Chronology of American Indian History

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members of the American Indian Movement, the
militant Indian rights group that battled with
federal authorities during the 1970s. During the
four-day trial, several former AIM members tes-
tified that Aquash was suspected of being a spy
for the federal government, implying that AIM
leadership may have called for her execution.
The defense maintained that Looking Cloud
witnessed the shooting of Aquash but had no pre-
vious knowledge of the killing. A second suspect,
John Graham, continues to fight extradition from
Canada.

May 18

Eureka, California, returns sacred land to
the Wiyot.
In a unanimous vote, the city council of Eureka,
California, decides to return 40 acres of land on
Indian Island to the Wiyot tribe. The Wiyot agree
not to develop the land commercially. Instead, they
plan to build a ceremonial house where the Wiyot
village of Tuluwat once stood. The Wiyot were
nearly wiped out in 1860, when non-Indian settlers
staged an organized attack on the tribe. Citing that
no other city in California has made a comparable
gift to an Indian tribe, the Wiyot state that the land
return will help to heal “this most gaping, visible
wound in the fabric of our community.”

June 23

The U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee
approves an apology to American Indians.
The Indian Affairs Committee of the U.S. Senate
approves a joint resolution to apologize to Ameri-
can Indians for past policies. The resolution was
proposed in May by Senator Sam Brownback of
Kansas. It holds that the U.S. government should
“address broken treaties and many of the more ill-
conceived federal policies that followed, such as
extermination, termination, forced removal and re-
location, the outlawing of traditional religions and
the destruction of sacred places.” At the insistence
of the Bush administration, the resolution contains

no language suggesting that Indian peoples are due

future claims from the United States.

“The United States, acting

through Congress... apolo-

gizes on behalf of the people of

the United States to all Native

Peoples for the many instances

of violence, maltreatment, and

neglect inflicted on Native Peo-

ples by citizens of the United

States.”

—From Congress’s 2004 apology

to American Indian peoples

July

Report criticizes the Indian health care

system.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights publishes a

draft report titled “Broken Promises” on the health

of American Indians. The report finds the health

status of Indians is worse than that of any other

American minority group. Life expectancy among

Indians is five years lower than the general popula-

tion. Indians are also much more likely to die from

tuberculosis, diabetes, alcoholism, and influenza.

The report faults the underfunding of the Indian

Health Service (see entry for JULY 1, 1955), which

annually spends less than $2000 per patient, 40 per-

cent of the amount spent on the average American.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM)

launches a Web site on Indian health.

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the Na-

tional Library of Medicine announces a new

Web site (http://americanindianhealth.nlm.nih.

gov) designed to offer information on the special

health needs of American Indians. In addition to

addressing health problems, such as diabetes and