Social Movements and Self-Determination_HIST157_S22

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SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND SELF- DETERMINATION HIST 157 STAHL-KOVELL

REVIEW: THE POSTWAR ERA • After World War II, the progressive changes for Native peoples which characterized the 1930s and 1940s were eclipsed by the politics of the Cold War. • The Federal government began a new policy of termination which sought to divest governmental responsibility for tribal peoples. • Further, the federal relocation program sought to detribalize Native peoples by encouraging relocation to cities around the United States. • Like other disenfranchised peoples in the U.S. , the many American Indians who served in the Armed Forces and defense industry during the war demanded equality in a country where the status quo on reservations had changed little in the twentieth century.

THE 1960S • Even though the federal government halted its efforts to terminate tribes after 1958, not much had changed on reservations since the Merriam Report in 1928 — reservations still endured the highest unemployment rates, lowest education rates, and high levels of mortality related to otherwise treatable illnesses and conditions. • Native organizations that were founded in the aftermath of World War II began to organize conferences, lobby congress for reform, and form new ideas about solving problems for Indigenous peoples.

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THE INDIGENOUS INTELLIGENTSIA • Over the twentieth century, many Native scholars, writers, artists, activists, and community leaders shaped an Indigenous perspective on politics, Indian-white relations, and the legacy of colonialism. • One of those important thinkers wasVine Deloria, Jr. (top). His book Custer Died for your Sins, was a central text of the Red Power Movement and centered on explaining the historical relationship between Native people and settler colonial society to explain contemporary issues.

CULTURAL REVITALIZATION • Alongside the growing political movement for Indigenous rights and sovereignty, many Native community members sought to revitalize language and cultural traditions/lifeways. • Marie Potts (top) was a Maidu community leader and activist who helped revitalize the Bear Dance for her people among her many other achievements. • Vivian Hailstone (Hoopa) was an activist and Basket weaver who helped revitalize basket weaving as a cultural and spiritual practice in northern California.

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT • Native demands for reform and increased sovereignty came as the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum in the late 1950s and early 1960s. • The Civil Rights movement for Black Americans demanded equality under the law, a stop to white supremacist violence and terrorism, and an end to segregation, employment and housing discrimination. • The Civil Rights Movement sought to resolve the failures of the Reconstruction Era after the American Civil War — that white supremacy doomed Reconstruction to fail in fully and equally integrating Black citizens into American society.

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CIVIL RIGHTS V. SOVEREIGNTY? • Though Native Americans and Black Americans fought for many of the same central rights, their movements were historically and fundamentally unique. • The Native rights movement was centered on the shared historical colonized experience of Indigenous peoples in North America. Many Native peoples demanded sovereignty from the United States government and not inclusion within it. • The Civil Rights Movement sought inclusion within American society and not sovereignty from it. • Though the protest movements of the 1960s utilized similar strategies for reform and demanded some of the same rights, they were different.

PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON AND THE WAR ON POVERTY • Continued New Deal era philosophy that government had responsibility for the people — During the 1964 election, Johnson advocated a sweeping proposal for government action to promote general welfare. • Between 1964 and 1967, Johnson’s policy agenda was known as the “Great Society”— health services, welfare, employment, and various social programs — fueled by prosperity and desire to improve quality of life. • War on Poverty — beginning in 1964 — emphasis on skill-building and motivation as opposed to significant economic or social change. • This had a direct impact on Native people who could take advantage of new federal programs, apply for community development grants, and advocate with an amplified voice to a government more willing to listen.

RED POWER AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT (AIM) • Established in 1968 by Native activists in Minneapolis, many of them were second generation from the relocation program of the 1950s. • Demanded that the Federal government fulfil and honor its treaty obligations to tribal communities and more social support for Native peoples and families living outside reservations. • Believed that direct political action was most effective way to combat colonialism and make their voices heard. • Some early founders included Dennis Banks, Russel Means, and Clyde Bellecourt. • Protests directed to draw attention — Trail of Broken Treaties, BIA occupation, Wounded Knee, and the Longest Walk. They even participated in the Occupation of Alcatraz.

