American Indian Movement

Not to be confused with the American Identity Movement, also called AIM, a White Nationalist political movement run by Patrick Casey.
American Indian Movement
AbbreviationAIM
LeaderDennis Banks
Clyde Bellecourt
Vernon Bellecourt
Russell Means
FoundedJuly 1968; 56 years ago (July 1968)
IdeologyIndigenism
Native American civil rights
Anti-racism
Anti-imperialism
Pan-Indianism
Political positionLeft-wing
Colors  Black   Gold   White   Maroon
Website
aimovement.org
Part of a series on
Indigenous rights
Indalo symbol
Rights
Governmental organizations
United Nations initiatives
International Treaties
NGOs and political groups
Issues
Countries
Category

The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968,[1] initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police brutality against American Indians.[2] AIM soon widened its focus from urban issues to many Indigenous Tribal issues that American Indian groups have faced due to settler colonialism in the Americas. These issues have included treaty rights, high rates of unemployment, the lack of American Indian subjects in education, and the preservation of Indigenous cultures.[2][3]

AIM was organized by American Indian men who had been serving time together in prison. They had been alienated from their traditional backgrounds as a result of the United States' Public Law 959 Indian Relocation Act of 1956, which supported thousands of American Indians who wanted to move from reservations to cities, in an attempt to enable them to have more economic opportunities for work. In addition, Public Law 280, one of the first major laws contributing to U.S. Indian termination policy,[4] proposed to terminate the federal government's relations with several tribes which were determined to be far along the path of assimilation.[5] These policies were enacted by the United States Congress under congressional plenary power.[6] As a result, nearly 70% of American Indians left their communal homelands on reservations and relocated to urban centers, many in hopes of finding economic sustainability. While many Urban Indians struggled with displacement and such radically different settings, some also began to organize in pan-Indian groups in urban centers. They were described as transnationals.[7] The American Indian Movement formed in such urbanized contexts at a time of increasing Indian activism.[7]

From November 1969 to June 1971, AIM participated in the occupation of the abandoned federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island organized by seven Indian movements, including the Indians of All Tribes and Richard Oakes, a Mohawk activist.[4] In October 1972, AIM and other Indian groups gathered members from across the United States for a protest in Washington, D.C., known as the Trail of Broken Treaties.[8] Public documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal advanced coordination occurred between federal Bureau of Indian Affairs staff and the authors of a twenty-point proposal. The proposal was drafted with the help of the AIM for delivery to the United States government officials. Its focused on proposals intended to enhance U.S.–Indian relations.

In the decades since AIM's founding, the group has led protests advocating indigenous American interests, inspired cultural renewal, monitored police activities, and coordinated employment programs in cities and in rural reservation communities across the United States. They have also allied with indigenous interests outside the United States.

  1. ^ Davey, Katie Jean. "LibGuides: American Indian Movement (AIM): Overview". libguides.mnhs.org. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  2. ^ a b Churchill, Ward (1990). The Cointel Pro Papers. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. p. 253. ISBN 2002106479.
  3. ^ Matthiessen, Peter (1980). In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. New York: The Viking Press. pp. 37–38. ISBN 0-670-39702-4.
  4. ^ Hacker, Patrick E.; Meier, Dennis C.; Pauli, Dan J. (1974). "State Jurisdiction over Indian Land Use: An Interpretation of the Emcumbrance Savings Clause of Public Law 280". Land & Water Law Review. 9 (2): 426.
  5. ^ Matthiessen, Peter (1980). In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. New York: The Viking Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-670-39702-4.
  6. ^ Pevar, Stephen L. (2012). The Rights of Indians and Tribes. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-19-979535-2.
  7. ^ a b Ramirez, Renya K. (2007). Native Hubs. Durham & London: Duke University Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-8223-4030-0.
  8. ^ "The Trail of Broken Treaties, 1972 (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2024-05-31.