Native Americans | Page 29

American Indian Movement (AIM) button

American Indian Movement (AIM) protest button from Wounded Knee, 1974.

American Indian Movement flag

Flag of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Image by Wikimedia Commons user Tripodero, January 6, 2018.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

The American Indian Movement (AIM), founded by grassroots activists in Minneapolis in 1968, first sought to improve conditions for Native Americans who had recently moved to cities. It grew into an international movement whose goals included the full restoration of tribal sovereignty and treaty rights. Through a long campaign of “confrontation politics,” AIM is often credited with restoring hope to Native peoples.

Excerpt of AIM song

American Indian Movement (AIM) members singing the AIM song, mid-1970s. From What Now, People? Vol. 2, Paredon Records, 1977.

Morton S. Wilkinson, ca. 1880.

Morton Wilkinson was one of Minnesota's first US Senators, and was a member of the original Territorial Legislature. Wilkinson successfully lobbied President Lincoln to appoint Thompson to the Northern Superintendency because of his support during his Senate race. Wilkinson eventually retired to Thompson's railroad town of Wells.

Snuffbox presented to Clark W. Thompson

Sterling silver snuffbox presented to Clark W. Thompson ca. 1863, during his tenure as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Superintendency. Made in England ca. 1861. Clark's position as Superintendent of Indian Affairs was highly sought after, because contracts for supplying reservations under treaty agreements provided opportunities profit and graft.

Clark W. Thompson

Clark W. Thompson, ca. 1860s. Minnesota Historical Society portraits collection.

Thompson, Clark Wallace (1825–1885)

Clark W. Thompson was a businessman and politician who founded the town of Wells, Minnesota, in 1870. As superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Superintendency during the US–Dakota War of 1862, he was involved in crooked business practices and corrupt political dealings—a man of industry who used his position and power to build wealth at the expense of Native populations.

Sherds of Fox Lake-type ceramics

Pottery sherds of the Fox Lake ceramic-ware type—the same type found at Mountain County Park in 1976. The sherds pictured here were excavated in northern Iowa in 2015. From M. A. Hoofnagle’s “Bits and Pieces: A Case for Holistic Analysis in the Study of Ceramic Archaeology” (honors thesis, University of Iowa, Spring 2017).

Map of Mississippian cultures

A map showing the extents of Mississippian and Mississippian-influenced cultures, including the and Oneota peoples. Photograph by Herb Roe. CC BY-SA 3.0.

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