American Indian Movement

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Flag with the logo of the American Indian Movement

The American Indian Movement (abbreviated AIM , English for American Indian Movement , or American Indian Movement ) is an existing since 1968 Indian organization in the United States . The AIM is mainly recruited from activists outside the classic reservations and, as an indigenous movement, works against corruption and abuse of power by the official Indian reservation leadership as well as for a revision of American Indian policy .

Between the late 1960s and mid- 1970s , the AIM hit the headlines and attracted the attention of an international public due to spectacular, including some militant, resistance actions such as the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 .

history

Foundation and early activities: late 1960s to mid 1970s

One of the leading pioneers of the AIM in the early 1960s was the Indian professor Jack D. Forbes , who became known for his harsh criticism of civilization .

AIM was founded in Minneapolis in 1968 by the brothers Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt and Dennis Banks and others. Banks and the Bellecourt brothers were advocates for the Minneapolis / St. Paul Indians . About 250 members, mostly Anishinabe Indians (also known as Ojibwa or Chippewa Indians) were involved in the establishment, who first voted for the name Concerned Indians of America (CIA) . CIA was renamed to AIM shortly afterwards. The correspondence of the abbreviation with that of the most famous US American secret service was obviously too inadequate for most of them.

Unlike many other major US cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul had a relatively large Native American population. AIM groups quickly sprang up in Cleveland , founded there by Russell Means , and in other cities. The movement initially emerged from the urban environment, where it campaigned for the disadvantaged Indians who mostly lived in ghettos and did something against the housing shortage, unemployment, alcoholism and to ensure health care. AIM organized street patrols to protect against attacks by the police that were perceived as arbitrary and racist .

The AIM initially had no significant connection with the reservations inhabited by most of the Indians , but its reputation grew rapidly there in the early 1970s.

The goals of the society were, among other things, the revival of the cultural values ​​of the Indian tribes and more self-determination up to an autonomous status in the reservations. In doing so, the organization also protested against the decades of suppression of Indian religions and cultures since their military submission by the USA at the end of the 19th century, in particular through the policies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the state authority for Indian affairs subordinate to the US Department of the Interior .

To promote Indian self-awareness as well as other self-help projects such as the establishment of a legal aid center, initiatives of training and job creation schemes for Indians also called were Survival schools ( German  survival schools ) established in which Indian children in addition to the cultural values of their tribes also conveyed their original tribal language was . The aim of these measures was to overcome the forced assimilation by the US authorities, which was perceived as repressive for a long time . With the establishment of various magazines, including the Akwesasne Notes as one of the most widespread , the AIM attempted to convey its demands and content to a broader Indian and non-Indian public.

In 1974 AIM activists helped found the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) to represent the interests of the indigenous peoples of North , Central and South America . The IITC was given the status of a non-governmental organization ( non-governmental organization , NGO ) with accreditation to the United Nations ( UN ) in Geneva from 1977th

In 1970 John Trudell joined AIM , along with others . Trudell took part in the 19-month occupation of the former US prison island of Alcatraz between November 1969 and June 1971 by the Indians of All Tribes (German Indians of all tribes ). The Indians of all tribes were a group of young Indians of different origins, the composition of which had varied greatly during the occupation. Trudell became chairman of the AIM in 1973 and held this position until 1979/1980.

Protest actions, criminalization, turning away from militancy: 1970s to the present

The AIM's first major protest actions included the occupation of Alcatraz Island from 1969 to 1971 and demonstrations against the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in 1970.

1972 organized AIM modeled after the March on Washington by the civil rights movement of African Americans to the Trail of Broken Treaties (dt. Path of broken contracts , similar to the infamous resettlement march of the Indians of the Southeast into the Indian territory , the " Trail of Tears (Trail of Tears ) ", in 1833) to commemorate the many previous agreements between Indians and US negotiators that the Americans later ignored. When the convoy with the demonstrators arrived in Washington DC, contrary to plans, there were no places to stay. This provoked riots and demonstrators occupied the administrative building of the US Department of Interior assumed Bureau of Indian Affairs (dt. Office / Office of Indian Affairs ) (BIA) in Washington, DC , and declared it the message of the American Native (English. Native American Embassy ).

