Indigenous Activism

Background & Context #1

• Beginning: Indigenous peoples mobilized for land rights, self-determination & cultural preservation

• Movements: inspired by global decolonization, civil rights strugggles & other marginalized groups

Background & Context #2

• Context: colonial legacies, assimilation policies & displacement had left Indigenous people politically marginalized & economically disadvantaged

  • emerged as a rejection of federal “termination” policies that sought to end the legal status of tribes

  • activsits faced extrem poverty → average lifespans being 44 yrs & uneployment was 70%

• Governments: The U.S., Canada & Latin America began to face organized resistance calling for recognition of treaties, languages & sovereignty

Historian Perspectives

• historians often debate “top” down influene of federal leaders versus the “bottom up” power of grassroots activists

• Clayborne Carson → movement didn’t die in the 1960s, but evolved from a struggle for political rights into a broader movement to exercise those rights

Red Power & Self-Determination (U.S.) #1

• Red Power Movement: Indigenous activism grew → demanded sovereignty & an end to assimilation

• American Indian Movement (1968): AIM fought for treaty rights, protection from police brutality & cultural revival

Key Event #1

• Occupation of Alcatraz Island (1969-1971): activists claimed abandoned federal land under treaty rights

  • drew national attention to Native rights & inspired future protests

Key Event #2

• Trail of Broken Treaties (1972): march on Washington demanding fulfillment of historic agreements

  • highlighted federal neglect & pushed Native issues into national politics

Key Event #3

• Wounded Knee Incident (1973): 71-day standoff between AIM activists & federal authorities in South Dakota

  • protested against government corruption & broken treaties

• became a symbol of Native resistance & led to investigations of federal policies

Achievement #1

Indian Self-Determination Act (1975): gave tribes control over education & social programs

1969 White Paper (Canada) #1

Background & Context

• PM Pierre Trudeau introduced White Paper on Indian Policy

• promised “equality for all Canadians” & aimed to eliminate special legal status of Natives under Indian Act (1876)

  • seen as form of forced assimilation → erasing their identity, culutre & treaty rights

1969 White Paper (Canada) #2a

Indigenous Response & Resistance

• backlash was immediate & widespread → National Indian Brotherhood (Assembly of FN) → argued it violated indigenous sovereignty & treaty obligations

1969 White Paper (Canada) #2b

• Harold Cardinal: published, the Red Paper (1970) → rejected White Paper → called for recognition of Indigenous rights & self-determination

• Unity: indigenous communities built a national political network → leading to greater unity & activism

1969 White Paper (Canada) #3

Impact & Legacy

• Resistance: government withdrew in 1971 due to overwhelming resistance

• Turning Point: changed indigenous activism → shifted goverment dependency to self-representation & advocacy

• Revival: led to rise of national Indigenous organizations → revival of treaty negotiations & future constitutional recognition (1982)

Historian Perspectives (Canada)

• Scholars view this as birth of modern Canadian Indigenous nationalism

• Activists like Arthur Manuel → characterized the resulting “Constitution Express”( 1980) as most effective direct action → successfully entrenched Indigenous rights in the supreme laws of the land

Indigenous Activism & Recognition #1

• National Indian Brotherhood: formed to represent Indigenous interests at the national level

• Constitution act (1982): formally recognized Aboriginal rights → i.e., land claims & cultural protection

• Legal protests: launched court challenges & land claim negotiations → creation of Nunavut (1999)

Indigenous Movements (Latin America) #1

Background & Context

• Latin American states pursued “Indigenismo”—a policy led by mestizo elites to assimilate Indigenous populations into the national culture through Spanish-languaged education

Indigenous Movements (Latin America) #2

• Anticolonialism: indigenous movements connected with anti-colonial & peasant struggles

• Zapatista Uprising (1964): in Chiapas, Mexico → demanded land reform, Indigenous rights & opposition to globalization (NAFTA)

• Coca Farmers: coca farmers movement provided platform for Evo Morales to become first Indigenous president in 2006

Indigenous Movements (Latin America)

• Guatemala & Peru: saw activism around truth, justice & recognition following decades of civil war & repression

• despite ongoing inequality → movements advanced constitutional recognition of multiculturalism in several countries

Constitution Express (Canada)

• a significant Indigenous rights campaign that departed from vancouver in 1980 with two trains to Ottawa to protests the lack of Aboriginal rights in proposed patriation of the Canadian Constitution

  • led to the inclusion of Section 35 which acknowledged these acts in the 1982 Constitution Act

Metis & Non-Status Activism (Canada) #1

Background & Context

• Many Métis women moved to citieis due to “grinding poverty” in road allowance communities

• faced systemic racism → hindered their access to housing, jobs & education

Metis & Non-Status Activism (Canada) #2

Emergence & Manifestation

• activism emerged to counter government paternalism & social displacement

• (1970s): Manitoba Metis Foundation held sit-ins at governmental offices to fight institutional discrimination

• Saskatchewan: 100s of community members occupied legislature in Regina to compel the creation of Gabriel Dumont Institute

Metis & Non-Status Activism (Canada) #2

Impact & Significance

• achieved significant legal recognition → culminated in 1982 Constitution

  • Harry Daniels successfully lobbied to have Metis recognized as one of Canada’s three distinct Aboriginal Peoples

Metis & Non-Status Activism (Canada) #4

Historical Perspectives

• many Metis consider the 1960s & 70s to be a Golden era of grassroots activism → characterized by a unique “unity of purpose” among community members

Indigenous Movement (Latin America)

• some view changes through a legal lens as a success for multiculturalism → others warn against confusing legal recognition with practical equality

• progress was more symbolic than structural