Private residence: 4304 Clara St., no. 1, Cudahy 90201 (between Otis Ave. and Atlantic Ave.)
In 1968, George Mitchell, Dennis Banks, and Clyde Bellecourt gathered 200 Native American community members in Minneapolis to discuss ways to combat decades of exploitative and weak federal Indian policy, as well as discrimination and police abuse.
The meeting gave rise to the American Indian Movement (AIM). Chapters soon proliferated across the country, including several in Los Angeles, one of which operated at this address. At that time, AIM was more militant than other American Indian initiatives. Although many indigenous people distinguish their struggles from those of other people of color in the United States, AIM’s members believed they had much in common with contemporary organizations such as the Black Panther Party, the Brown Berets, and the Young Lords. Besides challenging police abuse and federal Indian policy, AIM was also adamant about fighting for the survival of Indian nations, land, and sovereignty. In addition to AIM, there were many other organizations and activists working on behalf of indigenous people, including the National Council on Indian Opportunity. The National Council convened a forum in 1968 that resulted in increased funding for Los Angeles colleges and universities to recruit Native American students through such initiatives as the High Potential Program (HPP) and Equal Opportunity Program (EOP). At UCLA, the Native American student population numbered 70 in 1969 (up from 7 students in previous years), and new courses such as Liberation of the American Indian, American Indian Community Development and Interaction, and American Indian Studies in Literature were offered.
L.A.’s American Indians were actively and centrally involved in many of AIM’s national campaigns and strategies. On November 20, 1969, 89 Native Americans landed on Alcatraz Island, reclaimed it as Indian property under a little-known government statute that allowed indigenous occupation of abandoned federal lands, and proposed using it as a cultural center. Thirty-five of the protestors were new UCLA students recruited through the HPP and EOP. Participation in the occupation led to a closer relationship between the Native American population in Los Angeles and the national AIM movement. In 1973, AIM members allied themselves with leaders on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to occupy Wounded Knee in protest of the 1890 massacre of Sioux peoples by the U.S. Army. Over the course of the 71-day occupation and an armed standoff between AIM and U.S. Marshals that resulted in the death of two protestors, United People for Wounded Knee (UPWK) came together in Los Angeles to raise financial support. AIM press secretary Mark Banks, older brother of AIM cofounder Dennis Banks, generated publicity and raised funds in Southern California. After the standoff, UPWK continued building local support for the national AIM movement by raising money for members who had been indicted and were on trial for their involvement. Charges were dropped in 1974. Later that year, Los Angeles supporters of AIM formed the Skyhorse-Mohawk Defense-Offense Committee to garner financial support for Paul Skyhorse (Anishinaabe) and Richard Mohawk (Mohawk), who were accused of murdering a cab driver in Ventura County. Over the next four years, the committee organized rallies, fund-raisers, and demonstrations in support of the incarcerated Skyhorse and Mohawk. Charges were dropped and the men were released in 1978.
Unlike similar organizations of the 1960s and ‘70s, AIM still exists and continues to fight for the rights of native peoples across the world. In 1993 there was an ideological break, and one faction, the AIM-Grand Governing Council (GCC), won rights to the organizational name. There are still autonomous chapters throughout the United States that continue to function outside of the GCC, however.
Images:
- Apartments at 4304 Clara St., Cudahy, former headquarters of the Los Angeles chapter of AIM, 2009. Photo by Wendy Cheng.
- AIM leader Russell Means running away from federal marshals – who had a warrant for his arrest after his involvement at Wounded Knee – at the Los Angeles Indian Center, 1973. Courtesy of Herald Examiner Collection / Los Angeles Public Library.