Red Power

INDIAN ISSUES

•POVERTY

•UNEMPLOYMENT

•HIGH INFANT MORTALITY

•HIGH ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE

•HIGH TUBERCULOSIS

•LOWER LIFE EXPECTENCY

•“CULTURAL GENOCIDE”

TERMINATON POLICY: 1950’S AND 1960’S

•A move to end government support for tribes•Dissolve the reservations, make all Indians assimilate into white society•Give every family a choice•A: Move to the cities. The government will get you and apartment and a job•B: The government will get you a plot of land on or near the old reservation so you can farm or ranch.

•Result: two tribes terminated and ceased to exist as a cultural group.

Indian relocation Act-1956

•Force Indians off reservation by offering job training opportunities in urban areas. •Individuals made to sign agreements that they would not return to their reservations.•Urban populations grew in LA, NY, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Albuquerque,etc.

Effects of Urban Relocation, 1960s

•Loss of Native culture & languages, yet kept touch with rural reservation•Increased contact among different tribes; growth of pan-Indian identity•Common experience of urban poverty & struggle•Exposure to civil rights activism, successes

Fighting Back: The Declaration of Indian Purpose-1961

Inspired by the Black Civil Rights movement, Indians call for the following:

-End the Termination Policy-New economic opportunities for

on the reservations-End war on Indian culture

SUCCESS: TERMINATON ENDS IN1968

•Aim was founded in 1968 in Minneapolis

•Dedicated to protecting Native Americans and keeping their culture alive.

•First goal: Deal with police brutality in Minneapolis

The American Indian Movement (A.I.M.)

•Alcatraz given to Indians in 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.

•19 month occupation

•More than 5,600 American Indians

•Wanted positive example: non-violence

Occupation of Alcatraz Island-1969

Trail of Broken Treaties-1972

•Caravan of Cars from Pine Ridge, SD. to Washington D.C. to bring attention to broken treaties and Indian issues•Indians occupy and vandalize Bureau of Indian Affairs building in D.C.

Takeover at Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee-1973•Taking a stand at the site of 1890 massacre on Pine Ridge

2 Indians killed; many injured; surrendered after 71 days

Indian victories

•1972-Indian Education Act. More money for vocational education for Indians.•1975-Indian Self Determination and Educational Assistance Act•Traditional tribal governments restored•Indians control their own education. Traditional language and customs now taught in schools.

•1970’s and 1980’s-many original treaty rights restored. Large cash and land settlements for broken treaties paid by the government.

Treaty rights backlash: 1980s

• Began in Northwest and Wisconsin

• Mostly over fishing rights

• Violence erupts in Puget Sound over Salmon fishery

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 1988

Pueblo Indian Casino, New Mexico

Challenges

•A University of Northern Colorado intramural basketball team•The idea was to bring attention to the racism of Indian college mascots•Team members included Native Americans, whites, and latinos•The team sold enough t-shirts on the internet to create a $100,000 scholarship fund for Native American students

The Fighting Whities-2003