American Indian Movement AIM

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American Indian Movement(AIM)
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Brief Overview

• Treaties
• Allotment
• Boarding Schools
• Termination and relocation

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• Aim was founded in 1968 in minneapolis
• Edward Benton, Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt were
  among the founders
• Dedicated to protecting as well as imporoving
  life of native americans as well as keeping their
  culture alive
• First goal Deal with police brutality

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• 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz Island
• 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.
• 19 month occupation
• More than 5,600 American Indians
• Wanted positive example no violence

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Occupation of Alcatraz

• Celebrity Support
• Boxes of food and money from CCR, Grateful Dead,
  Jane Fonda, Marlon Brando and polititians.
• Life wasnt perfect occupying the island
• Many tribes
• Drugs/alcohol
• Death 12 yr old Yvonne Oakes

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Outcome of Alcatraz

• Some gov. officials wanted armed takeover Nixon
  said no
• A fire burned 4 buildings which signaled the end
  of the occupation
• People began leaving on their own

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Takeover of Winter Dam

• Dam Built 1921 with damaging effects
• 1971 takeover began
• AIM assisted the LCO tribe
• Winter Dam 50 yr. License about to expire tried
  to block renewal
• Divided the ojibwe community
• Success Gov. replaced 25,000 acres, able to
  generate hydro-electric power.
• Issue of flooded graves unresolved

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Winter Dam, Continued
Basically, all we were doing was some real minor
symbolic statement of just occupying the dam, but
immediately we were aware that there were federal
marshalls in the regionThere were planes flying
over and newsment started getting onto the
storypeople downstream believed that we had
wired the dam to explodethere was quite a
calamity. -Richard St. Germaine
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Children at a 1971 demonstration by the Lac Court
Oreilles Ojibwe band and the American Indian
Movement (AIM) against relicensing the Winter
Dam.
-Chippewa Valley Museum
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Takeover at Wounded Knee
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Wounded Knee, Contd

• 1973 Lakota contact AIM to help with corruption
  within the BIA and Tribal Council
• Armed indians reclaimed wounded knee
• Over 75 nations were represented
• Many demands
• Investigations into 371 Treaties
• Investigate misuse of tribal funds
• BIA investigation

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Wounded Knee Contd

• Government cut of electricity and tried to keep
  food from going in.
• Heavy Gunfire daily
• Buddy Lamond and Frank Clearwater were killed
  12 others disappeared.
• After 71 days of being free peoples, the siege
  ended Over 1200 were arrested

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Wounded Knee Contd

• Next 3 years Reign of Terror
• 64 unsolved murder victims
• 300 harassed and beaten
• 562 arrests made only 15 convicted of a crime

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Milo Goings, a 27-year-old Oglala, gets a ride
from a fellow tribe member after Goings was
wounded in an exchange of gunfire between the
occupiers of Wounded Knee and U.S. marshals on
March 10, 1973.
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AIM has been involved in many other things as
well. Link for overview of events http//www.aimo
vement.org/ggc/history.html
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AIM today AIM still patrols the streets of
Minneapolis for their original purpose, police
brutality. Involved in protesting Indian
mascots Committed to keeping native culture
alive 1993 - Split into two factions due to
differences in opinion
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Bibliography http//siouxme.com/lodge/alcatraz_np
.html http//siouxme.com/siege.html http//www.aim
ovement.org/ggc/history.html http//www.cvmuseum.c
om/Paths5.html Bieder, Robert E, Native American
Communities in Wisconsin 1600-1930 Lurie, Nancy
Oestrich, Wisconsin Indians Paths of the People,
The Ojibwe in the Chippewa Valley Prucha, Francis
Paul, Documents of United States Indian Policy