Primary Sources
The American Indian Movement, 1968-1978
This primary source set uses documents, photographs, videos, and news stories to tell the story of the first decade of the American Indian Movement.
https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-american-indian-movement-1968-1978
Notable Figures: Mary Jane Wilson, Dennis Banks, Vernon Bellecourt, Clyde Bellecourt, George Mitchell, etc.
Useful Links:
Native American Activism: 1960s to Present
Overview of Native American activism since the late 1960s, including protests at Mt. Rushmore, Alcatraz, Standing Rock, and more.
https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/native-american-activism-1960s-to-present/
This primary source set uses documents, photographs, videos, and news stories to tell the story of the first decade of the American Indian Movement.
https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-american-indian-movement-1968-1978
Notable Figures: Mary Jane Wilson, Dennis Banks, Vernon Bellecourt, Clyde Bellecourt, George Mitchell, etc.
Useful Links:
Native American Activism: 1960s to Present
Overview of Native American activism since the late 1960s, including protests at Mt. Rushmore, Alcatraz, Standing Rock, and more.
https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/native-american-activism-1960s-to-present/
Indian Occupation of Alcatraz
Useful Links:
Indian Occupation of Alcatraz
This report aired on NBC News in December 1970, approximately one year after the occupation of Alcatraz began.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/indian-occupation-of-alcatraz
Why A Group Of Native American Activists Laid Claim To Alcatraz Island 50 Years Ago
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/28/783622557/why-a-group-of-native-american-activists-laid-claim-to-alcatraz-island-50-years-
A Look Back at the Occupation of Alcatraz, 51 Years Later
https://www.kqed.org/news/11788540/a-look-back-at-the-occupation-of-alcatraz-50-years-later
Nov. 20, 1969: Alcatraz Occupation
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/alcatraz-occupation/
American Indian Movement – comprehensive guide (newspaper articles, pictures, discussion of the different movements such as the occupation of Alcatraz and the Trail of Broken treaties)
https://digilab.libs.uga.edu/exhibits/exhibits/show/civil-rights-digital-history-p/american-indian-movement
Primary Sources:
Proclamation: To the Great White Father (November, 1969)
The announcement on November 20, 1969 from 89 American Indians – mostly students from colleges and universities – that they were taking over Alcatraz Island, set in motion what would become the longest occupation of a federal facility by Native Americans to date. This report aired a year later on NBC News, in December 1970, six months before the occupation ended.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/proclamation-to-the-great-white-father-november-1969
Indian Occupation of Alcatraz
This report aired on NBC News in December 1970, approximately one year after the occupation of Alcatraz began.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/indian-occupation-of-alcatraz
Why A Group Of Native American Activists Laid Claim To Alcatraz Island 50 Years Ago
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/28/783622557/why-a-group-of-native-american-activists-laid-claim-to-alcatraz-island-50-years-
A Look Back at the Occupation of Alcatraz, 51 Years Later
https://www.kqed.org/news/11788540/a-look-back-at-the-occupation-of-alcatraz-50-years-later
Nov. 20, 1969: Alcatraz Occupation
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/alcatraz-occupation/
American Indian Movement – comprehensive guide (newspaper articles, pictures, discussion of the different movements such as the occupation of Alcatraz and the Trail of Broken treaties)
https://digilab.libs.uga.edu/exhibits/exhibits/show/civil-rights-digital-history-p/american-indian-movement
Primary Sources:
Proclamation: To the Great White Father (November, 1969)
The announcement on November 20, 1969 from 89 American Indians – mostly students from colleges and universities – that they were taking over Alcatraz Island, set in motion what would become the longest occupation of a federal facility by Native Americans to date. This report aired a year later on NBC News, in December 1970, six months before the occupation ended.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/texts/proclamation-to-the-great-white-father-november-1969
A good day to die: A film about Dennis Banks & The American Indian Movement (trailer)
The Trail of Broken Treaties
Useful Links:
The Trail of Broken Treaties: A March on Washington, DC 1972 https://muscarelle.wm.edu/rising/broken-treaties/ Nov. 3, 1972: Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan Occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/broken-treaties-caravan Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties: An Indian Declaration of Independence By: Vine Deloria Jr. https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Trail-Broken-Treaties-Independence/dp/0292707541 The week hundreds of Native Americans took over D.C.’s Bureau of Indian Affairs The 1972 occupation, born out of frustration with the government’s ‘Trail of Broken Treaties,’ lasted six days https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/24/native-americans-occupied-bureau-indian-afffairs-nixon/ Primary Sources: Preamble to the 20 Point Position Paper https://digilab.libs.uga.edu/exhibits/exhibits/show/civil-rights-digital-history-p/item/429 |
Wounded Knee Occupation
American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978
American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 as Amended in 1994 (1994)
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1053/american-indian-religious-freedom-act-of-1978-as-amended-in-1994
Native Perspectives on the 40th Anniversary of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Forty years ago, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act finally finally extended that right to the country’s Native citizens. Here Native Americans who observe traditional ways talk about religious freedom.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2018/11/30/native-perspectives-american-indian-religious-freedom-act/
1978: American Indian freedom of religion legalized
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/545.html
"We Also Have A Religion" The American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the Religious Freedom Project of the Native American Rights Fund
https://www.narf.org/nill/documents/nlr/nlr5-1.pdf
Summary of the American Indian religious Freedom Act
https://coast.noaa.gov/data/Documents/OceanLawSearch/Summary%20of%20Law%20-%20American%20Indian%20Religious%20Freedom%20Act.pdf
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1053/american-indian-religious-freedom-act-of-1978-as-amended-in-1994
Native Perspectives on the 40th Anniversary of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Forty years ago, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act finally finally extended that right to the country’s Native citizens. Here Native Americans who observe traditional ways talk about religious freedom.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2018/11/30/native-perspectives-american-indian-religious-freedom-act/
1978: American Indian freedom of religion legalized
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/545.html
"We Also Have A Religion" The American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the Religious Freedom Project of the Native American Rights Fund
https://www.narf.org/nill/documents/nlr/nlr5-1.pdf
Summary of the American Indian religious Freedom Act
https://coast.noaa.gov/data/Documents/OceanLawSearch/Summary%20of%20Law%20-%20American%20Indian%20Religious%20Freedom%20Act.pdf