Passing of Mary Crow Dog

The New York Times reports the death of Mary Ellen Moore-Richard, better known under her other name of Mary Crow Dog, which she used for her books Lakota Woman and Ohitika Woman.

An early member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), she remained a defender of its influence:

“Before AIM came, people didn’t have their long hair, people didn’t have their Indian pride,” she said. “Everybody was assimilated. These people still put AIM people down, but now they are having sun dances. Before, nobody did it because everybody was Catholic and nobody knew about the Indian ways until the AIM people came. Now they are a lot better off, but they still don’t recognize the movement.”