The
Wounded Knee incident began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200
Oglala Lakota and followers of the
American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied the town of
Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The protest followed the failure of an effort of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) to
impeach tribal president
Richard Wilson, whom they accused of corruption and abuse of opponents. Additionally, protesters attacked the United States government's failure to fulfill treaties with Indian people and demanded the reopening of treaty negotiations.