Trail Of Broken Treaties Essay

The Trail of Broken Treaties protest, a historic protest in 1972 led by the American Indian Movement (AIM), sheds light on the long-standing injustices endured by Indigenous peoples in the United States. The Trail of Broken Treaties unveiled a complex history marked by broken promises and strained relations between the U.S. government and Indigenous tribes. It also served as a catalyst for increased awareness and public discourse surrounding Native American rights and the necessity of reform. The protest allows for an examination of the transformation in government-Indigenous relations, the unification of different tribes and strength demonstrated by AIM, and the resulting impact on policies affecting Indigenous communities. Analyzing these

policies towards Indigenous communities due to dismissal by government leaders. Throughout the cross-country protest and the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, government leaders, along with President Nixon, grew increasingly more dissatisfied with the Native Americans. In fact, they felt the Native Americans who occupied the BIA and protested were not representative of the Indigenous people, saying, “The group was made up largely of urban Indians and was “unrepresentative” of the country's 850,000 Indians. He said that no tribal chiefs with whom the bureau usually deals were present, and only a sprinkling of tribal council members had joined the protesters.” Due to the fact that the United States government saw the protesters as “urban,” they did not acknowledge or respect their protest. This stems from Nixon’s campaign for re-election, as he needed to make sure his voters were not skewed by his actions. He may have seen this protest as a threat against his re-election, so they did not want to deal with any backlash that may affect their voters at the polls. Furthermore, the government did not view the “urban Indians” as Native Americans whose opinions should be respected and taken into consideration. The government's dismissive attitude towards Native American voices marginalized their experiences

A movement that is so united should be able to see greater results, yet, despite the strength of unity and numbers, the protest was incapable of effecting change to existing policies and in fact caused deeper strain in the relationship between Native Americans and the U.S. government. However, as seen with other movements at the time, such as the Civil Rights Movement or the Vietnam War protests, unity alone within a specific community is not enough to move politicians to make changes to existing policies. It is not until citizens outside of the immediate civilization --people not directly involved or affected by the policies -- take an interest that real change can happen. This shows not only the importance of sustaining the capability to fight historical injustices over a long period of time but also the crucial influence outside groups have in the push for a more equitable