Revisiting the American Indian Movement: How the United States Failed at Another Chance
American Indian Movement protestors during the six-day occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters
Throughout history, the United States government has consistently denied and ignored Native American rights, even though its policies are the root of Native impression and injustice . By failing to act in favor of or even recognize the issues surrounding indigeous American rights, the United States government has shown indifference regarding its past crimes and injustices that have led to contemporary struggles of Native peoples living in the wake of federal negligence.
During the summer of 1968, over 200 Native Americans gathered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and formed the American Indian Movement (AIM). Led primarily by Oglala Lakota Russell Means and Ojibwe militant Dennis Banks, AIM organized powerful protests across the country. The first major protest, led by Richard Oakes, lasted for nearly 20 months, when activists occupied San Francisco’s Alcatraz Island, the site of a former federal prison. In November 1969, AIM partnered with college students who called themselves the Indians of All Tribes. The groups protested that the U.S. upkeep the terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The clause in question asserted that any land abandoned by the United States should be returned to those indigenous Americans who previously occupied it. Therefore, because the U.S. abandoned Alcatraz in 1963, protestors argued the island should be returned to Natives.
College students from Indians of All Tribes on Alcatraz Island
The display garnered national attention, but the U.S. government, led by President Richard Nixon, struck swiftly in June 1971, cutting off Alcatraz’s power supply and forcibly removing the island’s inhabitants. Because the government was able to forcibly remove protestors, they no longer had to worry about meeting demands. A precedent was set: violence and force became key to the Nixon Administration’s interactions with AIM members.
In the same month, Russell Means led a group of protestors who took over Mount Rushmore to bring awareness to the United States’ failure to uphold another clause in the Fort Laramie Treaty which gave the Lakota sole rights to the Black Hills. The discovery of gold in the area in the 1870s resulted in the United States unjustly forcing the Lakota out of the Black Hills—a place sacred to the Lakota—just a few years after signing the treaty. However, neither protest was able to convince the U.S. government to seriously consider the movement.
At the time, President Nixon was preoccupied with a midterm election that heralded a unified Democratic Congress, a withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam by the end of the year, and the release of the Pentagon Papers which revealed the U.S. government had lied about the scope of the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. Throughout Nixon’s presidency, he had imitated his predecessor, Lyndon B. Johnson, and supported the efforts in Vietnam. While Nixon was in office, classified documents called the Pentagon Papers were released. These documents called Johnson and Nixon liars who had promoted escalation of the Vietnam War. Therefore, Nixon not only had to clean up past administrations’ scandals, but the question was raised about whether or not the Nixon Administration had downplayed involvement in Vietnam as well. President Nixon had far too much on his mind to focus on what he saw as a petty movement. As a result, AIM was overlooked. Had the Nixon administration even considered these initial protests and their demands, AIM might not have had to continue with occupations. In 1970, Nixon released a special message to Congress in which he stated, “From the time of their first contact with European settlers, the American Indians have been oppressed and brutalized, deprived of their ancestral lands and denied the opportunity to control their own destiny. Even the Federal programs which are intended to meet their needs have frequently proved to be ineffective and demeaning.” Nixon was willing to acknowledge suffering in his words, but not in his actions. Ultimately, Nixon’s ignorance prevented friendly tribal relations and caused the deterioration of future trust.
1970 March on the Bureau of Indian Affairs
After both the occupation of Alcatraz and Mount Rushmore failed to create change, AIM leaders Means and Banks organized a 1972 caravan march from the West Coast to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). They convened in St. Paul, Minnesota to draft a 20 point position paper titled “The Trail of Broken Treaties.” Demands in the paper included “legal recognition of treaties, restoration of the treaty-making process, the return of 110 million acres of Native land to indigenous communities and the reform of federal-tribal relations.” Supporters from over 200 tribes began to arrive in Washington D.C. on November 1st and prepared to enter talks with government officials at the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Commerce with whom they had scheduled meetings. Every meeting was intentionally cancelled without notice.
