Red Power! Native American Activism during the Civil Rights Era http://americanindiantah.com/lesson_plans/lp_red_power.html

Introduction: The Red Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s consisted of organized Indian resistance to almost 200 years of federal policies that attempted to: destroy Indian culture and spirituality assimilate Indians into the non-Indian political and economic structure dismantle Indian sovereignty.

Introduction, cont. As we will see, the influence and successes of the Red Power movement is apparent in the continuing activism of American Indians throughout the United States. Indian Activist Russell Means

Group Discussion 1 Group One - What is activism? How is it different or the same as protest? How would you describe someone who is an activist? A protester? Group Two - What is justice? Does every American have the right to seek justice? If so, how? If not, why not? Group Three - Describe an issue about which you are passionate. Would be willing to become politically active about this issue? To what lengths would you go with your activism?

Group Discussion 1 Do you know of any constitutional guarantees for activism? How and why are these guarantees essential to activism? What is protest? How do the actions of activists and protesters compare and contrast? When does activism become illegal?

Discussion: Can any of you think about any examples of Indian activism that have occurred in the last 60 years? If you don't know any examples, or if you only know a very few, why do you think there is such a gap in your knowledge? Why do you think the topic has been ignored by our educational system?

Indian Activism

Indian Activism Indian activism has been a prominent feature of American history since the Europeans first landed in North America. Indians have since been activists as they attempted to keep the white settlers from taking their land and destroying their exercise of cultural, spiritual, political, and economic traditions. Most of these efforts were on behalf of individual Indian nations, or small confederations of Indian nations, and, thus, did not consist of a united effort on behalf of many Indian nations.

Indian Activism In the 20th century that Indian activism took place on a national level. During the 1940s and '50s, American Indian activism primarily stressed negotiation, compromise, and a preference for legal remedies. By the 1960s and 70s the interest in activism, rejection of white privilege, and the search for freedom within communities coincided with the early origins of the Civil Rights Movement which was erupting across the southern United States.

Indian Activism These three legal approaches to activism were primarily directed by the oldest national Indian organization - the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). The NCAI, founded in 1944, restricted its membership to persons of "Indian ancestry" who were members of any "Indian tribe, band or community of Indians."

Indian Activism 1961 the NCAI, several hundred Indians met in Chicago to discuss how they could influence the incoming administration of President John F. Kennedy. The participants issued a statement that prayed for a new federal policy that would fulfill long standing federal commitments to Indians, but NCAI did not assert any Indian rights or raise the real concerns of Indians on the reservation. This didn’t sit well with the younger generation.

Indian Activism Young Indian people who attended the conference created the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC). Its primary goal was to resurrect a sense of national pride among young Indian people. They were to look back to their own great cultural traditions and make decisions about their lives based upon such traditions.

Indian Activism While NIYC was growing, so was a new generation of Indians who were largely young and college-educated, and were proud of their Indian heritage, unwilling to accept white paternalism, and contemptuous of white society. They became Red Power activists as well.

Indian Activism What do you think is happening here? Can you predict when these were taken?

Indian Activism Today, you are going to look at two different examples of activism by these young native Americans during the 1960s and 70s and create short presentations (7 – 10 slides) to share with your classmates. The Native American takeover of Alcatraz Pine Ridge AIM 1973