Eyewitness Account

STORY BY MADONNA THUNDERHAWK (who was about 27 during Wounded Knee)

So we’re in Wounded Knee, and the firefights are getting heavy, and we knew they were bringing in APCs and they were bringing in the heavy artillery. We heard. The news came, the moccasin grapevine, that we had some attorneys, some lawyers that were coming in, and there was some negotiations going on.

That type of thing. And I was walking … I worked at the, well, we called it “first aid station,” and I worked there. And I was walking across the road to the other building, and here was this man, you know, dressed casual, a nice sweater and a heavy jacket and a pipe. And he was just kind of like strolling along. It was like in between. I mean, they were getting ready for this firefight. We knew it was going to happen. As soon as it got towards evening. We never had enough ammo for—I mean, every time there’s a firefight, after the firefight, we didn’t have any ammunition after that. Each time. So we were real worried, and, of course, I had my son with me. He was 10 years old at the time, so I was kind of getting real nervous there, and so here’s this guy walking along. So I looked at him and I said, “Who are you?” And he said, “Oh, hello. My name’s Ken Tilsen. I’m an attorney from Minneapolis.” [St. Paul…] And I said, “Oh, you are!” And he said, “Yeah.” So we were talking, and then he went like this, and he said, “Oh, well, I guess we’re about ready to go.” And I said, “What? You can’t go!” He looked at me and he said, “What do you mean we can’t?” I said, “You’re our protection.

You know, if you leave, they’re going to open up on us and wipe us out. You can’t go.” So he stood there and he looked at me. He said, “Oh, well, OK.” He stayed.