Race & Racism:1970 and Beyond

An Ethnicity Forgotten

Native Americans have probably been in the back of American’s minds in terms of racism in the past 39 years. Native Americans first stood up for racial injustice and racism directed towards them when they formed AIM, American Indian Movement, in 1972.  AIM became an nationally renowned organization and movement with their involvement in the Trail of Broken Treaties. Upon arriving in Washington, D.C. the hundreds of Native Americans had goals and agendas for their voices to be heard and their problems to be solved. Native Americans came to D.C. with a list of demands and problems, the 20 points. This list was comprised merely two weeks before the planned trip to D.C.; however, the problems that made up the list were not new and had been plaguing the Native American population for many years. Points on the list included, “the restoration of treaty activity between federal and tribal governments, the reinforcement and recognition of existing treaties, the creation of a commission to review treaty commitments and violations, mandatory relief against treaty-rights violations, judicial recognition of the Indian right to interpret treaties, and removal of any state control over Native-American lands and resources” (Trail of Broken Treaties). However, the treaties demonstrations were not the peaceful ones that had been planned for. Hundreds of Native Americans arrived in D.C. with no place to sleep, eat, bathe, and federal officials had little to no knowledge of the Native Americans coming to the D.C. area. Native Americans gathered that they’re best way to find a solution was the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in D.C.. After arriving at the Bureau, a confrontation erupted between the police and the Native Americans. Barricaded and prohibited from entering the bureau, the native Americans were left out on the streets.

Although there was no signs of blatant racism during the Treaties visit it was an undertone fueling the Native Americans to speak out. First of all the name, Trail of Broken Treaties is a play on the “Trail of Tears”; the physical removal of thousands of Cherokee Indians occupying land in the Western portion of the United States in 1831. The Native Americans used the name to remind people of everything the Native Americans have quietly suffered through. More importantly, the main reason for the Trail of Broken Treaties was to make the government aware of the discrimination and racism towards Native Americans. One of the demands on the list asks for “the removal of any state control over Native American lands and resources” (Trail of Broken Treaties). This demand was driven by the “energy tribes” which were prominent in the 1970s. The “energy tribes” lived on reservations with rich resources such as uranium, coal, natural gas, and oil (Spickard, 404). The BIA had been in the business of leasing these reservations filled with resources, which belonged to Native Americans, to Anglo-Americans. However, “the government failed to collect the payments, failed to collect them at the proper rates, failed to keep records, and failed to make the payments to the Indian owners” (Spickard, 404). Government officials in charge of these affairs would be much less likely to fall behind on the payments if the situation was reversed and the Anglo-Americans lived on the reservations. For these reason, Native Americans would want the power and control to sell and lease their own land to people of their own choosing. Government officials could have obtained the notion that the Native Americans were not capable of leasing and collecting money correctly. It can easily be perceived that Anglo- Americans see Native Americans as primitive and of a lesser intelligence because they do not live in a civilized society. However, Native Americans are just as capable and adequate as Anglo-Americans. However, since racial profiling and racism have become so prominent in the past 40 years it is much easier and somewhat more acceptable for Anglo-Americans to make these assumptions. 

Citation

American Indian Movement. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA. 13 May 2009 <http://www.banderasnews.com/0610/ent-cclegacy.htm>.