Civil Rights

 Areas of change between the 1960s and 1980s:  Greater equality  Rights to vote  Education and self-government  Use of the legal system for protection  Restitution of lands and compensations  Self-determination

 Why did Native American movements emerge in the post-war period?  Population was 300,000 in 1900; 1960 it more than doubled to 800,000.  More respect for Native American customs, religion, and choices.  Evidence: Ending of prohibition.  Gave Native Americans choice rather than for “their own good”.  Many reservations chose to remain alcohol free after  Still battled image of “tamed savage”  Indians were the bad guys and cowboys were good.  Americans had short history and desired heroes  Influenced by western movies and stories.

 Indian Land Rights Association  Aimed to restore tribal lands and argued money was not sufficient compensation.  American Indian Movement (AIM)  National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)  National Indian Education Association (NIEA)  Was formed to fight for equal education for Native Americans in 1969.

 Termination  Policy carried out from 1953 to 1964 to assimilate Native Americans.  Ended recognition of Reservations as sovereign nations.  Eisenhower ended termination unless tribe requested it in  Led to formation of National Congress American Indian (NCAI)  Voting Rights  Indian Citizenship Act 1924  Made Native Americans full citizens and gave the voting rights.  Education- 90% of native children by 1965  Different cultural background ignored- high drop-outs

 Treaty Rights  1966 the Department of Justice restored the Treaty Rights of Medicine Creek to restore rights of gaming and fishing.  More treaty rights are provided. Becomes known as the Trail of Broken Treaties in  Social Issues  Poverty, unemployment, and health problems.  Unemployment 80%, life expectancy 44 years.  Land Rights  Reservation lands were insufficient  Relocation  , many Indians left reservations to discover how inferior Native American conditions were.  Physical Intimidation was NOT and issue like for blacks.

 AIM in 1972  AIM becomes more prominent in US because it contains the Bureau of Indian Affairs office  Confrontation at Wounded Knee of 1973  300 AIM members seized the town of Wounded Knee and held it for 71 days.  2 AIM members were killed and 13 were wounded  2 men from US marshal service were wounded.  The Native American movement in the States had less attention due to the Black Power movement and Vietnam War taking most of the public attention.

 American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978)  Right to believe religion, worship through ceremonials, access sites, and use sacred objects.  Indian Self-Determination Act (1975)  Attempt to give Native Americans more control of their reservations.  Trail of Broken Treaties 1972  List of 20 demands

 Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.  It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public (known as "public accommodations").

 Right to free speech, press, and assembly  Protection from unreasonable search and seizure  Right of criminal defendant to a speedy trial, to be advised of the charges, and to confront any adverse witnesses  Right to hire an attorney in a criminal case  Protection against self incrimination  Protection against cruel and unusual punishment, excessive bail, incarceration of more than one year and/or a fine in excess of $5,000 for any one offense  Protection from double jeopardy or ex post facto laws  Right to a jury trial for offenses punishable by imprisonment  Equal protection under the law and due process

 Sovereignty  Native American “government” is not government in the western sense of authority and control, but is more like leadership over a community.  May have certain privileges and control over fishing and gaming.

 Early dictatorships made it difficult for indigenous people to assert their rights.  Mexico  Revolutions between produced feeling that indigenous people were foundation of society.  Evidence- writings of Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera  Successive governments provided bilingual education  Indigenous still suffered economically  Gov. response has been to promote the development of indigenous communities & grant “self-determination”.  Guatemala  Rigoberta Menchu- Key figure for native rights  She won Nobel Peace Prize in 1992  Formed an indigenous political party

 Indian Act of 1876  Native women losing status after marriage to non-natives. Rights restricted. Education restricted.  Residential Schools  the assimilation process. Church run. Last one closed in First one opened soon after the Indian Act passed.  American Indian Movement (AIM)  becomes more active during the early 70s. The "Indians of All Tribes" become active during the late 60s. Most parts of the movement were radical.  James Gladstone  in 1958 he is appointed as a senator, starting the first steps towards Native Americans getting the right to vote in  Native Council of Canada  advocating for non-status Indians and the Métis (which later became the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples) in 1960.

 The Bill of Rights  became a law in 1960 including right to life, liberty, and personal security, equality before the law, freedom of religion, speech, assembly, association, and press, to legal counsel and a fair trial. Not part of the constitution.  White Paper on Indian Policy  (1969) by Pierre Elliot Trudeau, which would end the Indian Act but also eliminate treaty rights, by responding with the Red Paper and outrage. It was withdrawn in  Red Power  Native Alliance for Red Power issues demands for self- determination for reserves, to end taxation of Aboriginal people, the creation of an education system that will not try to destroy the way of life, end discrimination in prisons and by police, honoring treaty rights, end of resource to enrich private business and better economic development of Aboriginal communities, and the end of the divide and rule tactics practiced by the government in 1969.

 Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Constitution Act of 1982)  The Charter of Rights and Freedoms come into effects in  During the late 60s to the early 80s, Canadian Aboriginals used more radical tactics to gain rights.  (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.  (2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability. (Excludes affirmative action programs)

 Baumann, Michael, and Mark Stacey. Civil Rights and Social Movements in the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.