Background
She was raised primarily by her grandparents while her mother studied in nursing school and was working.
She was raised primarily by her grandparents while her mother studied in nursing school and was working.
During the 1960s, Brave Bird attended the Saint Francis Indian School, in Saint Francis, South Dakota, a Roman Catholic boarding school.
She died in 2013. In 1971 Brave Bird was inspired by a talk by Leonard Crow Dog and at age 18 joined the American Indian Movement (American Institute of Management). She participated in such historical events as the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties and subsequent occupation of the BIA headquarters in Washington, District of Columbia. 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).
lieutenant describes her life until 1977.
Ohitika Woman continues her life story. Her books describe the conditions of the Lakota Indian and her experience growing up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, as well as conditions in the neighboring Pine Ridge Indian Reservation under the leadership of tribal chairman Richard Wilson.
Her work focuses on themes of gender, identity, and race. Crow Dog and Brave Bird made cameo appearances in the 1991 Oliver Stone film The Doors.
Born Mary Ellen Moore-Richard in 1954 on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, she was a member of the Sicangu Oyate, also known as the Burnt Thighs Nation or Brulé Band of Lakota.