Mary Brave Bird was a Sicangu Lakota writer and activist who was a member of the American Indian Movement during the 1970s and participated in some of their most publicized events, including the Wounded Knee Incident when she was 18 years old.
Background
Mary Brave Bird (born Mary Ellen Moore-Richard) was born on September 26, 1954 in Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, United States. Daughter of Bill Moore and Emily Smith. She was raised primarily by her grandparents while her mother studied in nursing school and was working. Brave Bird was influenced by several relatives who followed traditional practices, including her granduncle Dick Fool Bull, who introduced her to the Native American Church. Her father, Bill Moore, who was of mostly white descent, left when she was a baby, and she was sometimes mocked and called iyeska (half-breed) as a child. She had also two brothers, Robert Joe Moore and Michael Smith; and two sisters, Kathleen Moore and Barbara Moore.
Education
During the 1960s, Brave Bird attended the St. Francis Indian School, in St. Francis, South Dakota, a Roman Catholic boarding school. As a teenager, she published a newspaper describing abuse and misconduct at the school, and the school, run by Roman Catholic priests and nuns, punished her for doing so.
Career
In 1971 Brave Bird was inspired by a talk by Leonard Crow Dog and at age 18 joined the American Indian Movement (AIM). She participated in such historical events as the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties and subsequent occupation of the BIA headquarters in Washington, DC. She was also part of the 1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee. Brave Bird was the author of two memoirs: "Lakota Woman" (1990) and "Ohitika Woman" (1993). Her long-time friend Richard Erdoes helped edit the books. She died in 2013 at the age of 58.
Mary's granduncle Dick Fool Bull introduced her to the Native American Church.
Membership
Mary was a member of the American Indian Movement during the 1970s.
Connections
Brave Bird married AIM spiritual leader Leonard Crow Dog, but the couple later divorced. In 1991 she married Rudy Olguin, but he was killed in a car accident weeks later. She had six children in total: four sons, Robert He Crow, Francisco "Rudy" Olguin, Henry Crow Dog, Leonard Crow Dog Jr.; two daughters, Jennifer Crow Dog, Summer Rose Olguin.