A TATTOO ON MY HEART: THE WARRIORS OF WOUNDED KNEE 1973 commemorates the 30th anniversary of the dramatic siege, through the words of the American Indian men and women who struggled for survival inside the bunkers and ravines of South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation . By the early 1970s, racism and violence against American Indians, as well as the corruption and repression of traditional people, had left many desperate. In response, American Indian leaders staged a protest at the symbolic site of the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, where nearly 300 unarmed Lakota men, women and children were killed. Fearing a takeover of tribal headquarters, federal authorities, armed with modern weapons and machinery moved to protect the tribal government. The standoff, which lasted for 72 days, ended peacefully, but resulted in the loss of two American Indians and the wounding of several others.