Native Americans in the 60s' & 70s'

Questions

1). Where was AIM (American Indian Movement) founded?

2). What was the reason AIM took Alcatraz?

3). What did the U.S. rename the land they took during the Battle of Wounded Knee?

4). What was the name of the tribe at the battle of wounded knee

Native Americans in the 60s' & 70s'

The Black Hills

1896 On February 22, 1897, President Grover Cleveland established the Black Hills Forest Reserve. This land was protected against fires, wasteful lumbering practices, and timber fraud. In 1905, the Black Hills Forest Reserve was transferred to the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1907, it was renamed the Black Hills National Forest.

Battle of Wounded Knee

The US Supreme Court found that the Congressional Act of 1877 constituted "a taking of tribal property which had been set aside by the treaty of Fort Laramie for the Sioux's exclusive occupation." The $105 million award was upheld. The Sioux then turned down the money, claimed that "The Black Hills are not for sale." Instead, they demanded that the US government return the Black Hills and pay the money as compensation for the billions of dollars in wealth that had been extracted and the damages down while whites illegally occupied the Hills.

On December 29, 1890, Sioux Chief Big Foot met four cavalry units which were under orders to capture him. The Sioux raised a white flag to signal their promise not to fight. They were taken to an army camp at Wounded Knee Creek where they were ordered to give up their weapons. The medicine man, Yellow Bird, started the Ghost Dance, urging his tribesmen to join him by chanting in Sioux, "The bullets will not go toward you." When one young Indian refused to give up his rifle, confusion ensued during which several braves pulled rifles from their blankets, and the soldiers opened fire. At least 150 Indian men, women, and children were left dead; as many as 300 may have perished when the wounded died soon thereafter. The Seventh Calvary, Custer's avenged regiment, received 23 Congressional medals of honor for their involvement at Wounded Knee.

Black Hills Lawsuit

Occupation

The American Indian Movement (AIM) began the first organized extralegal battle for the Black Hills. AIM occupied Wounded Knee Cemetery on Pine Ridge Reservation to alert the world about the vested economic interest the U.S. government held in the Hills and the extent to which that interest governed U.S. governmental policy and federal court cases regarding their land.

1918 The Lakota Sioux hired an attorney who sought the return of the Black Hills under the Treaty of 1868. Thus began the longest lawsuit in American history.

1923 The Lakota Sioux filed suit with the US Court of Claims demanding compensation for the loss of the Black Hills. It was not until 1942 that the Court finally dismissed the claim.

1946 The Sioux filed suit with the newly-created Indian Claims Commission. In 1954, the Commission dismissed the case on the grounds that it had already been denied.

Battle of Wounded Knee

The Battle at Wounded Knee occurred after U.S. Army was sent to Pine Ridge Reservation to quell Sioux participation in the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance originated with Wovoka of the Paiutes who reported that God told him in a dream that if Indians danced for five days, they could meet their departed ancestors. After their reunion, the dead relatives would come back to life and help to save the Sioux from the evils of white domination. To the Indians, the Ghost Dance offered hope and a chance for survival; to the U.S. Army, the dance symbolized resistance and the possibility of Indian rebellion.

Statistics

American Indians have the highest dropout rate of 7%

In 08-09 40% did not meet school Requirments in yearly Progress

31% marijuana rate vs 22% rate for whites 9th - 12 grade

08 graduatio rate 82% 18 - 24 years of age, 69% 9th - 12th grade

Andrew, Micheal, Damian, Alex

Poverty

Throughout the 1960s the Native Americans were the nations poorest minority group.

The death rates among Native Americans Exceeded that of the total U.S. Population by a third.

Deaths Caused by pneumonia, hepatitis, dysentery, strep throat, diabetes, tuberculosis, alcoholism, suicide, & homicide were 2 to 60 times higher than the entire U.S. Population.

Alcatraz

Research Citations

They took Alcatraz to show the similar conditions to native american reservations. The Conditions on Native American Reservations were not unlike those found in underdeveloped Countries in Latin America, Africa, & Asia.

www.digtalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3348

niea.org/research/statistics.aspx

enotes.com

http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/sed741/lakota.html

Alcatraz

In November 1969, some 200 Native Americans seized the abandoned federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island

Fun fact of being native american

If you are 1/4 of being Native American decent then you can get a free college education or very close to nothing

Native American Movement

The Native American Movement

President Andrew Jackson said to observe toward the Indian tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our people.” Yet, only fourteen months later, Jackson prompted Congress to pass the Removal Act, a bill that forced Native Americans to leave the United States and settle in the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

The Native American Movement or AIM is a native american advocacy group in the U.S. founded in July 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Goals of American indian movement

. Passage of legislation granting better education

. Giving reservations resources to attract tourism