During the occupation, a large number of documents securing contracts, foundations, water and basic rights disappeared in the building. The documents that were taken away were passed on to a journalist and later returned to government property via the FBI. In addition to the stolen documents, several documents were also destroyed during the occupation and, according to government reports, there was greater property damage, which was sharply criticized by the leader of the demonstration, Hank Adams. The 20 points of the march put forward to the Nixon government were rejected by the latter.

The most spectacular action by AIM was the occupation of the village of Wounded Knee in the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973. The reservation is one of the poorest places in the United States, but above all an important symbol. On December 29, 1890, 200 to 300 defenseless Lakota ( Sioux ) Indians were massacred by soldiers there. In February 1973 the AIM sought a confrontation with the elected but corrupt Tribal Council Chairman Dick Wilson and his armed protection group, the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (known as GOONs). The aim was to force a federal investigation into the conditions in the reservation and broken contracts with the Indians. Around 200 AIM members entrenched themselves with 11 hostages from Wilson's environment after an unsuccessful impeachment proceedings against Wilson in Wounded Knee, besieged by the FBI (the US Federal Police) and the National Guard. AIM members proclaimed the independent Oglala nation, but had to give up the occupation after 71 days. There had previously been violent clashes that resulted in the death of two AIM members and the serious injury of an FBI agent.

Russell Means , one of the most popular AIM speakers of the 1970s, here at an anti-war rally in November 2001
Stop the Terror at Pine Ridge ; Article from the underground magazine Osawatomie , an organ of the Weather Underground Organization in solidarity with the accused AIM members, two years after the occupation of Wounded Knee
Group photograph at a 2013 "veterans' meeting" with AIM activists who participated in the 1973 Wounded Knee cast , including Dennis Banks (top row, 2nd from left)

The government promised AIM negotiators Russell Means and Leonard Crow Dog a commission of inquiry into the condition of the reservation and the behavior of Dick Wilson. In the end, however, these commitments were not implemented. Wilson remained in office, an attempt to remove him failed. Russell Means and Dennis Banks, who were ringleaders for long sentences, were acquitted in September 1973 for the US government's unlawful use of witnesses and evidence. Some of those involved were sentenced to prison terms.

A prominent non-Indian advocate and supporter of the AIM was the American film actor Marlon Brando . In 1973 he refused to accept the Oscar , which was to be awarded to him for the impersonation of the leading role in the film " The Godfather ". In his place, the Apachin Matters Littlefeather read Brando's declaration of solidarity with the Indians and his reason for not accepting the film award at the Academy Awards ceremony . Marlon Brando also later exercised active solidarity with the AIM. Among other things, because of their involvement in the Wounded Knee occupation, he helped police-persecuted AIM activists such as Dennis Banks to go into hiding or gave them shelter.

During the 1970s there were further confrontations between AIM members and the FBI on the Pine Ridge reservation, resulting in several deaths.

Leonard Peltier was charged with the murder of two police officers, also on the Pine Ridge reservation, in 1975, two years after the events in Wounded Knee, for which he was sentenced to two life imprisonment in 1977 in a controversial trial. Others involved in the shooting were acquitted, and Peltier is still imprisoned to this day. For the AIM and its supporters and sympathizers around the world, he is considered a political prisoner and a symbol of contemporary Indian resistance. Various campaigns for his release and legal attempts with the aim of a reinstatement or his pardon were unsuccessful.

The legal disputes, internal disputes about further procedures and the handling of state informers in the movement further weakened the AIM. In 1978, the AIM demonstrated (dt. With the US-wide organized "Longest Walk" "Longest March" ) against the planned by the US government abolition of land rights treaties. In 1998 there was another sensational AIM campaign, which at first seemed to show parallels to Wounded Knee 1973. This time the AIM took action against the tribal government of the San Carlos Reservation of Apaches in Arizona .

