The American Indian Movement (AIM), founded in 1968, is a Native American organization in the United States. Its objective is to eradicate discrimination against Native Americans and gain acknowledgment of their treaty rights. AIM was established by several individuals such as Dennis Banks, Herb Powless, Clyde Belle court, Eddie Benton Banai, Russell Means, and others. Russell Means, an influential activist within AIM, gained fame for his advocacy on behalf of Native Americans in modern America.
The American Indian Movement (AIM) has been championing the rights of Indigenous Americans since its inception. AIM has actively participated in protests, revitalizing cultural practices, monitoring law enforcement actions, and facilitating employment initiatives in both urban and rural Native American communities across the United States. Additionally, AIM's endeavors extend beyond national boundaries as they provide support for indigenous causes globally.
...In 1972, AIM members seized control of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C., to contest the government's establishment of tribal councils on reservations as a means of exerting authority over Native American progress.
The use of indigenous caricatures as mascots for sports teams like the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Redskins has been actively opposed by AIM. These caricatures are protested during World Series and Super Bowl games involving these teams. AIM's National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media aims to educate about and dismantle stereotypes about American Indians perpetuated through American popular culture, which further oppresses native peoples. Currently, AIM's main mission is to protect indigenous people from police abuse. They use CB radios and police scanners to quickly reach locations of alleged crimes involving indigenous people before or at the same time as law enforcement.
In order t
prevent police brutality, AIM Patrols are still active in the streets of Minneapolis today. AIM is dedicated to improving conditions and addressing the needs of Native people. It has established various popular institutions such as the Heart of The Earth School, Little Earth Housing, International Indian Treaty Council, AIM Street Medics, American Indian Opportunities and Industrialization Center, KILI radio, and Indian Legal Rights Centers. The founding members of AIM, including Dennis Banks and Clyde Bellecourt, are mentioned in Peter Matthiessen's book, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. Banks and Bellecourt are also directors of the Peace Maker Center in Minneapolis and administrators at the U.
Eddie Benton-Benai, a school administrator for the Red School House in Minneapolis, has collaborated with Russell Means. Known for his career in acting, Means has been involved in both politics and the entertainment industry. In 2002, he ran campaigns for Governor of New Mexico and president of the Oglala Sioux nation.
Leonard Peltier, an AIM member, is currently imprisoned for his involvement in the killing of two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. Outside of the United States, AIM members persistently challenge government and corporate forces that oppress indigenous peoples. This was evident in Nicaragua during the mid-1980s conflict between Sandinistas and Indigenous groups. The Sandinistas, a socialist political party that governed Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, implemented democratic elections and a national constitution. However, Russell Means, one of AIM's founders, supported the Miskito Indians who accused the government of forcibly relocating approximately 8,500 individuals.
This opposition harmed AIM's backing from numerous US organizations that were against Contra operations and backed the Sandinista movement. Contra operations encompassed the recruitment
of rebellious Nicaraguan Indian groups, including certain Miskitos. AIM undertook further actions to voice their viewpoints, such as their occupation of the hamlet of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1973. They were accused of taking eleven hostages, resulting in a seventy-one-day standoff with federal agents.
Many AIM members who were accused were released during the subsequent trials. In 1973, attention was directed towards the federal and tribal police brutality that occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the standoff. The allegations of brutality implicated a tribal faction known as Guardians Of the Oglala Nation (GOONS), which had ties to the tribe's government. A significant event happened on June 26, 1975, when a gun battle erupted between AIM members and FBI agents resulting in the fatal shootings of Joseph Stuntz as well as two other FBI agents named Jack Coler and Ronald Williams.
Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement (AIM) member and Native American activist, was found guilty of the murders of FBI agents. Certain AIM activists contend that those who shot at the agents acted in self-defense, challenging the murder charge. In a different trial, two co-defendants of Peltier were cleared of charges due to their self-defense arguments. Opponents of Peltier emphasize that one agent was fatally shot at close range after already sustaining injuries.
There is a controversy surrounding the killing and conviction of Peltier, which has sparked a debate between activists and FBI agents. Judge Gerald Heaney from the US Court of Appeals recognized that Native Americans played a part in the shooting incident that resulted in the death of three FBI agents. However, he viewed the response to this
incident as excessive and creating fear among people. AIM (American Indian Movement) stated that they were asked by Wounded Knee residents in 1973 to protect their homes from official and vigilante attacks. They claim that the FBI surrounded them and held AIM members hostage. However, many residents of Wounded Knee strongly disagree with this argument and assert that it was actually the AIM occupation that caused destruction to their community and homes.
There were multiple trials involving AIM members after the confrontation, leading to courtroom brawls with U.S. Marshals. However, only a few AIM members were actually convicted for their participation in the standoff. AIM has faced significant controversy, mainly surrounding Leonard Peltier's 1977 trial, where he was convicted of murdering two FBI agents. Despite this, some activists question his responsibility for these killings.
Amnesty International and other global organizations have demanded the liberation of Peltier, stating that the killings occurred in a war-like scenario, requiring a reevaluation of Peltier's participation. Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash, a respected Mi'kmaq activist from Nova Scotia, Canada, was an influential member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) during the 1970s. Additionally, she played a vital role in TRIBES, an educational endeavor within the Teaching and Research in Bicultural Education School Project focused on enlightening young Indigenous individuals about their cultural legacy.
After moving to Boston, she encountered members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who were protesting the celebration of Mayflower II at Boston Harbor. Unfortunately, in 1976, she was found murdered with a gunshot wound to her head on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation during a time of significant social and political unrest. John Graham and Arlo Looking Cloud were charged with
her murder in 2003. Looking Cloud, a homeless Lakota man, and Graham, a Southern Tutchone Athabascan man from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Ultimately, Looking Cloud was convicted and sentenced to prison.
Graham's extradition from Canada is still pending for his trial. The truth behind Anna Mae's cause of death and murder remains unknown as there is insufficient evidence. In the years leading up to the charges, certain activists claimed that the FBI either had involvement in or concealed her murder. Anna Mae has now become an emblematic figure for the Indian rights movement. Folk singer Larry Long chronicled these anti-FBI accusations in a song called Anna Mae (which was re-released on Run For Freedom/Sweet Thunder, Flying Fish, 1997).
Singer-songwriter Buffy Saint-Marie wrote Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, which references both Peltier and Pictou-Aquash. To continue advocating their concerns, AIM provides a continuous live broadcast on their web radio. This broadcast includes "cutting edge American Indian news, including phone interviews, commentaries by elders, rare archival speeches, and music live from the studio in Minneapolis." (source)
Magruder's American government is an encyclopedia that focuses on the Native American Movement, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
