The Indian Revolutionaries. The American Indian Movement in the 1960s and 1970s
The Indian Revolutionaries. The American Indian Movement in the 1960s and 1970s

Summary/Abstract: The ideas of supra-tribal unity and Indian nationalism arising among Native Americans in the 20th century initiated the phenomenon defined by the American historians as modern Pan-Indianism. Its first phase occurred at the beginning of the 20th century whereas the second one, more apparent, is connected with the so called “Red Power” movement and dates back to the 1960s and 1970s. During this stormy period for the USA, when ethnic minorities started to openly manifest their postulates for equality, American Indians took their voice thereon too. Due to its extremism, American Indian Movement was the top one among many Indian groups that emerged at that time. The organization founded in 1968 by Dennis Banks and Russell Means quickly attracted American public attention due to their radical actions. The Movement was the most active in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, relying on aggressive anti-government rhetoric, AIM created a peculiar ideology invoking Indian tribal spirituality, and proposed their own political program focusing on the issue of obtaining full sovereignty by Indian peoples and reforming federal policy towards Native Americans.

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