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Dennis Banks
Dennis Banks: One of the original founders of AIM, Dennis was born in Minnesota, and went to boarding school in North/South Dakota. At the age of 19 he fought in the air force in WW2, but came back to face poverty, alcoholism, and alienation. Later, he was convicted for burglarizing a grocery store, and was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison. In prison he met a man named Clyde Bellecourt who would eventually found AIM with Dennis (and Russell Means). -
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Native American Rights
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Founding of AIM
AIM was founded in 1968 by Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, George Mitchell and Russell Means. It was founded in Minneapolis as a American Indian Advocacy group. The group’s purpose was to bring many problems that Native Americans face to national attention, such as high unemployment, slums, and the racist treatment they receive. These ideas seemed too revolutionary for the FBI and CIA, who tried to limit AIM’s influence throughout the 1970s -
Occupation of Alcatraz
In California from November 20, 1969, to June 11, 1971, Native Americans took over and held Alcatraz Island as Indian Land. The occupation lasted for 14 months before the federal government forcibly removed the Natives. They created the Alcatraz proclamation as a way to show how poor the living conditions on reservations are. -
Occupation of Wounded Knee
200 Sioux go to Wounded knee, South Dakota. A year after the march in Washington D.C, AIM lead about 200 Sioux to Wounded Knee where the U.S. cavalry had massacred a Sioux village in 1890. -
Native American Languages Act
Policy declaring Native Americans were entitled to use their own language.
United States "Declares to preserve, protect and promote the rights and freedoms of Native Americans to use practice and develop Native American Languages". -
Cobell v. Salazar and the Claims Resolution Act
The plaintiffs claim that the U.S. government has incorrectly accounted for the income from Indian trust assets, which are legally owned by the Department of the Interior, but held in trust for individual Native Americans.
Plaintiffs contend that the number of class members is around 500,000, while defendants maintain it is closer to 250,000.
The case was settled for $3.4 billion in 2009. $1.4 billion was allocated to be paid to the plaintiffs and $2 billion allocated to repurchase divided land.
