American Indian Movement of Colorado facts for kids
The American Indian Movement of Colorado (Colorado AIM), also known as AIM-International Confederation of Autonomous Chapters, is a group that separated from the main American Indian Movement.
It was started in 1993 by thirteen AIM chapters at a meeting in Denver, Colorado. This new group released something called the Edgewood Declaration. In this declaration, they explained their disagreements with the main organization, especially about how it was run and its ideas. The Colorado AIM group believes that the American Indian Movement has always been set up with many independent local groups. They think that local leaders should be responsible to the people in their own areas. This group disagreed with the idea that a central group in Minneapolis should control everything. They felt this went against the traditional ways of Indigenous peoples and the original ideas of AIM.
Important activists like Russell Means and Ward Churchill have been connected with AIM of Colorado.
Why the Group Split
The split happened because of serious disagreements within the larger American Indian Movement. These disagreements were about how the organization should be led and managed. People had different ideas about the direction of the movement and how decisions should be made. These differences eventually led to the formation of Colorado AIM as a separate group.
