Native America Online

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[edit] Native America Online

Native American Activism/Social Movements and Native Americans themselves are underrepresented on the Internet and World Wide Web. In my extensive research over the last months, I’ve found this to be the case in all areas of the ‘net, from sociopolitical groups to individual web pages. Be it online news and educational websites, or blogs and personal pages, there is little available regarding Native issues and movements in cyberspace.

As a side note, many terms are used in reference to the First Peoples of what is now called the USA. I find most of these terms interchangeable and usually inoffensive. For further information on the ongoing name controversy see the Wikipedia entry entitled “Native American name controversy.”

A brief history of Native American activism and social movements.

The most widely publicized period of Native American activism in the last half a century took place from the late-sixties to the mid-seventies. The 1961 reprinting of the historic book “Black Elk Speaks”, the publication of “Custer Died For Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto” by Vine Deloria Jr. and having seen groups such as the Black Panthers, the Chicano Movement, the Vietnam Peace Activists, along with the general sociopolitical upheaval during that era stirred many Native Americans to action and voice. The Red Power movement began in this period. No singular organization claimed to represent the movement. It was more a general idea and ideology embraced by mostly urban Indian communities and individuals, those that had avenues and arenas to put forth their voices and issues.

A major catalyst of the Red Power movement was the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island in California during 1969 and 1970. A group of approximately 100 Indians from various tribes claimed the former prison and accompanying land according to the terms of an 1868 Sioux treaty that gave them rights to unused federal property on Indian land. This event was widely reported in the media and garnered support from other Native Americans and various celebrities. The occupation and publicity had an enormous impact on the Indian community. A participant testified, "We got back our worth, our pride, our dignity, our humanity."

The most well known Native American activism group The American Indian Movement was founded in 1968. AIM was originally begun to monitor law enforcement practices such as police harassment and brutality against Indians. Its leaders were young, militant and quickly became media savvy and often charismatic. AIM inspired numerous publications and local chapters across the country, while also motivating many young Indians to turn to their elders to learn tribal ways, including traditional dress and spiritual practices. AIM’s leaders and members acted on the premise that previous attempts to work with or within the US federal governmental system had achieved nothing. So they adopted more aggressive tactics: Seizing the Mayflower replica on Thanksgiving Day in 1970 during ceremonies commemorating the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrim’s landing at Plymouth Rock, an occupation of Mount Rushmore in 1971, the Trail of Broken Tears march and takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 1972, the Longest Walk in 1978. These and other events during the Sixties and Seventies were orchestrated to involve the press and other media in order to deliver the Indian message directly to the people of the US. The content of the message was in part, that the rights of Indian people had been seriously eroded.

The issues and concerns related to Native Americans are many and varied. In terms of being a minority within the US and the federal governments treatment of them as the original inhabitants of this country, Native American representatives put forth the following comprehensive list (copied here from the AIM website) of claims to the President of the US in 1972.

• Restoration of treaty making (ended by Congress in 1871).
• Establishment of a treaty commission to make new treaties (with sovereign Native Nations).
• Indian leaders to address Congress.
• Review of treaty commitments and violations.
• Unratified treaties to go before the Senate.
• All Indians to be governed by treaty relations.
• Relief for Native Nations for treaty rights violations.
• Recognition of the right of Indians to interpret treaties.
• Joint Congressional Committee to be formed on reconstruction of Indian relations.
• Restoration of 110 million acres of land taken away from Native Nations by the United States.
• Restoration of terminated rights.
• Repeal of state jurisdiction on Native Nations.
• Federal protection for offenses against Indians.
• Abolishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Creation of a new office of Federal Indian Relations.
• New office to remedy breakdown in the constitutionally prescribed relationships between the United States and Native Nations.
• Native Nations to be immune to commerce regulation, taxes, trade restrictions of states.
• Indian religious freedom and cultural integrity protected.
• Establishment of national Indian voting with local options; free national Indian organizations from governmental controls.
• Reclaim and affirm health, housing, employment, economic development, and education for all Indian people.

