[Vigilanteman]

Russell Means was a good man. I knew him personally in a previous life. He had a heart of gold and would help anyone he thought needed help out of his own pocket.

Something happened to him after he got in with the Dennis Banks / A.I.M. / ultraleft crowd. He lost some of that good heart, but not all of it. They never could turn him into the same type of America hating scum which they were.

I'm glad I knew Russell before he got in with that crowd.

[Psalm 144]

I sure liked him in the role of Uncas. Perhaps that was a glimpse of the non-political man?

[bigbob]

Despite the other comments, I would add that others who knew him in the early years agree with you. I know a man who spent several years in the early 70s teaching sports programs on the reservation would would be the first to do so. It is possible for good people to engage in bad politics - Sen. George McGovern was another example. It is sad when radical elements turn either side into a hate-fest, and worth recognizing those who manage to some extent to remain above that level. RIP.

[Red Badger]

“Something happened to him after he got in with the Dennis Banks / A.I.M. / ultraleft crowd. “

That’s what ‘community organizers’ do...........

[righttackle44]

There was and is something terribly wrong with Dennis Banks. I never actually met either him or Mr. Means, but I have been in the same room a number of times with one or both of them. (I didn't feel I really wanted to meet them.) But Mr. Banks always had the phony baloney going--talking to the press or other authorities while holding his daughter, always presuming to speak for the people of Indian Country, always trying to appear to have more power than he really did, always giving AIM the appearance of lordship over Indian people.

I will take your word about Mr. Means--though I have spoken with people from his reservation that said that the role of Uncas was the first job he ever had.