Russell Means: A Complex Portrait
Learn more about the controversial American Indian Rights activist Russell Means and his portrait in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.
Russell Means (2012) by Bob CoronatoSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
A dedicated yet controversial activist for American Indian rights, Russell Means (1939–2012) brought national and international attention to the injustices his people faced.
Russell Means was Oglala Lakota, a part of the Oceti Sakowin (meaning the Seven Council Fires) that is known to some as the Sioux Nation. Born in 1939 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Russell Means moved with his family to Vallejo, California, in 1942.
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Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Russell Means’s life was transformed when he witnessed his father take part in the occupation to reclaim Alcatraz Island in 1964. Although the demonstration achieved little, Russell Means saw how “publicity accorded direct action and learned how it could be used” to advance the rights of American Indians.
Russell Means and Dennis Banks (1973) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
In 1968, Russell Means moved to Ohio and met Dennis Banks, a leader of the newly formed American Indian Movement (AIM). Initially focused on addressing discrimination, poverty, and police brutality against American Indians in urban areas, the movement swiftly grew into an international militant activist organization, whose objectives included tribal sovereignty and treaty rights.
Support the American Indian Movement Poster (between 1968 and 1980) by American Indian Movement, sponsor/advertiserSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Within months of meeting Dennis Banks, Russell Means joined the organization and quickly became a leader, working as its first national coordinator in 1971. Russell Means and Dennis Banks would go on to collaborate closely as AIM leaders.
Russell Means and Dennis Banks (1973) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
During his most active years in the organization, Russell Means helped AIM organize numerous demonstrations on historically significant sites, including the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Bird's Eye View of Sioux Camp at Pine Ridge, South Dakota (11/28/1890) by Series: Photographs of American Military Activities, ca. 1918 - ca. 1981Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Staged in the same location as the 1890 massacre, when the U.S. Army killed hundreds of Sioux people, the 1973 occupation served to hold federal and local agencies accountable for the mistreatment of American Indians.
AIM leaders also demanded the reopening of treaty negotiations. The standoff between armed AIM members and federal authorities on the Pine Ridge Reservation lasted seventy-one days. In the video, Means explains why AIM came to Wounded Knee and discusses the goals of the occupation.
Russell Means and Dennis Banks (1973) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Russell Means remained involved in the American Indian Movement for another fifteen years. Escaping criminal charges and multiple assassination attempts, he persisted in his support of Indigenous rights in the United States and across Central and South America. Although Means was passionate about this work, his participation in some of AIM’s more militant actions—along with his political views—made him a controversial figure. He resigned from the organization in 1988.
Bob Coronato stands with his painting of Russell Means (2015) by Carol HighsmithSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Shown here in his studio, artist Bob Coronato learned of Russell Means when he moved to the Black Hills of Wyoming, which extends into South Dakota. Hearing about Russell Means’s involvement in the American Indian Movement, Coronato became inspired and set out to honor the activist as a “revolutionary and important leader of his people in a traditional portrait.”
Bob Coronato in studio with painting of Russell Means (2017)Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Coronato contacted the activist via email, and Means eventually invited Coronato to his home on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. After extensive conversations about what the painting would look like, Russell Means agreed to sit for the portrait.
Russell Means (2012) by Bob CoronatoSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
This life-size portrait of Russell Means is now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Take a look at the portrait and consider the different visual elements (e.g., facial expression, pose, and objects). Looking closely at these elements helps illuminate the decisions an artist makes when creating someone’s likeness. Which elements in this portrait might tell us about Means’s Indigenous heritage? Consider his hairstyle, clothing, and accessories.
In this portrait, Russell Means wears two black braids adorned with reflective stones that sit over his shoulders.
He also wears a tan colored buckskin vest with beaded trim and a hairpipe choker around his neck.
Which elements in this portrait present Russell Means as a modern American Indian man? Again, consider his clothing and accessories.
Russell Means’ black T-shirt and silver watch convey that he lived in present times. These visual elements help counter the myth that American Indians are not a part of contemporary life, a stereotype often portrayed in popular culture.
The activist wanted his portrait to demonstrate that, “Indians are not the idea of old Hollywood westerns or to be thought of as ‘in the past’ but a people very much of today, and with a rich history.”
Why do you think it was important to Means to be portrayed this way?
Russell Means also wanted his portrait to convey his dedicated advocacy for American Indian rights. Regarding the symbolism of the upside-down American flag he wears in the portrait, Russell Means stated, “An upside-down flag is an international symbol of distress . . . now we, the Indian nations, are in distress. I will wear this flag upside down as long as my people are in distress.”
Russell Means died in 2012. What is his legacy?
Additional Resources
To learn more about the Wounded Knee Massacre and American Indian activism, including the American Indian Movement, explore these resources:
National Museum of the American Indian, Northern Plains Treaties: Is a Treaty Intended to be Forever?
Digital Public Library of America, The Wounded Knee Massacre
Digital Public Library of America, The American Indian Movement, 1968–1978
Yale National Initiative, AIM and Native American Political Activism
Russell Means by Bob Coronato, 2012, oil on canvas. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © Bob Coronato.
Images of Bob Coronato inside his studio with his portrait of Russell Means. © Bob Coronato, courtesy of the artist.
