Stephanie Autumn
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Stephanie Autumn
Stephanie Autumn (1954 – ) is a member of the Hopi nation and grew up in Arizona and California. She has dedicated her life to trying to dismantle the womb-to-prison pipeline for Indigenous people and credits her involvement in the Wounded Knee occupation with putting her on that path. In the 1980s, she returned to Pine Ridge and worked at the AIM office in Porcupine. For over 40 years, Autumn has worked locally, nationally, and internationally on issues of American Indian adult and juvenile justice, substance abuse prevention, restorative justice, and tribal youth mentoring programs. Now based near Minneapolis, Autumn serves as the Executive Director of the American Indian Prison Project, and as the Tribal Youth Program Co-Director at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute.
Autumn was 19-years-old and a student of California State University, Northridge when the occupation of Wounded Knee began. Encouraged by an elder mentor, Autumn traveled to Wounded Knee on March 1, 1973 with a group of Indian activists who set up encampments defending Chumash lands.
As a younger member of the community inside Wounded Knee, Autumn was assigned to work on the security team and played a major role in running many of the communications efforts, especially regarding attempts to organize cease-fires. Wounded Knee represented a major turning point in Autumn’s life, giving her the chance to reconnect with her Native culture and traditions, and allowing her to participate in ceremonies such as the Inípi (sweat lodge) for the first time.
Quotes: “Before I went to Wounded Knee, I had never witnessed people who were willing to lay down their life because they loved their people… because they loved the land. The blessing was that I was able to witness it. I was able to see it, hear it, feel it. And when you’re able to witness that type of courage, that type of love, it forever changes your life.”
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