He's been called the "most famous Indian since Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse" by the Los Angeles Times. He is loved and hated. He is Russell Means. He has esophageal cancer, and it has spread to his tongue and lungs. He announced this to the world a couple of weeks ago. Doctors say it is terminal.

But rather than seek traditional American medicine, which is chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Russell has chosen to go the traditional Indian way — the Lakota way. This involves songs, prayers and medicines that date back millennia. He believes that this is his best option. American doctors suggested a surgery to cut out his tongue. Can you imagine Russell Means without a tongue to speak?

I interviewed him on my radio show on Monday. I remember seeing him in our studio two years ago and I thought to myself, "Damn, I hope I look that good when I'm 70 years old." But, when he came into Studio 49 the other day he didn't look the same.

Of course, we all know Russell Means portraying himself as the "biggest, baddest, toughest Indian on Earth." I asked him, When you go on to the next world, whether you beat this cancer or not, because we all have to go to the next world sometime: What will you be most proud of — where do you want your legacy to lie?

His response was: "It will probably come as no surprise ... I consider Wounded Knee in 1973 the spark that lit the flame of indigenous movements of the world. You can follow it, stage by stage, from 1973 to the first American Indian Treaty Conference held in Wakpala, S.D., in 1974 to the creation of the International Indian Treaty Council to allow the passage of the Indigenous Rights of the U.N. You can follow all of that. And along with that we elected an indigenous president in Bolivia ... revolutions started in South and Central America ... where they used to massacre indigenous people with impunity, they still do massacre indigenous people but not with impunity.

"My point is ... that spark ... there was a Creek medicine man who said how they start their annual dance every year, with a traditional fire, you have to light it in a traditional way with flint. And he said sometimes that sacred fire starts on the first spark and sometimes it takes a lot of sparks.

"That teaching made me look back in the past. Wounded Knee was the result of Indian people being cornered — culturally, with extinction. And we fought back like a natural animal. We started to use any means necessary. You got to remember back in those days Indians were ashamed of themselves, they did not wear Indian jewelry. The only people that wore Indian jewelry, back in 1973, were famous Hollywood celebrities and rich Texans.

"We have to remember those things and those times. We came out of it, and we brought the Western Hemisphere, and in fact the indigenous world along with us." I agreed with Russell that Wounded Knee was the spark that got it all going.

Callers poured in thanking Russell for all that he has done for Indian people and for his explicit stance on behalf of alternative medicine. They thanked him for bringing alternative cancer treatments to the forefront. They sent him love and prayers, and praised him.

Whether you love him or hate him, agree or disagree with his nature, you have to admit that Russell Means has always been able to capture our attention. He's now in need of financial support. His website, where you can donate to his medical care, is www.russellmeansfreedom.com.

Harlan McKosato, a Sauk/Ioway, is host of the syndicated radio show Native America Calling, which airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on KUNM, 89.9 FM.