Issue and Opponent: The United States had signed treaties with Native American nations back in the 1800s which granted these groups sovereignty as well as the right to maintain traditional relationships to the lands and waters that Native peoples had historically used. However, the U.S. government continually violated these treaties through land theft and forced assimilation. Additionally, the U.S. government had proposed 11 bills that focused on limiting rights to tribal government, hunting, and fishing, as well as restricting access to social services by closing Native schools and hospitals.
Dilemma Action: Native American activists began a march across the country, starting from Alcatraz Island in California to the nation’s capital. Some 30,000 activists arrived in D.C. to express the unequal treatment of Native populations and to defend indigenous rights as granted by nationally signed treaties. Once in the capital, activists continued to protest through marches in the city and speeches held by influential movement members such as AIM leader Clyde Bellecourt, Chicano leader Reies Lopez Tijerina, actor Marlon Brando, and U.S. Representative Donald Dellums. Movement leaders also symbolically camped out in front of the Washington Monument in tipi tents.
Outcome: The protestors were successful in preventing further abrogation of Native American treaties by preventing the 11 bills from being passed in Congress, but nothing was done to improve the status of indigenous sovereignty or land rights. The movement gradually lost traction after the Long Walk ended.