The Red Power Movement

The Red Power Movement was a political organization in the 1960’s. This movement belonged to Native Americans, who fought in order to get their land back. This tribe felt that the only way to get their issues solved was through violence. They wanted to regain their civil rights by all means, thus the formation of this movement. Most of these Americans were much willing to confront existing government, even if it meant breaking all the laws of the land. The African-Americans largely influenced this movement, a group that neighbored them in all endeavors. Leilan (n.d), notes that these natives lived in urban ghettos.

Non-native Americans did discriminated against the Native Americans. For example, government agencies under non-native Americans prevented natives from even fishing in their own rivers. Some of them risked arrest if found in some certain rivers occupied by different tribes. Such amounts of stress from government officers prompted them to seek a fair judgment from the Supreme Court. However, the court ruled in their favor. American Indian Movement was one of the most influential organizations to join the Red Power Movement. Police department showed a lot of cruelty to them to the extent that they formed allied forces to combat them.

The Red Power Movement had far-reaching goals that seek to reclaim power in political, economic and social factors. Several characteristics can be attributed to this movement, which grew out of poverty through various years. The movement had unusually strong charismatic leaders who had a conscious building about the past resistance. They also had various tactics in place on how to deal with property seizure. Other characteristics include self-determination, especially for Indian communities and surrounding people. These characteristics enabled the movement to relate well with minority group in America.

In the early 1950’s, the Indian minority group through the Red Power Movement staged protest that aimed several areas. Their aims included ending Indian land base reduction, bringing to an end of termination of tribes of Indian origin, and stopping insensitivity towards the Indian tribe. In these earliest moments, this movement was majorly tribal in nature and thought little of other people living within the Alcatraz region. The Red Power Movement staged protests of various kinds, and the main one being occupying the Alcatraz region two times. Other protests included fish-ins by the movement members in rivers that were under federal treaties. This movement had entered into many treaties that the government authorities did not respect at all.

The Red Power Movement listed several factors, which led to their protests even up to the occupation of Alcatraz. They claimed that modern facilities were not available and transport means did not favor its citizens. In the list was that the region did not have running and fresh water for use by the civilians. There were poor sanitation facilities for occupants of this Alcatraz region. The movement also complained about rising unemployment within the region, due to low number of industries. Healthcare facilities were inefficient in both personnel and stock of drugs available for treatment.

The region also did not have mining rights, so that rich minerals would be protected from encroachment by other unscrupulous dealers from outside the region. The Native Americans perceived that non-owners took their land by force and, thus, the rise in their frustrations. The movement claimed that the Alcatraz region was rightfully theirs. They also complained about unplanned population patterns that heavily depended on a slice of the state budget. This led to escalating levels of poverty every new day. Rios (n.d), notes that the movement pushed for the establishment of educational centers especially for Native Americans.

Even though, the Red Power Movement was active organization fighting for lost rights for Native Americans, the US government found it fair to begin an assimilation procedure. This assimilation procedure would bring improved living standards and better education. The influx of Europeans to the United States encouraged assimilation. The process of assimilation embraced the new culture.  The new culture called European-American culture came into existence. Policies formulated by various government officials formulated various policies and put them into use to enable civilizing process to go through without any problem. Education was the most trusted method of ensuring that natives get enlightenment. Minority cultures would be absorbed by the new cultures. Majority of the citizens would enjoy a completely new set of cultures across the US.

Americanization directed several policies to non-native Americans, so that they could learn required customs and values. This procedure would ensure complete merge of the two customs and values. After Indian wars came to an end, the government of the US established schools that forced children to use only one language, English. Native Americans did not have much choice here, because they wanted to get their children a good education. Assimilation process started small, but it has grown rather massive. Use of tribal land agreements, which made sure natives surrendered most of their beliefs and rights and become US citizens, would be used as one way to effective assimilation.

The Red Power Movement was able to accomplish several goals that made the region look better. The government did a lot in order to minimize any further frustrations by showing respect to Native Americans. In the late 1970’s, the movement had accomplished a lot of goals and objectives. Over one hundred Indian study programs had been created within the US. Tribal museums opened to maintain historical facts, and other features related to these natives became some major accomplishments.

American History (2012) comments that prominent cultural centers, including the national museum of the American Indian, were created. There was a rise in the number of students going to college and being able to find jobs and other employment positions in the urban areas. All these developments, however, led to an increase in the productivity within the Native American occupied region. Amenities and other facilities improved drastically because of the rise of a learned society that demanded better services.

Still, Native Americans face some challenges every new day. Leilan (n.d) comments that freedom of spirituality is not easily allowed for people living within the region. Some challenges still exist even during the provision of services across the Native American region in the US. The federal laws did not give a free society to these Native Americans. The use of the so-called blood quantum to determine federally recognized tribes within the US did not do much to protect the natives. Various scholars who studied it termed this system crazy and found out to have several defects. The best example is the casino feature. Casinos always enrolled fewer natives, so that few of them remain to reap more profits. Use of peyote is becoming a nightmare in many Native American church rituals and ceremonies. The act did not pass through congress, and there is a challenge as to whether to avoid peyote or not. Many people within the United States talk about real Indians and just Indians.

The bureau of Indian affairs abbreviated as BIA is concerned with Native Americans affairs. This body will still ensure that minority groups do not access its services due to their own criteria of consideration to be a Native American. American History (2009) notes that those who have migrated to urban areas risks, a lot as their rights of being native no longer exist.