However, AIM's popularity had already peaked since Wounded Knee. Internally, conflicts increased. The AIM was only able to establish itself to a limited extent in the reserves. Indian educational work has remained one of the main focuses of the AIM groups, which are now more regionally organized. In 1993 AIM split into two associations. The AIM-Grand Governing Council , based in Minneapolis, and AIM-International Confederation of Autonomous Chapters in Denver.

Effects on public perception

The spectacular actions of the AIM in the 1970s brought the Indian movement to an international audience.

New social movements showed solidarity with the demands of the Indians. In these alternative movements of the western industrialized countries a new interest in religious and social aspects of Indian cultures grew.

These interests were soon marketed commercially by esoteric circles. In esotericism, various Indian customs were not only unified in an ethnologically incorrect sense, but also mixed with set pieces from other cultures, religions, astrology and other things and thus often extremely alienated. Some Indians also clung to the success of the AIM and were able to exploit this market niche for themselves and benefit from the esoteric market.

This neo-shamanism has faded the political demands of the AIM over the years. The lawyer and writer Vine Deloria Jr. , a Lakota-Oglala who is close to the Indian movement , argued sharply in some of his books against what he saw as the culturally imperialist appropriation of Indian culture by outside esotericists.

At American universities, using the example of Ward Churchill, the assumption of Indian concerns by self-proclaimed Indian activists as part of the " affirmative action " at American universities was criticized. Through involvement in an American Indian Movement of Colorado, which, however, does not belong to any major umbrella organization such as the nationwide AIM, he had assigned an Indian identity to various honorary memberships in Indian tribes, which in no way corresponded to an actual origin from the area of ​​the indigenous people.

Movie

Some events of the 1970s were reflected in cinematography in the 1992 feature film Halbblut .

See also

literature

  • Vine Deloria junior : God is red - An Indian provocation . New York 1973. German edition: Dianus-Trikont 1984, ISBN 3-88167-109-9 .
  • Claus Biegert : Without a constitution for two hundred years. USA: Indians in resistance . Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1983, ISBN 3-499-14056-X .
  • Steve Talbot: Indians in the USA - Oppression and Resistance . Dietz, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-320-01094-8 .
  • Ward Churchill , Jim Vander Wall: Agents of Repression. The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement . South End Press, Cambridge 1988 and 2002.
  • Paul Chaat Smith, Robert Allen Warrior: Like a Hurricane - The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee. The New York Press, New York 1996, ISBN 1-56584-316-9 .
  • Christian F. Fest : The red America. North America's Indians. Europa Verlag, Vienna 1976.
  • Various works by the postmodern Indian writer Gerald Vizenor , e.g. B .:
    • Fugitive Poses: Native American Indian Scenes of Absence and Presence. University of Nebraska Press, 1998.
    • Manifesto Manners: Postindian Warriors of Survivance. Wesleyan University Press, 1994.
    • The Everlasting Sky: Voices of the Anishinabe People (Native Voices). Minnesota Historical Society, 2001.
  • Joseph H. Trimbach: American Indian Mafia: An FBI Agent's True Story about Wounded Knee, Leonard Peltier, and the American Indian Movement (Aim). Outskirts Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9795855-0-0 .

Web links

Commons : American Indian Movement  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Marlyce Miner: The American Indian Movement. (PDF, 156 KiB, pp. 327–337)
  2. ↑ Indian Explains Actions, BIA Material Was Sent for Him to Return - Feb. 2, 1973, newspaper article copy on maquah.net
  3. ↑ Damage to BIA Third Heaviest Ever in US - Nov. 11, 1972, newspaper article copy on maquah.net
  4. ↑ Nov. 10, 1972 Justice Eyes Way to Charge Indians, newspaper article copy on maquah.net
  5. ↑ a b c History : AIM occupation of Wounded Knee ends
  6. ↑ Dave Curtin, Howard Pankratz, Arthur Kane: Questions stoke Ward Churchill's firebrand past. In: Denver Post. Retrieved December 14, 2011 .