Dakota Cheyenne River Reservation, told
IPS. “But the native people stood up, and the more you stood up
the more the government harassed you, turned you into a militant
or a terrorist. “I