In the years since, the list of claims and grievances has not changed much. In my recent online and library research I’ve found this succinct and unifying group of claims.
• The preservation of Tribal existence and culture, promotion of common welfare and human rights.
• Accountability of the US Government under Indian treaties and agreements, protection of those treaty and sovereign rights, and the protection of tribal natural resources.
• Educating the general public about Indian rights, laws, issues, and better understanding of the Indian people.

Present Day Native American Activism/Social Movements and the Internet.

While there still are small groups of militants and occasional aggressive forms of protests, present day Native American activism has for the most part seemingly reverted back to lobbying and attempting to work with and within the US federal governmental system.

The once significant American Indian Movement suffered from internal and external pressures. The Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted AIM as a threat to national security and placed AIM leaders under surveillance, while also purportedly infiltrating the organization. AIM leaders had many members developed differing ideas and opinions, which eventually splintered the group. And an incident wherein Indian and FBI agents were killed in a shootout at the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973 dealt a heavy blow to AIM and caused a media backlash.

Recently publicized activism has included the 30th anniversary of the Longest Walk. Participants embarked on a five month, 4400 mile journey from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. A grassroots effort on a national level staged to bring attention to environmental and Native American sacred site issues. On May 11th a group of Dakota Indians protested during Minnesota’s sesquicentennial celebration. The protesters marched with 38 nooses in remembrance of the 38 Dakota men executed on presidential orders in Mankato in 1862, the largest one-day execution in American history. The annual Unthanksgiving events, which challenge the ideological foundations of anti-indigenous policies, which some Native Americans believe are exemplified in national holidays such as Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. Native American activists argue that Thanksgiving should be a National Day of Mourning, and they protest the continuing theft of indigenous peoples' territories and natural resources. Many Indian nations hold public meetings and media events in various forms, such as 'Powwows' that non-Natives and the press are welcome to attend. These events are often notable in that they combine culture, politics, and education. The most well known of these is the Gathering of Nations, an annual event that takes place in New Mexico and draws participants from over 500 tribes, plus an estimated public attendance of over 200,000.

The extent to which Native Americans have adopted the use of the Internet, be it for cultural representation or activism, has been relatively limited at best.

Native American oriented websites are few and far between in comparison to many other minorities within the US, and especially when compared to most sociopolitical special interest groups. There are only about half a dozen sites dedicated to Native American news topics. The most popular of these is an online version of the weekly newspaper Indian Country Today. A standard news site set up, with somewhat editorialized content. Other news oriented sites focusing on the Native American peoples and issues include: nativetimes.com, indianz.com, nativeweb.org, indnslist.org, and nativevillage.org. Most of these sites feature many of the same stories and news feeds, albeit with differing layouts and depth of coverage. This redundancy and reliance on syndicated stories is likely a result of budget and labor restrictions. This aside, a key aspect of potential activism and public voice is also missing from these sites, a featured area for letters and comments from the readership.

Native American organizations and political groups appear to have even less of an Internet presence than the news oriented sites. The official site of the original American Indian Movement is found at aimovement.org. It’s a simple page with historical information, past press releases, and an extensive photo archive of federal documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The lack of current or interactive features may be in part a reactionary result of the history of FBI surveillance, alleged harassment and infiltration. The Native American Rights Fund, founded in 1970, is a nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide. The narf.org website is probably the most successful in accomplishing what its website sets out to do. With a modern and professional page containing links to the National Indian Law Library, news and media center, and even an option to join the NARF E-Action Network. This site ought to serve as an example to others for the Internet’s ability to assist in Native American activism and social movements. Another rare example of Indian Internet activism is the National Congress of American Indians site located at ncai.org. “Founded in 1944 in response to termination and assimilation policies that the United States forced upon the tribal governments in contradiction of their treaty rights and status as sovereigns. NCAI serves to secure for ourselves and our descendants the rights and benefits to which we are entitled; to enlighten the public toward the better understanding of the Indian people; to preserve rights under Indian treaties or agreements with the United States; and to promote the common welfare of the Native Americans.” Rather than existing only to report on happenings after the fact, NCAI is proactive and its website encourages viewers to join and participate. Lists of upcoming events and current initiatives are featured prominently, as are ways to get involved and calls to participate in the election process. While some of the news articles on this site are culled from elsewhere, the majority of the content is useful and contains important interactive qualities.