The Trail of Broken Treaties’ leaders had also planned to meet with President Nixon, but he had quietly left D.C. before the caravans arrived. Leaders of the caravan peacefully entered the BIA headquarters to discuss the situation and explain their frustrations. BIA security guards escalated already high tensions and attempted to forcefully remove caravan members. As tensions rose, AIM and other caravan members took over the BIA headquarters for six days. During this time, occupants gathered and read files and important documents that showed failures to uphold past treaties and reclaimed tribal artifacts.
Officials planned to violently enter and take back the BIA headquarters, but President Nixon insisted on obtaining a court order before doing so. This was not due to Nixon’s benevolence or acknowledgement of indigenous American struggles, but rather external factors. 1972 was an election year, and Nixon wanted to keep as much support as he could before the election the following week. On the fourth day of the occupation, a court order was given, but an hour before it took effect, another judge ordered a two day extension so protestors could regroup and attempt negotiations.
Tepee constructed in front of BIA headquarters
As negotiations ensued, Nixon’s administration was stumped until they realized many of the caravan members had no way to return home. Leonard Garment, Nixon’s acting special counsel, arranged $66,000 in cash for the caravans to return home in exchange for evacuating the BIA headquarters. Worth nearly $425,000 in today’s market, AIM leaders realized it was their only option and accepted the compensation under the terms that protestors would not be prosecuted for any charges related to the occupation. Once again, the American government was able to ignore the primary issue of the protest. However, many involved in the takeover considered the occupation successful despite the fact that their manifesto, The Trail of Broken Treaties, was never officially presented to government officials nor were its demands met or even considered.
Means and Banks understood that more drastic measures must be taken to initiate legitimate change. AIM had amassed public attention but remained unable to capture the United States government’s undivided attention. Since his initial term started in 1969, nearly all of Nixon’s energy had been focused upon the Vietnam War and multiple White House scandals. Every preceding AIM protest had been dismissed as a mere nuisance. Banks and Means were fully aware of this. So, they devised a new strategy to fight back against the federal violence that had been used against them in the past and planned the armed takeover of an entire town within the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Richard Wilson, president of the Oglala Lakota, lived on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Wilson was well known for being nepotistic and dispersed government finances and jobs to his family and friends. He was also cruel and demeaning towards tribal members who were solely of Native descent. Wilson instituted the Guardians of the Oglala Nation, otherwise known as GOONs. They became his private militia, and he used them to batter political opponents and anyone that spoke up against him. Lakota members had consistently voiced their frustrations with his leadership and even tried to impeach him. The BIA turned a blind eye and allowed Wilson to continue taking finances for himself and let him stay in office. His corruption unearthed deeply ingrained issues within the BIA, giving the American Indian Movement solid grounds for a protest.
In February of 1973, AIM enacted their plan and initiated an armed takeover of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Wounded Knee was the site of the 1890 massacre of over 200 Lakota, giving AIM the perfect place to remember past violence and look to a new future. Russell Means acted as the chief negotiator for AIM and demanded an investigation be launched into the BIA and American Indian affairs throughout South Dakota. The United States government established roadblocks on every road leading into Wounded Knee, and Wilson’s GOONs patrolled the town’s perimeter, preventing AIM members from obtaining supplies and stopping supporters from entering the town. After 10 days, the roadblocks were lifted and supporters with new supplies flooded into the city and stationed themselves alongside AIM occupants. Around this time, the American Indian Movement claimed Wounded Knee to be a new independent Oglala Nation and insisted U.S. Secretary of State William Rogers hold talks with them. AIM attempted to have Wounded Knee recognized as a sovereign nation by the United Nations, and a delegation flew to New York.
Although they were not recognized as an independent state, the delegation amassed enormous amounts of international public support for those in Wounded Knee, which put additional pressure on the federal government. Wilson established his own GOON-supported roadblocks and after a month, the U.S. government cut off power and water from the town. The Department of Justice prohibited press and media from going to the site and AIM’s public support dwindled.
