The Wounded Knee incident began Process_start on February 27 , 1973 , when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement ( AIM ) seized Self_motion and occupied Control the town of Wounded Knee , South Dakota , on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation .

The protest followed Self_motion the failure of an effort of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization ( OSCRO ) to impeach Change_of_leadership tribal president Richard Wilson , whom they accused Judgment_communication of corruption and abuse Committing_crime of opponents .

A member of the Cherokee tribe and a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe were both killed Killing by shootings in April 1973 .

The rate of violence climbed Self_motion on the reservation as conflict opened Openness between political factions in the following Self_motion three years ; residents accused Judgment_communication Wilson 's private militia , Guardians of the Oglala Nation ( GOONs ) , of much of it .

More than 60 opponents of the tribal government died Death violently during those years , including Pedro Bissonette , director of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization ( OSCRO ) .