NATIVE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS

1. NATIVE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS -Suffered greatest drop in population -Eradication of many languages and cultural customs -Were the last group of people to earn the right to vote as citizens in the US 1925

2. 2000 CENSUS1.5% of U.S. population American Indian or Alaska Native alone 2.5 million (26% higher than 1990)(0.9%) In combination with other “races” 1.6 million (0.6%) Total = 4.1 million (1.5%) (110% higher than 1990)

3. Native Population Distribution 100 million acres = 4% of U.S., BUT…..

4. Modern Indian Lands = 4% of U.S.? 322 entities in Lower 48 = 56 million acres BUT much of rez land is allotted ( non-Indian ownership)

5. Pendulum of Federal Indian Policy Era Policy trend Global trend 1880s-1920s: Assimilation Imperialism/racism 1930s-1940s: Autonomy Economic reform 1950s-early 60s: Assimilation Cold War/individualism 1970s-early 90s: Autonomy Civil rights/liberation Late 1990s-2000s: Assimilation? Anti-multiculturalism

6. Indian Claims Commission, 1946 Settled (extinguished) tribal land claims until 1978 Tribe paid estmated “price per acre” of the land at time it was illegally taken ($1200 each to Potawatomi) ICC did not return land; some tribes turned down $$

7. TERMINATIONERA, 1950s-60s -Freed successful tribes from federal gov’t interventions -Ended 109 tribes( were not officially acknowledged tribes) -Groups subjected to state/local control -Lost backing as a tribe from the Federal Government -Federal services lost; private lands lost via tax foreclosure -Major cause stimulating Indian rights movement; 13 tribes restored Menominee terminated, 1961-73

8. Activism in 1950s-early 1960s Returning WWII, Korean war veterans fight for rights National Congress of American Indians, 1944 American Indian Chicago Conference, 1961; NIYC 1963 Iroquois protest at U.S.-Canada border for Jay Treaty

9. Relocation Act, 1956 Force Indians off reservation by offering job training opportunities in urban areas. Individuals made to sign agreements that they would not return to their reservations. Urban populations grew in LA, NY, Chicago, Mpls, Denver, Albuquerque, OKC, etc.

10. Effects of Urban Relocation, 1960s Loss of Native culture & languages, yet kept touch with rural reservation Increased contact among different tribes; growth of pan-Indian identity Common experience of urban poverty & struggle Exposure to civil rights activism, successes Chicago American Indian Center powwow

11. American Indian Movement, 1968 Founded at Stillwater Prison; inspired by Black Panthers Urban Indians monitored Minneapolis police brutality on Franklin Avenue Made contact with traditional chiefs on reservations; fused urban and rural activism

12. Alcatraz 1969 Indians of All Tribes occupies abandoned San Francisco Bay prison Cites law that unused federal property reverts to tribes First major national pan-Indian action

13. Trail of Broken Treaties 1972 -Caravan to Washington, DC for self-determination -Occupation of BIA headquarters before1972 election Nixon White House embarrassed by clashes

14. LONGEST WALK 1978 • 5 Month March SF-DC • Protest Violation of Treaties and removal of Native American from homelands • Last major protest act • Movement for rights headed to the court rooms

15. Courts vehicle of change • Most of the Demands of the Movement were not met • Much of their homeland were made in national Parks ,of turned into cities, or under private ownership • Through the courts Some territories were guaranteed or even returned to Native Groups • Native American Rights Fund- Organization which organized many of these legal battles • There are still major issues and problems of reservations and fights to protect native territories.