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• 8. Native American actor and activist Russell Means dies.
• Russell Means, who once belonged to the American Indian Movement and continued working as one of the most visible Native American activists, died from throat cancer in October at age 72. Means had helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded

Knee in South Dakota -- a bloody confrontation that raised America's awareness about the struggles of American Indians and gave rise to a wider protest movement that lasted the rest of the decade. Means also was an actor, appearing in such films as "The Last of the Mohicans."
• 9. Sioux tribes buy Black Hills land.
• Several Sioux tribes worked together to buy land in the Black Hills that many members consider sacred. With the help of celebrities including P. Diddy, Ezra Miller and Bette Midler, the tribes raised $9 million to buy the land known as Pe' Sla. The fundraising effort was controversial because some Sioux tribes felt the land was rightfully theirs and they shouldn't have to buy it. An 1868 treaty set aside the Black

Hills and other land for the Sioux, but Congress passed a law nine years later seizing the land after the discovery of gold in western South Dakota.
• 10. "Pink slime" label prompts lawsuit.
• Sales dropped at Beef Products Inc. of Dakota Dunes after an ABC News report popularized the term "pink slime" for what the beef industry said was better described as lean, finely textured beef. Beef Products laid off about 750 workers nationally and then sued ABC for $1.2 billion for alleged defamation. Beef Products attorney Dan Webb said the ABC story led viewers to "believe that our lean beef is not beef at all -- that it's an unhealthy pink slime, unsafe for public consumption, and that somehow it got hidden in the meat." ABC stood by its report and said the lawsuit was without merit.
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• ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) -- Cattle expert Temple Grandin says that a new beef-packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., is off to a good start.
• Officials with Northern Beef Packers say Grandin toured the facility Friday and says she's pleased it was designed with the cattle's comfort in mind.
• Grandin gained national fame when she was portrayed by Claire Danes in an award-winning HBO movie titled "Temple Grandin." The movie shows how Grandin struggled growing up with autism and how the condition helped her create more humane ways to slaughter livestock. Her designs are used in facilities worldwide.
• The opening of Northern Beef Packers had been delayed for years by financial

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