Russell Means was born an Oglala/Lakota Sioux Indian. He was the first national director of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in which role he became prominent during 1972 standoff with the US government at Wounded Knee. In 1987, he joined the US Libertarian party and announced his candidacy for the party's presidential nomination. (He lost the nomination to Congressman Ron Paul.) Since 1992, Means has appeared in "The Last of the Mohicans, " "Natural Born Killers" and other movies. He has championed the rights of indigenous peoples in other countries as well as the US. In a televised speech to the 2000 Libertarian Party National Convention, Means said that he prefers the label "Indian" to the more politically correct "Native American." "Everyone who is born in America is a native American, " he said.


Ran for President of the United States in 1988 as a Libertarian Party Candidate. Previous occupations include assistant golf pro, ballroom dance instructor, computer programmer, systems management director, and accountant. In 1976, Andy Warhol made a portrait of Means as part of his "American Indian Series" of portraits. The portrait can be viewed as part of the collection of the Dayton (Ohio) Art Institute, among other institutions.