A Short History of the American Indian Movement

When most people think of the Civil Rights Era, they usually first think of the struggles of women, blacks, and Latinos. However, Native Americans, making up less than 1% of the population and long-forgotten by mainstream American culture, decided to do something drastic to make their voice heard. Tired of the corruption, broken promises made by the government, delays of federal aid, and lack of jobs on the reservation, a group of Native Americans formed the American Indian Movement, or AIM, to try to get attention to their desperate situation.

A group of Native Americans that were part of the Red Power movement kicked off the activist movement via their occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969. During this movement, a group of Amerindian activists, mostly college students, seized control of the entire island for 19 months, attempting to reclaim the island as a piece of Indian territory. They drew a good amount of attention to their cause, but otherwise, didn't achieve much, even though some non-native Americans sympathized with them.

Native American activists on Alcatraz Island.

A couple years later, AIM became much more activist, wanting to address issues on living conditions, treaty issues, and sovereignty for Native American tribes. The AIM, lead by people such as Dennis Banks and Russell Means, decided to act drastically in order to get attention from mainstream American and the media, and they started with the seizure of the Mayflower replica in Boston during the Thanksgiving day celebrations in November of 1970. This was followed up by the occupation of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills, an area that the US government had seized from the Sioux Nation in 1877. This protest ultimately proved to be successful, as the US Supreme Court ruled that the seizure of the lands by the U.S. government was illegal, since it had violated the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. In 1972, Washington, D.C.'s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) administrative building was briefly occupied by AIM activists, protesting the land and reservation program mismanagement by the agency. This was part of the "Trail of Broken Treaties" movement. A list of 20 points was made to address the issues with federal treaties and promises, which can be found here: http://www.aimovement.org/ggc/trailofbrokentreaties.html

Soon, tensions between the AIM members and the U.S. government grew after the white murderers of two Native American men in reservation border towns were indicted with only minimal manslaughter charges. Activists were infuriated, and in 1973, burned down a courthouse in Custer, South Dakota, which resulted in multiple arrests. The movement was now entering a more violent stage.

The Official Flag of the American Indian Movement
Note that the colors of the flag indicate racial unity.

On the Pine Ridge reservation of the Oglala Lakota Sioux, a municipality that was plagued with great poverty, many inhabitants were growing unhappy with the apparent nepotism and corruption of Richard "Dick" Wilson, a tribal chairman. After attempts to impeach Wilson failed, 300 Lakota Indians and AIM activists from other tribes occupied the Wounded Knee area, engaging in a standoff with the FBI, US Marshals, and the National Guard. The Native Americans demanded respect for former broken land treaties with the U.S., the impeachment of Wilson, and recognition of sovereignty. The national media brought considerable attention to the incident, especially with the symbolism in regards to the Wound Knee Massacre of 1890, the last well-known massacre of Native Americans by the U.S. Government. Even though the external press was soon banned by the Department of Justice from covering the Wounded Knee area, the movement gained even great recognition when actor Marlon Brando refused to accept an Oscar due to the poor treatment of Native Americans within the film industry. He asked Apache actress Sacheen Littlefeather to make a speech at the Academy Awards about the Wounded Knee incident. They managed to get a majority of Americans to sympathize with the plight of the Native Americans, even though the AIM never got what they wanted by the end of the standoff, which ended with two Native Americans killed.

The AIM's activism began to dwindle after the 1970s. Despite its failures, the AIM was significant in changing the lives and political statuses of many Native Americans. The AIM had won several court cases in regards to land ownership, gained recognition by mainstream America, sparked a revival in traditional spirituality and culture, and helped Native American communities work towards sovereignty, self-reliance, and self-governance. In 2008, the AIM organized a march from San Francisco across the nation to Washington, D.C., in which thousands of people participated. The Longest Walk 2 involved members from more than 100 American Indian nations, and it highlighted the need to protect Native sacred sites, environmental protection, and tribal sovereignty.