That is, until the 45th Academy Awards. Marlon Brando, famous for his starring role in The Godfather, sent Sacheen Littlefeather, an Apache and supporter of AIM, to appear at the Oscars and decline the Best Actor award in his stead. Littlefeather was threatened and told if she stayed on the stage for any longer than a minute, she would be forcibly removed and arrested. Dressed in traditional Apache clothing, she bravely gave an improvised speech after the one Brando gave her was disallowed and taken. Wounded Knee’s public support soared again, giving AIM a hefty morale boost and mounting even more pressure on the United States government to act.
By that time, though, the Nixon administration was solely focused on the Watergate scandal. The U.S. government falsely promised they would launch an investigation into the BIA and Indian Affairs in South Dakota. Nixon gave the order, and federal marshals sieged the town, leading to the occupation of Wounded Knee ending after 71 days in May 1973. Once again, the government used violence to enforce their will, and AIM found themselves unable to create any legitimate change or actualize their demands. External factors and a deceitful government prevented action from being taken on behalf of Native rights. Ultimately, the national AIM organization dissolved in 1978 and many local chapters disbanded in the early 1980s.
At any point in American history, the United States government has had a multitude of opportunities to right some of the countless wrongs it has committed against Native Americans. Yet even when faced with protests and occupations of a town and federal buildings, the federal government chose not to support the first inhabitants of the land upon which it was founded. Time and time again, the American Indian Movement’s progress was halted by a government who simply did not care to negotiate or listen to its demands. As shown by the results of these protests, the federal government evaded policy reform by utilizing violence in the wake of resistance. Moreover, the Nixon Administration established a new precedent of utilizing violence when dealing with indigenous Americans. This precedent further inflames tribal affairs and exposes the true nature of American policy when Native peoples are involved.
Regardless of the consequences of the protests, Means, Banks, and the entirety of the American Indian Movement were revolutionary in the world of indigenous American justice and civil rights as new demands regarding sovereignty, legal rights, past treaties, autonomy, and the reclamation of illegally seized tribal lands were supported. AIM undoubtedly remains at the forefront of the fight for Native rights. Sadly, the American Indian Movement and its supporters remain symbolic in nature due to a lack of effort from the Nixon administration and the federal government as a whole to respond to or even acknowledge their demands.
Unfortunately, no singular movement for the rights and liberties of Native Americans has reached the level that the American Indian Movement did. To this day, AIM remains one of the largest sustained protest organizations for indigenous American civil rights and sovereignty in American history. Over 50 years later, the fight has mainly shifted to protecting tribal and holy lands from urban development, detrimental mines, and dangerous oil pipelines such as the Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock. These efforts, while critical to preserving lands, do not always go so far as to address larger ideological and cultural aims that seek to restore sovereignty to Native groups in the way that AIM did. Until the U.S. government proves it cares about past injuries towards Native Amerians, the fight will never encompass AIM’s goals for Native independence and the proper upholding of treaties that were first signed nearly 250 years ago.
Therefore, to enact sustainable change that orients Native communities as paramount to reform, the U.S. government must fully support the restoration of unused tribal lands to their original owners. The federal government must institute a system of reparations for Natives to support reservations and decrease the poverty rate, fortify reservation infrastructure, and invest in open and meaningful tribal communication to bolster United States-tribal affairs and build trust. By doing these things, the government will uphold conditions and clauses of treaties that it has ignored in the past while also acting as advocates for change. Serious consideration of the issues plaguing Native communities is imperative to healing and righting the copious wrongs of the United States government.
It is important that the American Indian Movement led by Russell Means and Dennis Banks does not become a symbolic movement of the past, but instead one that is seriously remembered for its actions, protests, and goals. It must be understood that its goals have not yet been achieved and deserve thoughtful consideration from the federal government. In the past, the fight for indigenous American rights was ignored, but it has not succumbed to the government’s negligence. The American Indian Movement was only the first wave in a fight that is just beginning.
Maxwell Lurken-Tvrdik (CC ‘25) is a Norwegian-Bohemian staff writer hailing from Freeport, Minnesota. He plans to double major in philosophy and human rights and is on the pre-law track. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, reading ancient philosophy, watching Ted Lasso, and spending time with his family.