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THE AMERICAN INDIAN CIVIL RIGHTS ACT, 1968 • An act which requires tribal consent before states try to interfere with Indian affairs. • The Bill of Rights and the 14 th Amendment were extended to tribal members under this Act of congress.

RICHARD NIXON AND FEDERAL INDIAN POLICY • While President Nixon was elected in 1968 on a platform of ‘law and order’ conservatism and backing anti-communist militarism, he was much more progressive than later conservative presidents — considered the last ‘liberal’ president even though he was a Republican. (supported specific civil rights reform, including the Equal Rights Amendment for women; passed environmental protections, including establishing the Environmental Protection Agency; Supported increased tribal sovereignty by returning sacred land to Native peoples (Blue Lake to the Taos people) • Delivered new Federal Indian policy in 1968 which declared that the federal government would fight for increased sovereignty for Native peoples, increased support to honor treaty rights and Native peoples right to practice their spiritual traditions. • Policy known as “Self - determination without termination”

THE RETURN OF BLUE LAKE (BA WHYEA), 1970 • Blue Lake was a sacred site to the Taos people of New Mexico • U.S. government appropriated Blue Lake and the surrounding area and placed it under the control of the Forest Service. • Epitomized Native Americans’ struggle for religious freedom and protection of sacred land. • After 64 years of protest, appeal, and lobbying by Taos leaders and their supporters, Blue Lake was restored to the Pueblo in 1970.

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THE OCCUPATION OF ALCATRAZ ISLAND • Occupation protesting the U.S. government’s refusal to honor treaty rights and tribal land set aside supposedly “as long as the grass shall grow” which was taken during the allotment era. • Activists, students, and Native community members occupied the island and demanded that the site be turned into a museum, cultural center, or school for Native people — centered on law which allowed for Native peoples to petition for unused federal land. • Occupation was led by the Indians of AllTribes, an organization founded by the original occupiers, including their elected leader, Richard Oakes. • Occupation lasted 19 months — though the occupation ended without resolution, it served as an important symbol of the movement and led to future actions by the American Indian Movement and increased attention to Native issues.

THE TRAIL OF BROKEN TREATIES, 1972 • Started as a protest march from the Rosebud Reservation in SD to Washington D.C. • The march turned militant when the Federal government attempted to suppress the protesters. • More than 400 Native Americans took over the Bureau of Indian Affairs and symbolically renamed it the American Indian Embassy. • Demands included sovereignty, expansion of land base, and tribal control of Indian affairs. • Came to an end with the promise that the Federal government would review their concerns.

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ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT OF LEONARD PELTIER, THE UNITED STATES’ LONGEST -SERVING POLITICAL PRISONER • 1975 — Pine Ridge Reservation, SD • The tribal chair had made a secret deal to give uranium-rich land to the Federal government. • Firefight between FBI and AIM activists led to the death of two FBI agents and one AIM member. • AIM members, including Leonard Peltier, fled. • Peltier was arrested in association with the killing of the FBI agents in 1976 and convicted of both murders to serve two life sentences. • There was little evidence of Peltier’s actions and witnesses later confessed to being threatened and coerced to make testimonies against Peltier. His imprisonment was less about justice and more about sending a warning to militant AIM activists.

THE INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT (1978) • Prior to the act, at least 25% of Native children were in foster care, adopted, or in boarding schools against the interests of their families and tribal communities. • The purpose of the ICWA was/is to protect the best interests of the Native child and promote the security and stability of Native families and the tribes. • Limits state control over placing at-risk youth in non-Native homes and institutions.

THE INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT (1975)

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THE AMERICAN INDIAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT (1978) • protects the rights of Native Americans to exercise their traditional religions by ensuring access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites .

THE LONGEST WALK (1978) • AIM led spiritual walk to support tribal sovereignty and protest new anti-Indian reforms from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. • Thousands of Native people and allies entered Washington, D.C. in summer 1978. • Held rallies around the capitol for a week. • Congress eventually voted against the new measures to abolish certain treaty rights; however, President Carter refused to meet with Native representatives.