Do We Really Know What Transpired at Wounded Knee? Mark Tilsen Government, History, Society & Culture It’s true that the 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee—probably the longest civil disorder in U.S. history since the Civil War—brought national attention to the oppression of Indian people. But Wounded Knee 1973 did not end the oppression. A new film by Kevin McKiernan, an NPR journalist who defied an embargo to get inside, could shed new light on what happened during the conflict.