The Inconvenient Indian

The Inconvenient Indian

by

Thomas King

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Inconvenient Indian makes teaching easy.
The American Indian Movement is a Native American grassroots organization founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a response to police brutality against Native people. Over time, the organization developed into a national movement. The 1960s and 1970s saw the development of several notable advocacy groups, but AIM generated the most media attention. A fair number of AIM events—such as the 1971 looting of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) building in Washington, D.C.—escalated into violence; yet King contends that in many of these situations, “governmental antipathy and blinkered law enforcement” was as much to blame for the violence as AIM was. Notable confrontations and occupations in which AIM was involved include the 1969 Alcatraz occupation and the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee, which escalated into a standoff between AIM protestors and federal officers that lasted 71 days.
Get the entire The Inconvenient Indian LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Inconvenient Indian PDF

American Indian Movement (AIM) Term Timeline in The Inconvenient Indian

The timeline below shows where the term American Indian Movement (AIM) appears in The Inconvenient Indian. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6. Like Cowboys and Indians
History and Mythology   Theme Icon
Racism and Systemic Oppression  Theme Icon
Land  Theme Icon
Sovereignty  Theme Icon
...was the first Aboriginal author to win the Pulitzer Prize. Meanwhile, the American Indian Movement (AIM) was gaining traction in Minneapolis. (full context)
History and Mythology   Theme Icon
Racism and Systemic Oppression  Theme Icon
Land  Theme Icon
Sovereignty  Theme Icon
...was mostly “symbolic,” he maintains that it was critical in popularizing the American Indian Movement (AIM). AIM was established in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to oppose police brutality against Indians in... (full context)
History and Mythology   Theme Icon
Racism and Systemic Oppression  Theme Icon
The main goal of AIM’s occupations and protests was to call media attention to injustice. While AIM events received criticism... (full context)
History and Mythology   Theme Icon
Racism and Systemic Oppression  Theme Icon
Land  Theme Icon
Sovereignty  Theme Icon
Later that year, AIM and some other advocacy organizations organized the Trail of Broken Treaties, a car caravan that... (full context)
History and Mythology   Theme Icon
Racism and Systemic Oppression  Theme Icon
Land  Theme Icon
Sovereignty  Theme Icon
Another important AIM occupation occurred in Custer, South Dakota, to protest the murder of Wesley Bad Heart Bill,... (full context)
History and Mythology   Theme Icon
Sovereignty  Theme Icon
Just 21 days after the riot in Custer, AIM protestors occupied Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. At this point,... (full context)
History and Mythology   Theme Icon
Racism and Systemic Oppression  Theme Icon
...Lawrence Lamont, were shot and killed by the government. Today, explains King, many people regard AIM as “the first truly militant Native organization,” and one primarily interested in “initiating confrontations and... (full context)
History and Mythology   Theme Icon
Racism and Systemic Oppression  Theme Icon
Land  Theme Icon
AIM lasted longer than the aforementioned Canadian organizations; however, by 1990, central leadership figures were either... (full context)