Established during an era of growing social activism, the American Indian Movement (AIM) emerged from a gathering of 100 Indians in a cramped meeting space in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 29, 1968.
Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and the protests against the war in Viet Nam, founding members Clyde Bellecourt, Dennis Banks and George Mitchell sought to address urgent issues in the Minneapolis urban Indian community – high unemployment, household poverty, a lack of educational opportunities, police brutality and the high incarceration rates of Indians.