What is the American-Indian Movement?

1,680 Views Updated: 24 Aug 2017
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What is the American-Indian Movement?

Before the settlement of the white people, the American lands were the home of an indigenous tribe. These folks are known as the Red Indian or native Indians. The tribe still lives in the USA in small numbers carrying forward their old traditions and cultures.  

The Indian-American movement is centered around them for the preservation and sustenance of this tribe as the community holds a minority in the country. Thus, the core reason as to why Indian-American Movement was started was for the upliftment of the native folks.

American Indian Movement History 

The American Indian Movement(AIM) was founded in the year 1986, and it is solely dedicated to the Native American civil rights movement. The group functions primarily with the objective to gain sovereignty of the Native American lands and people, it helps in the preservation of the traditions and culture of the native people and also looks after the enforcement of all treaties with the United States.

The organization has witnessed tremendous changes in all these years and the time span goes to somewhat 500 years as earlier the group existed without a name. The leaders that make up this organization and all its members always cherish those great people who gave their everything for the benefit of their people.

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Before the American Indian Movement( AIM) was formed, the issues that involved USA Indian and Non-Indian relations were negligible. In the 1950s, the US government had started a policy plan which was designed to terminate all their responsibilities towards Native Americans pursuant to extant treaties and agreements. This resulted in the relocation of thousands of Native Indians to urban areas and the end of federal duties towards two major tribes the Menominee of Wisconsin and the Klamath of Oregon. When the Native Americans left their reservations and made the urban localities their home, they started facing a lot of hate crime. After the world war, a lot of Indian who fought in the war were reluctant to go back to the old lifestyle and more keen to intermingle. As the merging of the natives with others kept growing, they started to lose touch with their old traditions, and somewhere down the line, the ethnic identity started fading away. 

This was when the Native Americans became more focused on maintaining their separate identity and hence the militant Native American groups were formed. The most radical among these groups were American Indian Movement(AIM)

American Indian Movement Mission 

The Indian leaders associated with this movement are NeeGawNwayWeeDun and Clyde H. Bellecourt. The policies that the group makes for the betterment of Indian people are always done under the consultation of spiritual leaders and elders. American Indian Movement, also known as AIM has made steady progress in all these years and has brought vast changes in the lives of Native Indians.

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The movement has changed policy making into programs and organizations that work to serve Indian people in several communities. The European settlement in the Western Hemisphere was an obvious end to the survival of the native people. American Indian Movement though managed to change that completely, and that is the true success of its efforts. The strength of the organization is its spiritual leaders, with the help of their guidance, the group has managed to put forth the claims of the Native nation and do complete justice to them.

The core foundation of native American sprouts from their spiritual values and beliefs. The main purpose of this organization apart from helping Native Americans get their rights and claim to their land was to restore back the old values. They brought a renewal of spirituality which would give the natives strength and help them reverse the disastrous policies of the United States, Canada, and other colonialist governments of Central and South America.  

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