Photo of the Week

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Entertainment. Discussion »

The news of Russell Means' walking on out of Porcupine early Monday morning traveled around the world quickly. Indian country mourned the death of this great American Indian Movement icon and many people traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for a service to honor him.

Russell Means Honoring Procession

"Russell Means is Russell Means!" was how one person put it this week in conversation. Means grew to fame by his role in the American Indian Movement. His activism extended coast to coast and in between. Means went to Plymouth Rock to protest. He was at the takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington. He was one of the leaders of the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973.

Reports from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation were that Means did not want a funeral. His requested that he be cremated and his ashes spread in the Black Hills, which are considered sacred among the Lakotah and other American Indian tribes.

The family decided to have a day to honor Russell Means at the Little Wound High School in Kyle, South Dakota.

Several people, including members of the Means family rode on horseback, from Porcupine to Kyle. They stopped along to way to pray and sing. A single horse carried Russell Means's ashes in an urn on a rider-less horse.

Following the horses was a caravan of hundreds of American Indians who wanted to honor their fallen hero. It was a rainy day on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, but the rain did not deter those who rode horses.

The photo the week is the procession that as it neared Kyle, South Dakota on Wednesday. It speaks volumes to vibrancy of Russell Means and the followers who mourn his loss.

posted October 27, 2012 7:00 am edt