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     INDIGENOUS/NATIVE/FIRST NATIONS MOVEMENTS                                                    Standing Rock Sioux protest  

              Standing Rock Sioux and allies protest Dakota Access oil pipeline  November, 2016.

Indigenous activism in the Americas goes back to that day in 1492 when a confused Italian sailing for imperial Spain bumped into what he thought was India. Waves of resistance in many forms have continued for 500 years, despite devastating acts of genocidal war and devastating disease. The 1960s and 70s saw this resistance take social movement form through groups like the American Indian Movement (AIM) and dozens of other tribal and pan-tribal groups. Those activists, working with traditional tribal elders, sparked a cultural and political renewal that has continued to develop over the last several decades despite the ongoing poverty and discrimination faced by most Native peoples. Movements like Idle No More in Canada and the US, and the transnational movement to stop new oil pipelines crossing Native lands, are the latest in this half millennium of resistance.

The Art of Protest chapter on the American Indian Movement focuses on the ways in which indigenous activists sought to work some truth into documentary and Hollywood fiction films about their resistance. Many other kinds of artistic/cultural expression, especially dance in the form at the revived and extended powwow circuit have played a more direct, tribal role.

Featured Film:

Warrior Women Documentary of some women warriors from AIM who are still fighting the good fight for Indigenous sovereignty and land rights.

Historical and Contemporary Resource Sites  

Books and Articles

  • Burnette, Robert, and John Koster, The Road to Wounded Knee. New York: Bantam Books, 1974. Influential contemporary account of Indian activism in the 1960s and early 1970s.
  • Crow Dog, Mary, as told to Richard Erdoes. Lakota Woman. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990. (Auto)Biography of one of the women at the center of the Wounded Knee occupation and other AIM actions.
  • Davis, Julie L. Survival Schools: The American Indian Movement and Community Education in the Twin Cities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013. Documents the less dramatic side of AIM and the significant impact they had on the lives of Native youth.
  • Duarte, Maria Elena, and Morgan VigilHayes. "#Indigenous: A Technical and Decolonial Analysis of Activist Uses of Hashtags Across Social Movements." Media Tropes 7.1 (2017).
  • Johnson, Troy. The Occupation of Alcatraz Island. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996. Most comprehensive treatment of this key event in the evolution of Indian resistance.
  • Johnson, Troy, Joane Nagel, and Duane Champagne, eds. American Indian Activism: Alcatraz to the Longest Walk. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1997. Collection of articles by many of the key scholars on Indian activism before, during, and after the Red Power era.
  • Josephy, Alvin, et al. eds. Red Power: The American Indians’ Fight for Freedom, 2nd ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. Reprint of key collection of essays by and about Indian activists in the Red Power era.
  • Kilpatrick, Jacquelyn. Celluloid Indians: Native Americans and Film. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. Fine general study of Indians in mainstream and anthropological films.
  • Matthiessen, Peter. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. New York: Viking Press, 1983. Documents the evolution of AIM and the FBI attacks on them.
  • Means, Russell, with Marvin J. Wolf. Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. Autobiography of the “actorvist” who played a key role in AIM during its heyday and then moved on to Hollywood, while continuing to be an activist.
  • Nagel, Joanne. American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. History that places the Red Power movement into the wider context of post–World War II Indian cultural transformations.
  • Peltier. Leonard. Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. AIM activist Peltier, still in prison for murder, has continued to be a voice for Indian resistance.
  • Singer, Beverly R. Wiping the War Paint Off the Lens: Native American Film and Video. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001. Traces the self-representation of Indians in film since the 1970s, and discusses how this differs from Hollywooden Indians.
  • Voices from Wounded Knee, 1973: In the Words of the Participants. Roosevelt, NY: Akwesasne Notes, 1974. Firsthand accounts by Indian activists at and around the Wounded Knee occupation.
  • Warrior, Robert, and Paul Chaat Smith. Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee. New York: New Press, 1996. Most comprehensive and balanced study of AIM.

Multimedia

  • Alcatraz Is Not An Island. Directed by James M. Fortier. Independent Television Service (ITVS) and KQED, 2001. An award-winning one-hour public television documentary on the Indian occupation of Alcatraz in 1969.
  • Incident at Oglala. Directed by Michael Apted. Artisan Entertainment, 1992. Documentary on AIM and the events surrounding the murders that led to Leonard Peltier’s imprisonment.
  • Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee. Directed by Frank Pierson. Turner Films, 1994. Made for TV with video release. Based on Mary Crow Dog’s autobiography, this is the most substantial treatment of AIM in a fiction film.
  • Powwow Highway. Directed by Joanelle Nadine Romero and Jonathan Wacks. Handmade Films/Warner Bros., 1986. Set in the context of the AIM era, the film includes some scenes depicting the struggles within Indian communities for political control.
  • The Spirit of Crazy Horse. Directed by Milo Yellow Hair. PBS, 1990. One-hour documentary exploring the historical context of, and the mixed reactions to, AIM on the Pine Ridge reservation.
  • Thunderheart. Directed by Michael Apted. Tristar Pictures, 1992. Highly improbable story of a half-Indian FBI agent who investigates and then sides with activists modeled on AIM.
  • Warrior: Life of Leonard Peltier. Directed by Suzie Baer. Cinnamon Productions, 1992. Sympathetic portrait of Peltier as framed by the government to help stop AIM.
  • Warrior Women

Tribal Websites