American Indian Movement (AIM)

• The Red Power movement from the 1960s to the late 1970s is seen as the second wave of modern pan-Indianism.
• It gained massive support by mobilizing urban Native Americans from diverse tribes and revitalizing Indian ethnic identity and culture.
• Many native organizations emerged to address the "Indian question".
• The American Indian Movement (AIM) turned out to be the most radical Indian organization.

AIM Ideology

• Created an ideology combining traditional Indian religions with "red nationalism".
• Used aggressive anti-government rhetoric.
• Formulated a political program focused on native nations' sovereignty.

AIM Founding and Founders

• Founded in 1968 in Minneapolis by Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, George Mitchell, and Eddie Benton Banai, all Ojibwa Indians.
• Banks and Bellecourt became interested in Indian history while in Stillwater State Prison.

AIM Initial Focus

• Drew members mainly from young, urban Native Americans seeking a new identity.
• Minneapolis was an ideal location due to its significant Indian population.
• Members engaged in local Indian community life.
• The first major initiative was the creation of the Indian Patrol.
• Observed police activity.
• Protected intoxicated Indians from law enforcement brutality.
• The Indian Patrol existed for only a few months.
• Supported indigenous enclaves in Minneapolis and Minnesota.
• Advocated for better Indian housing.
• Involved in fighting unemployment among native people.
• Established the Legal Rights Center to provide professional services.
• Instituted two schools for Indian children in Minnesota.
• Promoted Native American heritage events.
• Worked to "organize to upgrade the condition in which the Indian lives, and to improve the stereotype of the Indian".

AIM Strategy Shift

• In the early 1970s, the organization decided to modify its strategy
• Publicized the Indian struggle for equality.
• Gained media attention and visibility on the national stage.
• Familiarized American public opinion with the problems faced by “red nations.”
• Eager to capture a new audience, the reservation Indians.
• The movement began to grow into a militant organization.
• Leaders believed that only radical measures lead to desired results.
• Implemented various forms of political protest including demonstrations, takeovers, and militant occupation.

AIM Actions in the 1970s

• Actions included the occupation of Mount Rushmore in 1970 to protest the violation of the Treaty of Laramie.
• Arranged a "counter celebration" in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Thanksgiving Day 1970.
• Took control of Mayflower II, a replica of the first Pilgrim ship.
• Organized an automobile caravan to stage a demonstration in Washington in 1972.
• The "Trails of Broken Treaties" prepared a 20-point document proposing reforms in federal Indian policy.
• Occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Wounded Knee Siege

• In 1973, AIM became involved in the controversial siege of Wounded Knee.
• Sioux Indians from the Pine Ridge Reservation invited AIM to help remove their corrupt tribal chairman, Richard Wilson.
• AIM members, led by Russell Means and Dennis Banks, occupied Wounded Knee.
• Proclaimed it to be a part of a new political entity, the Independent Oglala Nation.
• This resulted in an armed occupation lasting over two months with protesters confronting federal forces.
• The Wounded Knee incident led to a national debate over the lot of Native Americans and their struggle for civil rights.
• Initiated sharp negotiation with the federal government to address the most burning issues of Indian federal policy.
• Dennis Banks developed a "three-point program" that concerned the problem of Indian sovereignty.

AIM Three-Point Program

• Focused on Indian sovereignty, which included reexamination of Indian treaty rights.
• Included repealing the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA).
• Included reforming the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• The goal was to attack powerful financial and political interests.
• The indigenous people were the only ethnic minority in the United States that had a legally established relationship regulated through treaties.
• Demanded that the 371 agreements be reexamined by a special Treaty Commission.
• All treaty rights should be enforced.
• Expressed concerns about the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
• The act deprived “Indians of their land; setting up white-controlled governments on many reservations, and establishing tribal constitutions which offer no real protection against sale and wholesale lease-out of tribal lands"
• Called for new tribal governments, devoid of federal influences.
• Placed focus on the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Argued the agency directed its efforts against Indians.
• Proposed that the Bureau of Indian Affairs be removed from the Department of the Interior and established as an independent body subject to the control of Native Americans.

AIM Ideology - Religious Aspect

• Considered themselves to be a part of some kind of spiritual crusade.
• Began to invoke a general native philosophy regarding the people's relationship with nature and the surrounding world.
• Recognized the weakness of the human race.
• Believed in a sacred bond between man and the environment.
• Pointed out major differences between the traditional Indian world devoid of economic materialism and the civilization of the white man.
• Emphasized the civilization of the white man seemed nothing more than a contaminated and corrupted environment.

AIM Beliefs

• The credo of the American Indian Movement was defined by Russell Means during his trial in 1974.
• Means described the philosophy of the “red man”.
• All living things come from our sacred mother earth.
• All living things came from one mother, the earth.
• All living things have to treat one another with the same respect.
• Mostly adhered to Lakota beliefs.
• Restored major Lakota ceremonies, including the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance.

AIM Goal

• The ideological foundation of the American Indian Movement intended to resurrect nationalistic sentiment in Indians.
• AIM’s members comprehended that belonging to a certain ethnic out-group reduces their ability to voice demands publicly.
• Utilized explicit and even aggressive rhetoric.
• Aimed at collectively defined opponents.
• The movement's enemy assumed the form of an inhuman adversary.