The short story is that First Nations People (FNP) have been
“social justice warriors” since first contact - so our "Civil Rights
Movement" has been in place for over 500 years.
First it was about "keeping peace" (see Pocahontas,
Massasoit, and Tisquantum/Squanto), not being enslaved (see Caribbean/Arawak,
Pequot, Apache), and "keeping lands and way of life" (see reservations,
Trail of Tears, “urbanization programs”).
FNP’s reaction to the colonial idea of “manifest destiny” encroaching
upon land and culture lead to “Indian” wars, desire to educate our own children
(see “boarding schools”), practice our own spirituality (see
missions/missionaries), and avoid genocide (see programs to kill people and
culture, like Jeffrey Amherst’s small pox infected blankets).
After the success of the African American Civil Rights
movement in the late 1960s, many groups used similar language and the legal
system to forge ahead with their own civil rights concerns (every group has
particular issues for their own group), including ADA (Americans with
Disability Act) and DOMA (LGBT rights).
FNP organized in the early 1970s (see AIM, American Indian Movement) and
used strategies, such as nonviolent protest (see Ceasar Chavez) and occupation
(see Alcatraz, 1971 and Wounded Knee, 1973), to gain awareness and a voice.
What follows is everything else - Indian Civil Rights Act
(ICRA 1968), also called the Indian Bill of Rights (granted freedom from double
jeopardy as a special relationship exists which creates a particular tension
between rights granted via tribal sovereignty and rights that individual Natives
retain as U.S. citizens), the right to educate our own children (see the
National Indian Education Association NIEA 1969), the right to practice our
“religions” (see “Ghost Dance” and American Religious Freedom Act 1978), keep
out ceremonial objects/ancestor’s bone (see NAGPRA, Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act 1990), create/sell our own art (see Native
American Arts and Crafts Act 1990),, ability to define ourselves and own
identity (see “blood quantums” imposed by U.S. government, as well as U.S.
Census 2010 and multi-tribal/racial status of American Indians). These are just samples and don’t
include voting, traveling, land, fishing/hunting rights, fights, and laws.
There are also other (more current) things to consider like
current health and medical issues (including mental illness, drug/alcohol use),
self-determination/sustainability, having clean water and no pipelines running
through our territories, and the elimination of stereotypes (sports/school
“mascots”) with accompanying inclusion of accurate FNP information, history,
culture, and contributions.
