Letter from Russell
Russell Means says he has chosen to not undergo chemotherapy or radiation to fight his battle against cancer. Instead, Means will rely on traditional indigenous forms of medicine and healing. "People think that death is horrible," he said. "Death is a change of world."
Hello everyone:
I want to thank you for your heartfelt love and for your extreme concern about my health. I never expected within my lifetime, I would experience such a world wide outpour of pure love. Believe me it goes a long way toward defeating this cancer.
Robby Romero and co- producer camera man, Dave Schweitzer are doing a documentary retrospective of my life and this fight to defeat this cancer. Thanks to this documentary and their interviewing of my doctors, did I realize out how super serious my condition WAS. The doctor who is in charge of my tomo therapy is the only doctor in the united states of america that can directly program and apply this machine that can pin point and kill the cancer cells without damaging my good cells and other sensitive tissue in my body like the conventional radiation used by all other Oncologists in the united states.
I found out that I was literally days away from the tumor in my throat closing my windpipe and forcing me to have a tracheotomy which would have begun my spiral down to death. The worst part would have been my deteriorating quality of life until I expired.
Please understand, even the doctors with these alternative cancer treatments I am receiving at Sunridge Medical as well as the Tomo treatment credit Indian Medicines I have received from Mexico, Canada, the Lakotas and the Navajo that have brought me along and have given me the strength to defeat cancer. I also found out the cancer in my body is much more wide spread than I originally thought. Please try to understand the spiritual direction I received in ceremony(s) brought me to Sunridge and Dr. Grado the Tomo specialist. The Great Mystery works in wondrous ways.
Pete Catches, a strong spiritual Oglala Medicine Man told us in AIM back in the 1970′s that there will be times when we have to use the white man to fight his diseases.
It is nothing short of miraculous that we found the only two cancer treatments that can actually defeat this filthy disease. I credit the Great Mystery for leading us, Pearl and I.
I also want everyone to know the wonder and the love from my wife Pearl. Without her strength love and dedication and her research on cancer, I would not be anywhere near I am today.
I just received good news, the tumor in my throat has diminished significantly. I have my voice back and my ability to swallow is back up to around 90 percent (coming from about zero, for a while only water could get through). So please continue those prayers and that love coming my way because in the end you are all part of the Great Mystery.
Love, your Brother Russ
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1970s
• Becomes a national media spokesman for the fledgling American Indian Movement by confronting costumed Pilgrims during a Thanksgiving re-enactment in Plymouth, Mass.
• Organizes a protest rally in Gordon, Neb., over the death of Raymond Yellow Thunder, which resulted in manslaughter indictments against two men.
• Is arrested along with 80 other people in the 1973 Custer County Courthouse riot, eventually serving one month in jail for his role in it.
• Organizes the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation with Dennis Banks and Leonard Peltier, a 10-week siege which made AIM a household word in America. A judge dismisses federal charges against him during a lengthy trial.
• Is acquitted of murder charges in the 1975 death of a man in a barroom brawl.
• Loses a close election for the presidency of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to Dick Wilson.
1980s
• Joins a U.S.-backed indigenous tribe in Nicaragua in its war against the communist Sandinista government, causing Means to quip, “I fought the capitalists and I fought the communists.”
1990s
• Launches a successful acting career with his role in “The Last of the Mohicans,” eventually appearing in at least 32 movies and television shows, including Disney’s “Pocohontas” and Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers,” as well as “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
• Publishes his autobiography, “Where White Men Fear to Tread.”
• Releases two albums of original music.
2000s
• Ran unsuccessfully for president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, losing to Theresa Two Bulls.
• Launched the Republic of Lakotah, an attempt to reassert the original land claims of the sovereign Sioux Nation by withdrawing from the 1851 and 1868 treaties with the United States.
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Activist Russell Means fighting esophageal cancer
Interview with Carpe Articulum Magazine Aug 2011 - Video
Former AIM Leader Russell Means Diagnosed with Life Threatening Throat Cancer - Video
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Caption/Bio: Rapid City Journal (Kristina Barker/Journal staff)
Published here: http://www.republicoflakotah.com/2011/letter-from-russell/
URL: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2011/09/28/letter-from-russell
