Chapter 2 - 2.3.2
Chapter 2: The Indian reservation today
2.3.2. Relief organizations
It is commonly known that there exist a lot of problems which impair the American Indians’ chances of improving their living conditions and of giving more hopeful future prospects to their children and younger generations. So the Native Americans’ situation had been the basic idea for the foundation of the American Indian movement (AIM) noticed by outside world. In 1968 was set up the most important and best-known resistance group, which caused quite a stir its militant activities like the occupation of the historic village Wounded Knee. The main aim of this was to remain the world to what has been done to the Native Americans ad to make public, from which problems and discriminative prejudices the American Indians have to suffer. What is more, this radical group also caused a hardening of the front between the American Indians and the US government. As a consequence of this, the many Native Americans no longer approved of their aims and the AIM as a representative organization for the American Indians lost its importance.
Nonetheless, the activities of the Native American resistance movement had the effects that many people in the USA and outside began to feel sympathy to the American Indians and founded charity organizations. Collection campaigns were organized to help Indians. They collect money, food and everyday things like clothes. Unfortunately many organizations concentrated on donation rather than support of local relief organizations, which does not help the American Indians out of their misery and plight in the long run. Indians are still kept in relationship of dependence on the charities and do not have or are not able to take charge themselves (American Indians today/American Indian relief organizations 2010).
In a consequence, forming the partnership between the donating administrators and tribal chiefs and members and some organizations was necessary (e.g. the Friends of the Pine Ridge Reservation, the National Relief Charity). They want to give the foundation of tribal relief organizations a ‘little push’ by financial support and bureaucratic guidance. We can notice the astonishing effects: innumerable tribally administered programs have been set up, on inter tribal level as well as limited to single reservations, and they replaced the federal US organizations for Native Americans. We can mention some examples: - The Center for American Indian Economic Development (CAIED) offers assistance in the economic and technological development to the tribes of Arizona and helps them to become self-sufficient in government and business. - The Alliance for Native American Indian Rights (ANAIR) aims to protect the American Indian burial places and places of cultural heritage such as holy mountains like Mount Rushmore. - The Indian Health Service’s goal is to achieve adequate health care and sensitive medical staff for all American Indians and Alaska Natives and to improve the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of the Natives. - The National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) serves as a supervision authority in gaming regulations. - The Indian Arts and Crafts Association’s (IACA) efforts are targeted to the promotion, marketing and safeguard of authentic American Indian art. The main aims of the American Indian relief organizations are to help the Native Americans to become self-sufficient and independent human beings without necessity of federal welfare. They try to give them the chance to life a live worthy for the original inhabitants of North America (American Indians today/ From charity to cooperative self-help 2010).