Native American rights movements have a long history beginning from initial European contact through today. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Native Americans increasingly demanded equitable treatment and respect for treaty rights through legal challenges and organizations. The 1960s saw a resurgence of activism influenced by the civil rights movement, including fish-ins and the 18-month occupation of Alcatraz Island. Sovereignty became a main focus in the 1970s, led by groups like the American Indian Movement through protests and standoffs that drew national attention to their causes. Modern Native American activism continues to advocate for land and treaty rights while also addressing environmental, cultural, and economic issues.

1. Native American Rights Movement

2. Beginnings

Beginning from the Native American's first
contact with Europeans, they have fought
and struggled against land encroachment
and forced acculturation. In the 19th
and 20th
centuries, Native Americans increasingly
demanded equitable treatment by the U.S.
Government, in addition to respect for the
rights and lands that are guaranteed to
them by treaties.

Once Native Americans abandoned
military resistance, they sometimes utilized
the U.S. Court system to win rights. In
1831, the Cherokee sued Georgia to
prevent the state from forcing them to
evacuate their homeland, but they did not
succeed.

Ponca chief Standing Bear won a case that
proved Native Americans were deemed
persons within the meaning of Constitution
and could sue for a writ of habeas corpus.
Also, in the 20th
century, tribes sued the
federal government thousands of times
over land claims.

3. Gertrude Bonnin

Native Americans also formed pan-Indian
organizations that protested the negative
aspects of the Federal Indian policy. The
Society of American Indians, one of the
first such organizations, Famous Sioux
activist Gertrude Bonnin served as
secretary in 1916. She later traveled to
Indian reservations to gain support for the
passage of the Indian Citizenship act.

4. 1960s

Throughout the 1960s, Native American
activism continued to show dramatic
increases as younger American Indians,
encouraged by the civil rights movement,
tried to awaken white America to the
injustices that were inflicted upon the
modern Native Americans. In one major
event, Native American youth helped to
stage a series of fish-ins in the Pacific
Northwest that drew pronounced media
attention toward violations of treaty-granted
rights fish

Another dramatic event of the decade was
the 18-month occupation of Alcatraz
islands by the Indians of All Tribes.
Alcatraz made Indian causes highly visible
for the next several years and contributed
to the era of red power. Red power is
another term for the modern Native
American rights movement.

5. 1970s

In the 1970s, sovereignty became the chief
rallying cry for Native American activists.
One movement was the American Indian
Movement which was led by Dennis
Banks, John Trudell, and Russell Means,
which gave young, militant Indians a voice.
AIM's takeover of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs headquarters in Washington D.C.,
the cross-country protest called the Trail of
Broken Treaties, and finally the violent
standoff with federal troops at Wounded
Knee, South Dakota in 1973 all contributed
to the intensification of the scrutiny of
Native American activists.

6. Recent Years

In recent years, Native American activists
have continued to focus on land and other
treaty rights. However, they have also
broadened their horizons and now include
movements for environmental, defamation,
and economic issues.

7. Winona LaDuke

Activist Winona LaDuke has launched a
fight against the dumping of toxic and
nuclear wastes on reservations.