American Indian Movement

Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Red Cloud

www.matoska.com/catgraph/7130-079mag.jpg

Compiled by Shilo Hayes and Linda Wikeepa ( 2008) for Te Whiuwhiu o te Hau class

"This war did not spring up on our land, this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land without a price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things... This war has come from robbery - from the stealing of our land."

John Wooden Legs, Cheyenne

Historical Background ….• Belief is that first Native Americans arrived during last

ice-age, crossing a land bridge in Bering Sound from Siberia to Alaska approximately 20-30,000 years ago.

• Sandia (15000 BC), Clovis (12000 BC) and Folsom (8000 BC) are the oldest documented Indian cultures in North America.

• First Europeans to land in the America’s are thought to be Norse explorers Bjarni Herjolfsson in 986 and Leif Ericson (AD 1000).

• The name “Indian” was coined by Christopher Columbus, believing that the lands of America were part of the Indies in Asia.

• Pre-European American Indian’s lived in hunter/farmer communities where there were few rules and restrictions and a deep spiritual connection to the land and spirit ancestors existed. Decisions were made through consultation and consensus

• Thousands of indigenous languages spoken in North and South America before European arrival

Justification for the “New World”18 June 1452 – Pope Nicholas V issues

papal bull “Dum Diversas”15 January 1455 – Pope Nicholas V

issues papal bull “Romanus Pontifex”

14 May 1493 Pope Aleander VI issues papal bull “Intra Caetera”

These three edicts served as the foundation and justification for the Doctrine of Discovery and set in place a catastrophic chain of events for indigenous peoples – all in the name of empire expansion and religious righteousness ….

upload.wikimedia.org/.../9/94/Nicholas_V.jpg

www.uv.es/.../edificilanau/013alexandre.jpg

AIM Liberation StrategyThe fight to have the papal bulls removed ….

Some efforts undertaken

1992 Steve Newcombe (AIM of Colorado) traveled around Italy and Switzerland to publicize the papal bull issue

1993 Steve Newcombe and Birgil Kills Straight came to Aotearoa to meet with elders and publicize the papal bull issue

1993 Steve Newcombe travels to Australia for the Indigenous Intellectual Property conference where a resolution for the

revocation of the papal bulls is passedContinued effort from 1972-2008 has not yet resulted in the

revocation of the papal bulls which have left a legacy of destruction, destitution and mistrust in their wake …. Vatican’s response - “taken

from the context of the political climate at the time, the notion of international law and the geographical notions then extant, the bull Inter

Caetera, like other documents of that era, has become ipso facto obsolete and with no effect.” (grandmotherscouncil) However, to this date these

bulls have not been revoked ….

Currently 562 Federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaskan Natives in the

United States students.umf.maine.edu

Annihilation of the Taino people – forced gold mining, murder ….

Refused to baptise - Catholic law forbade the enslavement of Christians

Kidnapped native people from Cuba and Haiti to take to Spain

Liberation Strategy (AIM) – ban Columbus Day!!

What is there to celebrate ….????

Led to introduction of slave trade as few native people remained for enslaved labour

Viewed as a key founder of the “New World” – the impact & legacies of his voyages live on …

Peoples & cultures before his arrival called “pre Columbian”

John Locke (1632-1704)English Philosopher & Empiricist

Political ideology and governance model of United states established under colonisation based on Locke’s philosophy

www.arts.ualberta.ca

Philosophy underpins classical republicanism (Plato) and classical liberalism

Criticized for his hypocrisy – his major writings oppose slavery and aristocracy yet he was instrumental in the drafting of legislation that “… established a feudal aristocracy and gave a master absolute power over his slaves…” (wikipedia)

Saw newborns as a “tabula rasa” – blank slate and asserted the power of education, believing “education maketh the man” (wikipedia)

When two distinct world views collide ….

Leaders were chosen as leaders for their knowledge, experience and contribution.

Leadership is a position.

Leaders were chosen by the tribe and thus remained leaders as long as the tribe needed them.

Leaders seek and are employed or elected to a position. They serve for a specified term or for the duration of their employment.

Leaders had no power over others and could not command.

Leaders can create laws which are enforced by police and justice system.

Welfare of the tribe protected through maintaining culture and traditions.

Protection of individual rights. Protection of nation through economic growth and maintenance of private property.

Consensus was driving force behind decision-making.

Decisions arrived at by majority vote.

Spirituality inextricably intertwined in decision-making.

Rationality is the driving force behind decision-making.

Restitution-based justice which was focused on restoring relationships.

Retribution-based justice.

