Page 18 - Brave Bird at Wounded Knee - I Am America

“Just what I’ve heard in the news. It started a few years

ago in Minneapolis. Some of the Ojibwe people there
started a group to stand up for their civil rights.”

“Civil rights? Like what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

talked about?” Patsy asked.

“That’s right. Like schools, housing, and jobs as good
as the ones white people have. And police who will protect

them and not pick fights just because they are Native

American. Now AIM has spread across the country. People

from many tribes have joined AIM. They were part of an
occupation on Alcatraz Island a couple years ago. And they

occupied the BIA building in Washington, DC, last year.”

“Alcatraz? The island that used to be a prison?” Patsy

asked.
“Exactly.”

“And what is the BIA building?”

“BIA stands for ‘Bureau of Indian Affairs.’ It’s the

agency that’s in charge of the government’s programs
related to American Indians.”

Patsy nodded but was still worried about her family.

“Do you think AIM is dangerous?”

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