Wounded Knee 1973: A Personal Account [Hardcover]

Stanley David Lyman (Author), Floyd A. O'Neil (Editor), June K. Lyman (Editor), Susan McKay (Editor), Alvin M. Josephy Jr. (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1991

Stanley Lyman, who was the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) superintendent at the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973, gives an inside view of what happened when the American Indian Movement (AIM) activists occupied the village of Wounded Knee. Close to the action, he recorded it with unusual candor, directing his sorrow, frustration, and occasional anger to all parties involved—the Tribal Council, the Justice Department, the BIA, FBI, and AIM. His account of the besiegers and besieged reveals a well-meaning and intelligent man forced by dramatic events to reevaluate some long-cherished assumptions. It deserves to be read and studied in any attempt to understand fully Wounded Knee II.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Superintendent Lyman’s running account of the tense events of the siege, as he saw them, [supplies] one of the most important and hitherto missing perspectives of Wounded Knee II."—Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. in his foreword

(Alvin M. Josephy Jr. )

"This book, a diary of Stanley David Lyman, tells with gripping immediacy what went on among the besiegers. . . . Wounded Knee 1973 is an important document that provides a missing perspective to what Lyman believed was a ''revolution,'' pure and simple. But as he puts down his thoughts and emotions of those critical times, in which lives quite literally were in the balance, Lyman sees a government confused, poor communications, ignorance, bureaucratic ineptitude and intolerance to the extreme."—Salt Lake Tribune

(Salt Lake Tribune )

"This book succeeds in sending chills through the mind of any reader who has ever endured multi-agency participation in any form. . . . Cultures clashed at Wounded Knee, and the echoes can still be heard in [these] pages."—Wilson Library Bulletin

(Wilson Library Bulletin )

"In a day of activist concern over the heated issues of society, this book is a timely reminder of the complexity of finding appropriate solutions."—Utah Historical Quarterly

(Utah Historical Quarterly ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Floyd A. O'Neil and Susan McKay edited Wounded Knee 1973 with the help of the author's widow, June K Lyman. Alvin Josephy, Jr., who describes this book as "a very human document of an 'odd man out' in great personal travail," is the author of Red Power: The American Indians' Fight for Freedom (Bison Book, 1985).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press; First Edition edition (September 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803228899
• ISBN-13: 978-0803228894
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,361,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an important piece of the overall picture, November 20, 2008

By 

Kirk W. Leichner (Still wandering) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wounded Knee 1973: A Personal Account (Modern Scandinavian Literature in Transl) (Paperback)

Stanley Lyman, longtime BIA employee, offers us his posthumous journal which covers the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. Whether one agress or disagrees with Lyman, this book is definately an important addition to the overall literature surrounding this event. This was written in 1973, Lyman died in 1979, and the book was first published in 1993.

We have copious works on the AIM point of view, the Lakota point of view, biographies on Banks, Means, and Crow Dog, but this is the first account that I have read which gives a detailed look at the BIA side along with looks at the U.S. Marshall's and the Oglala tribal government under Dick Wilson.

Lyman states over and over that whites can not understand the Lakota, or their ways, or the things they do. He comes across as a man who means well and wants to do what is best for the tribe, but his lack of understanding is blatantly obvious. He comments that Leonard Crow Dog (Brule Lakota medicine man) has no place or purpose in visiting Pine Ridge because Crow Dog is from Rosebud (that is Lyman's arguement. he should have just said he didn't want Crow Dog to be there as AIM's medicine man). I wonder if the Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, and the other Oglalas turned away Sitting Bull based on the fact that he was a Hunkpapa medicine man and not Oglala.

There was obviously great tension on the reservation during this whole affair, but Lyman plays it cool and comes across as a man who is unafraid to stand up for his thoughts. He has very interesting views of both Dick Wilson's group and the AIM group. He felt victorious seeing Russell Means handcuffed and taken away and he felt disparaged to learn that Means was out on bail 2 days later. We get to see hints of conversations with government officials and Dick Wilson. He speaks often of people (mostly full-bloods) whose friendships he has lost over time - we were once friends, now we are not. It is sometimes hard to understand why he remained at Pine Ridge as long as he did.

If you are overtly interested in Wounded Knee II, I would say that this is a book that should be added to your library. As with any touchy subject, you may not agree with a thing Lyman says, but it is nice to see what was going on on that side of the bunkers. Give it a read and see what you think.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars review, August 10, 2010

By 

tim - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wounded Knee 1973: A Personal Account (Modern Scandinavian Literature in Transl) (Paperback)

Decent coverage and description with many interesting details on the siege. Rather unbiased which is always good for books of this sort.