|
|
 |
 Co-presented by:  |
|
|
August 1970 - California governor Ronald Reagan announces a $50,000 planning grant to the Bay Area Native American Council for programs addressing the needs of urban Indians in the San Francisco Bay Area. November 1970 - American Indian Movement (AIM) paints Plymouth Rock red and occupies the Mayflower replica on Thanksgiving Day. 1971 - After an 11-year effort, Alaska Native Claims Movement negotiates a large land claims settlement giving Alaska Natives 44 million acres of land and $962.5 million. This act becomes a model for struggling indigenous movements around the world. June 11, 1971 - The 15 remaining Alcatraz occupiers are escorted off the island by U.S. marshals and FBI agents, officially ending the 19-month, nine-day long occupation. July 4, 1971 - AIM stages a Fourth of July counter-celebration by occupying the Mount Rushmore National Monument. September 21, 1972 - Richard Oakes dies of a gunshot wound in northern California at the age of 30. His killer, Michael Morgan, claims that Oakes had ambushed him. Although there is no evidence of a struggle, Morgan's attorneys argue self-defense before a jury of non-Native citizens. First Morgan is charged with murder then the charge is changed to involuntary manslaughter. In the end Morgan is freed, outraging the Indian community. November 1972 - AIM organizes The Trail of Broken Treaties; more than 2,000 Indians go to Washington on the eve of the presidential election to present Nixon with a 20-point program. They occupy the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) headquarters for seven days, demanding that the U.S. recognize tribal self-determination. February 27 - May 8, 1973 - Wounded Knee II - When members of the Lakota Sioux tribe on the Pine Ridge reservation attempt to have Dick Wilson, the BIA-backed head of the tribal administration, impeached, they receive resistance from the federal government, which wants to keep him in power. Led by leader Russell Means, AIM seizes control of Wounded Knee (site of the 1890 massacre) and the perimeter is placed under siege for 71 days. More than 500,000 rounds of ammunition are fired into AIM's bunkers. Two Indians and one FBI agent are killed. Nearly 1,200 people are arrested. The end of the standoff is negotiated on May 7 with the federal government's promise that Native American grievances will be addressed. Native Americans attend one meeting with White House representatives and are promised congressional review of their concerns and a second meeting, but no further meetings occur. 1973-1976 - The three years following Wounded Knee II are referred to by Native Americans as the "Reign of Terror," as the FBI carries out intensive local surveillance, makes repeated arrests, harasses local tribal members and institutes legal proceedings against AIM leaders and supporters on the Pine Ridge reservation. The Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs), affiliated with BIA-backed Dick Wilson, control the reservation with an iron fist and often shoot first, asking questions later. The FBI does not attempt to restrain them. During the period between 1973 and 1976, 61 homicides among AIM supporters are reported; many are never investigated. June 26, 1975 - Two FBI agents enter Jumping Bull Ranch where a large number of AIM supporters, invited there for protection by the Jumping Bull elders, camp. A shootout ensues and the two FBI agents are killed. One of the AIM defenders, Leonard Peltier, is later captured in Canada, extradited and convicted for murder by an all-white jury. Activists continue to campaign for his exoneration and release while Peltier serves two consecutive life terms in federal prison. 1975 - The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act gives Native Americans more control in administering federal programs and services to their communities. 1977 - AIM sponsors talks resulting in the 1977 International Treaty Conference with the U.N. in Geneva, Switzerland. 1977-78 - U.S. Congress passes approximately 50 laws that help redefine tribal issues regarding water rights, fishing rights and land acquisition. Some land is returned to the tribes, and issues of self-governance are further clarified. February 11 to July 1978 - Indian participants embark on the "Longest Walk" from Alcatraz Island to Washington, D.C. to symbolize the forced removal of Indians from their homelands and to draw attention to continuing problems. The action challenges the backlash movement against Indian treaty rights. They present a manifesto to the Carter administration. 1980 - The Supreme Court rules that the U.S. owes the Lakota Sioux interest from an 1877 payment as compensation for taking the Black Hills, originally part of Indian lands. The Lakota reject the payment, hoping to reclaim the Black Hills from the U.S. 1985 - An AIM security camp is established on Navajo land near Big Mountain, Arizona, to support the traditional Dine elders in their resistance to forced relocation. 1989 - The National Museum of the American Indian Act orders the Smithsonian Institute to return Native American remains to American Indian tribes.
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Reclaiming Native Land | Alcatraz | Indian Activism | Talkback | The Filmmakers Resources | For Educators | Broadcast | ITVS |
||||||||||||||||||
 © 2002 ITVS. All rights reserved. |
||||||||||||||||||