Perhaps most surprising when one searches the internet for Indian activism and social movements, is the small number of blogs and/or personal websites published by or for Native Americans. In my research I found a handful of websites wherein the creators identified themselves as Native Americans, but the sites rarely contained anything in the form of activism or social movement. One of only two Native blogs I’ve found that out rightly espouse activism with its content is angryindian.blogspot.com. It’s an internationally minded site with an almost overwhelming amount of information in such a small amount of space. Suggested reading lists, quotes from significant figures, Op Ed pieces, and the like are presented for the viewer dedicated enough to sort through the density of content. The second of the two is nativeunity.blogspot.com. While this blog doesn’t have the mass of content or political rhetoric of the aforementioned, it does promote contributions and citizen journalism. As well as encouraging Native Americans “to find a way to pull together to become more visible to the rest of the world.”

As one is prone to eventually happen upon, there are at least a couple of websites created by strongly opinionated and seemingly biased persons. A well-known Indian-centric example of this type of site can be found at dickshovel.com. Statements of individual ideas and beliefs abound here. A great many sub-pages devoted to current and historical Native American issues, but again, all written from the viewpoint of the page’s publisher. While this proves to be interesting reading, the almost total lack of impartiality in the presentation makes most of the content suspect. The passion of the site’s creator is admirable, but the tone and tendency presented is potentially divisive and/or exclusionary.

Extrapolating potential reasons for the lack of Native American Online activism/social movements.

Native American activism has declined since the heyday of AIM and the Red Power movement in the late sixties through the mid-seventies. This is apparent in news reports, Internet searches, Indian media, and recent books written by former activists. As with any movement, a select group of individuals can only sustain the advancement for so long without assistance. The originators eventually need others to join in the cause to keep it going. AIM leaders and members never had the financial means to focus solely on activism. Most were impoverished; many had families to care for. And it’s impossible to ignore the effects of governmental repression and persecution. The Pine Ridge incident in particular caused many Indians to back away from further activism and action.

I doubt anyone could fault a current or former member of a sociopolitical movement should they decide to walk away from the fight against such a formidable foe as the United States government and hundreds of years of oppression and injury.

This is not to say that all earlier Native American activists have disappeared, nor that there aren’t new individuals joining the cause. On occasion one will hear about civil disobedience (such as the Makah whalers), boycotts (in regard to sports teams mascots), and propaganda (the popular Homeland Security t-shirt design). But the visible presence and influence of any of these persons and groups is certainly less than it was some thirty-plus years ago.

While there may be no singular explanation for the lack of Native Americans and Native American activism in cyberspace, there is a multitude of contributing and related issues. The so-called “Digital Divide” that was widely covered by mainstream media reports several years ago still exists for most Indians. The geographic and economic isolation of the majority of reservations and other Indian lands easily puts them a decade or more behind even modest sized towns and cities in technological terms.

On a personal note, I spent some time in a couple of rural Alaskan villages recently. In the greater Copper River region there was not a computer to be found in the seven or eight households I visited. And no one I spoke with owned one.

Infrastructure aside, there is also cultural and age issues related to the adoption of Internet use by Native Americans. While youth are prone to embrace the Internet, having been weaned on television and cell phones, many older Indian activists question the importance of modern communication technology. Understandable as a key issue among Native Americans is the loss of history and culture from forced assimilation and encroachment by Europeans and their descendants. Being wary of the Internet and reverence for the ‘old ways’ is respectable, yet it raises the question of “Isn’t something better than nothing?” when it comes to Indian activism and outreach in these modern times.

As the Internet was originally designed for, its greatest strength and usefulness is communication. And ever-increasingly this is true across the gamut of audiovisual applications. The ‘net serves as an invaluable tool to supplement pre-existing communication technologies, if one has access to a computer and Internet connection. There in lies a considerable impediment for Native Americans and Native American activism/social movements, acquiring the tools to communicate with each other and to publicize their movements to the rest of us.

While Native America is presently underrepresented on the Internet, the growing ubiquity of computer and communication technologies is certain to eventually correct this.