American Indian Leadership U.S. Governance

American Indian Policy Center, 2002

The introduction of formal schooling for Native American Children

Phoenix Indian School, June 1900

Timeline

1600 Jesuit

priests begin boarding

schools to Christianize

American Indian

children and remove them

from the negative

mindset of their parents

and communities

1869President Ulysses S

Grant formalised

the boarding school

system under the Peace Policy –

schools on Indian

reservations were to be turned over to Christian

control

1879 First

boarding school off a reservation founded by

Captain Richard Pratt –

attendance mandatory

1909 25 off

reservation boarding schools, 157 on

reservation boarding schools, 307 day schools

operating

1960’s Over

100,000 American

Indian children forced

into boarding schools by the 1960’s

1930’s Most off

reservation boarding schools closed –

students still attending on reservation

boarding schools

BibliographyChurchill, W. (1997). American Indian activism: Alcatraz to the longest walk. United States of America: University of Illinois.

Davis, J. (2001). American Indian boarding school experiences: recent studies from native perspectives. Organization of American Historians Magazine of History, 15, 0882-228X. Retrieved from http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/desg/davis.html

Keeper, B. (1989). The old ones told me: American Indian stories for children. United States of America: Binford & Mort.

Pearson Education Inc. (2007). American Indian quotations. Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://www.infoplease.com

Pearson Education Inc. (2008). American Indian myths. Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://www.factmonster.com

Wilson, W.A., & Yellow Bird, M. (2005). For indigenous eyes only: Beginning decolonization. Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://sarpress.sarweb.org/sarpress/images/pdf/darpress_27.pdf

Waterman Wittstock., L & Salinas, E.J. (n.d.). A brief history of the American Indian Movement. Retrieved on August 22, 2008, from http://www.aimovement.or/ggc/history.html

American Indian Movement. (1972). Our 20 point proposal. Retrieved August 30, 2008, from http://www.aimovement.org/ggc/trailofbrokentreaties.html

American Indian Movement of Colorado. (2004). Steve Newcomb-Colonization Day. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from http://www.coloradoaim.org

American Indian Movement. (1973). What is the American Indian Movement? Retrieved August 30, 2008, from http://www.aimovement.org

American Indian Policy Center. (2002). Traditional American Indian leadership. Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www.airpi.org/research/tdlead.html

American Indian Policy Center. (2005). Traditional American Indian leadership: a comparison with U.S. governance. Retrieved September 14, 2008, from http://www.airpi.org/research/tdsystems.html

American Indian Policy Centre. (2005). A comparison with U.S. governance. Retrieved September 13, 2008, from http://www.airpi.org/research/tdcompare.html

Minnesota Historical Society. (2008). American Indian Movement (AIM). Retrieved August 24, 2008, from http://www.mnhs.org/library/tips/history_topics/93aim.html

Jacobs, D.T. (2001). Native American education alternative worldview. Retrieved September 13, 2008, from http://www.teachingvirtues.net/Nauspeech.html

Morsette, A. (2007). Trauma in American Indian communities. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from http://www.giftfromwithin.org/html/amindian.html

Wikipedia. (2008). John Locke. Retrieved September 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke

Wikipedia. (2008). European colonization of the Americas. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_colonization_of_the_Americas

James, M.A., & Halsey, T. (1992). The role of women in Native American liberation struggles. Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://www.totse.com/en/politics/political_spew/indwomen.html

American Indian Movement of Colorado. (2004). Steve Newcomb-Colonization Day. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from http://www.coloradoaim.org

American Indian Movement. (1973). What is the American Indian Movement? Retrieved August 30, 2008, from http://www.aimovement.org

American Indian Policy Center. (2002). Traditional American Indian leadership. Retrieved September 9, 2008, from http://www.airpi.org/research/tdlead.html

American Indian Policy Center. (2005). Traditional American Indian leadership: a comparison with U.S. governance. Retrieved September 14, 2008, from http://www.airpi.org/research/tdsystems.html

American Indian Policy Centre. (2005). A comparison with U.S. governance. Retrieved September 13, 2008, from http://www.airpi.org/research/tdcompare.html

Minnesota Historical Society. (2008). American Indian Movement (AIM). Retrieved August 24, 2008, from http://www.mnhs.org/library/tips/history_topics/93aim.html

Jacobs, D.T. (2001). Native American education alternative worldview. Retrieved September 13, 2008, from http://www.teachingvirtues.net/Nauspeech.html

Morsette, A. (2007). Trauma in American Indian communities. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from http://www.giftfromwithin.org/html/amindian.html

Wikipedia. (2008). John Locke. Retrieved September 13, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke

Wikipedia. (2008). European colonization of the Americas. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_colonization_of_the_Americas

James, M.A., & Halsey, T. (1992). The role of women in Native American liberation struggles. Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://www.totse.com/en/politics/political_spew/indwomen.html