Russell Means dies after battling esophageal cancer and will be forever remembered as being an outspoken champion of American Indian rights after launching a career as an actor in films and television in the 1990s.
Russell Means was 72 when he died Monday morning at his ranch in Porcupine, S.D. Means was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2011 and told that it had spread too far for surgery, Means refused to undergo heavy doses of radiation and chemotherapy.
Instead, he reportedly battled the disease with traditional native remedies and received treatments at an alternative cancer center in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Means helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee, reveled in stirring up attention and appeared in Hollywood films, including "The Last of the Mohicans."
Means was one of the first national advocates for American Indians to emerge. He sought to restore Indians' pride in their culture and to challenge a government that had paid little attention to tribes in generations. He was also one of the first to urge sports teams to do away with Indian names and mascots.
"No one except Hollywood stars and very rich Texans wore Indian jewelry," Means said, recalling the early days of the movement, according to the Associated Press. And there were dozens, if not hundreds, of athletic teams "that in essence were insulting us, from grade schools to college. That's all changed."
