Native American Activism Analysis

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Native American activism has certainly become extremely popular in the 21st century. Native Americans are standing up for their beliefs and their rights.Tthe formation of AIM and the Bureau of Indian Affairs are two important examples of Native American activism. The two documentaries that I viewed were; "In Whose Honor", and "LaDonna Harris: Indian 101". Both documentaries showed women, who took an active role in standing up for Indian rights. For the purposes of this assignment, I will analyze the contributions of contemporary Native American activism, as shown through the two documentaries I viewed, and whether their efforts were successful or not. "Money talks", if you don't have money, then often time you will be overlooked. The previously …show more content…

Charlene was born Indian, and she was raised on traditional Indian beliefs; beliefs that she was now trying to instill in her children. The reason Charlene fought for the removal of Chief Illiniwek was due to the fact that she felt it was a great insult to the Native American people. "What the Indians have now, is because of their ancestors; that is what I am trying to protect". This quote was taken from Charlene Teters. Charlene's belief stems from events like Wounded Knee; the Native Americans were trying to hang on to a part of their culture, and they were murdered for it. The purpose of Charlene's activism is to provide a safe, racism-free environment for her children, where they are not afraid to be who they are. Her children should be proud of their Indian heritage, not ashamed of it. To Charlene, this is exactly what Chief Illiniwek does; the chief is a form of racism. "Team mascots are a mask for racism", a magazine article talked about this during the documentary, "In Whose Honor?". Charlene started off on her own, however, she was later joined by members of AIM and other Native American Activist groups. She …show more content…

Like Charlene, LaDonna was a native American, however, she was from the Comanche tribe whereas the documentary doesn't state which tribe Charlene belonged to. LaDonna's grandparents were victims of the Indian boarding schools, and their attempts to "civilize" the Indians. One of the things LaDonna was able to do, was to form a group for Indian children, who attended school in Oklahoma. Under this group, teachers of the Indian boarding schools became the students, and the students became the teachers. Up until this point, the teachers of the schools had no idea that they were treating the Indian children so poorly. Similar to Charlene's kid's situation, these kids were being oppressed by white people, and they were looked down on because they were a minority. LaDonna's methods involved informing people from all walks of life about the Indian movement. LaDonna would hold tea parties where she would invite the "higher-ups" of the government, and even the lowest people on the "social totem pole". One thing that the documentary mentioned, was the fact that most people didn't realize that Native Americans still existed; much less need help. The purpose of LaDonna's tea parties was to educate people about Native Americans and help them to realize that there are still Indians

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