Rating: 
Summary: Powerful, masterful, courageous, a MUST READ for Americans
Review: The most powerful book I have ever read. Russell Means has at least 9 lives as he takes us through his own struggle and the struggle of the Lakota and other Nations to be treated like decent American people. The story behind the battle to rid the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the story of Wounded Knee encampment and the American Indian Movement, but most of all the story of a true leader of his people Enough action in here to make at least 10 movies. Go Oliver Stone!
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Book
Review: This is one of the greatest books I've ever read. It has humor, sorrow, everything. Russell Means has written a great book depicting what the U.S. government has done to the American Indians. My eyes were already opened to what they have done, but Russell has widened them even more.
Rating:
Summary: A Brutal Life Story Not to be Missed
Review: Where White Men Fear to Tread, the autobiography of American Indian Movement founder and activist Russell Means, is perhaps the most brutal life story one will ever read. From a youth steeped in the degredation of racial discrimination, poverty, violence and displacement, Means finds redemption and purpose channeling his intellect and great personal strength in fighting for preservation of the rights and culture of American Indians everywhere. You may not like him or his tactics (often-times violent protest, the occupation of Alcatraz Island and Mount Rushmore, the siege at Wounded Knee, the seizing of BIA offices, etc.), but Means is likely untroubled by that - and for damn good reason: he's had plenty of exposure to white European culture and concludes his people have little benefitted. He may not share many readers' "values", but that is because Means is pure Lakota in heart and mind - and no apologies are forthcoming. But that Russell Means is a deeply spiritual man cannot be questioned, no more than his courage denied. Against the backdrop of the "placid" 1950's, turbulent 60's & 70's, and into today, Means' causes include the bitter struggle against the incompetent and corrupt Bureau of Indian Affairs, self-determination for the people of Pine Ridge, legal redress for repeated violation of treaty rights, destruction of the environment, and more. All have been fought at great personal cost: beatings, jailings, multiple attempts on his life, loss of friends and family - all described in heart-wrenching detail. Hard reading that is not for the meek, but then the fight against racial injustice has never been the domain of moderates. Some great persons are recognized as such in their time: Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, and Nelson Mandela instantly come to mind. Others' greatness is revealed only through time. Russell Means' work on behalf of the Lakota, indeed all American Indians (North, Central, and South), is ultimately work on behalf of all who strive for dignity in the face crushing poverty, discrimination, and voicelessness. Means' life story is a struggle and (perhaps soon?) victory worth knowing, and this reviewer is glad he told it.
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