Termination, Self-Determination, and Native American Activism

Termination of Native Nations:
- The termination policy led to the emergence of resistance leaders.
- The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was formed in $1944$ .
- Through NCAI's advocacy, the federal government was challenged to end termination.
- Termination was finally repealed in $1988$ .
- Over $100$ native nations had been terminated during this period.
- The struggle for recognition intensified in the $1960$ s.

During the $1960$ s, native organizers pushed for self-determination and restitution.
Understanding Sovereignty and Treaties:
- By making a treaty with the United States, native peoples are recognized as sovereign nations.
- Sovereignty grants them the power to determine the use of their lands.
- It also ensures the federal government upholds its fiduciary obligation to maintain the subsistence existence of the people.

National Indian Youth Council (NIYC):
- Organized in $1961$ in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- Comprised of $26$ native activists and students from $21$ different native nations.
- Demanded sovereignty and the protection of treaty rights.
- Fishing Movement ( $1964$ ):
  - Organized support to protect treaty-guaranteed fishing rights in Washington state.
  - Caught national attention after actor Marlon Brando provided financial support and publicity.
  - Marlon Brando continued to support native movements throughout his career.
  - View Dick Cavett's interview with Marlon Brando on his stances related to Native Americans and Hollywood.
Alcatraz Island Occupation (November $1969$ - June $1971$ ):
- A dramatic $18$ -month occupation of Alcatraz Island by the "Indians of all Tribes."
- Native American students and community activists built a thriving village on the island.
- Attracted national and international support.
- After forced evacuation in June $1971$ , the spirit of activism continued.

DQU (Deganawida Quetzalcoatl University):
- Established after the Alcatraz occupation by the University of California, Davis.
- Founded through the leadership of indigenous professors Jack Forbes and David Risling.
- A two-year Native American Chicano College and Movement Center.
- Founded to address the needs of both Chicanos reconnecting to their native past and native peoples advocating for sovereignty rights.
- Joshua Frank Cardenas, writing in Tribal College, explains the name DQU embodies the unification of the "Red Power" and "Chicano Power" movements.
- Deganawida (The Peacemaker):
  - A prophetic hero, according to some stories, born from a virgin birth, had visions as a child.
  - Took a voyage in a stone canoe to bring a message of peace to warring nations.
  - Inspired the creation of the Iroquois Confederacy, binding peoples to a "Great Law of Peace, Strength, and Righteousness."
  - This law, forged through a maternal matrix of relations, has endured through time and imperialism.
- Quetzalcoatl (The Feathered Serpent):
  - Known to the Mexica or Kukulcan to Mayan peoples.
  - A creator spirit or Teotel, associated with wind, arts, learning, and knowledge.
  - Patron of the priesthood and invoked as the knowledge tradition behind the education system (Kalmecak).
  - Also associated with Venus, farming, and fertility.
  - Still revered in many Nahua communities today.

Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor:
- Originally from the Amazon, now incorporated within the Chicana Movement.
- Speaks of the unification of the eagle (representing North America) and the condor (representing South America).
American Indian Movement (AIM) in the Limelight:
- The occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in $1972$ .
- The siege at Wounded Knee in $1973$ .
- These events catapulted the American Indian Movement into national and international prominence.