The Longest Walk

The Longest Walk

Native American Marchers, Location Unknown, Courtesy of National Museum Of The American Indian.

The Longest Walk was a demonstration performed in 1978 by many Native American tribes who felt dishonored and disadvantaged by the US Government. Some natives thought that the situation that surrounded the independence and self-determination of the land reserves were in danger in more ways than one. Firstly, Native people such as Phillip Deere who saw the Government actively dissolve the Native Identity and replacing it with the American one. Others saw that there were many bills on the floor in Congress that, if passed. Would restrict land and property rights of native people on their own reserves.

The Protest was aimed to garner support from all around the US by conducting a march starting in San Francisco and ending in Washington DC. It would also be symbolic in many ways since not even a hundred years prior, the Native Americans were marched westward by the United States. While on the route to DC, the group of 2,800 demonstrators would spit up. One portion taking a more northern route while the other taking a more southern route. Each would stop often and make small demonstrations, garnering support from local Native and Non-Natives alike. Some notable people that voiced their support for the demonstrators were Muhammad Ali and Stevie Wonder.

Native American Protestors with Famous Figures Mark the End of the Longest Walk Protest, Washington DC courtesy of NMAI (National Museum of the Native American).

This photo has them alongside several protestors while on one of their routine stops.[1] The history of Native Peaceful Resistance against the US Government is interesting in the NMAI (National Museum of the Native American) article and it describes how The Long Walk fit into the history of the Protests across the United States.

A Native American elder named Phillip Deere spoke to the group of demonstrators while they were stopped in Boulder Colorado, stating his fear that ‘Indians’ all around the United States are being indoctrinated away from their natives’ cultures. He voiced his fears that when he looks around at the reservations, he sees Natives in American Schools, driving American Cars, working American Jobs, and conducting their business in an American Way. This brought great fear to him because he did not want to see the culture of his people relegated to the history books. That ironically, are largely written by the American viewpoint. Deere’s exact words plus a audio recording of him speaking can be found on the Descendant Of Gods blog website.

Another goal of the Protesters was to attempt to strike down the 11 Bills that were being debated in Congress that concerned many rights that the Native Peoples had. The Bills concerned property rights of the reservations. Most importantly the right for Native Americans to hunt and fish on the reservation lands. The idea of the Government further restricting what the Natives could and could not do on their own reservations is what caused the march to gain such traction within the Native American Community. The march in smaller part also was motivated by the way the US Government was picking certain Tribes to be ‘Recognized’ which granted them special autonomy with how they could impose their own laws, set their own property rights within the reservation, as well as being tax exempt from State and Local taxes.  The Tribes wanted a reform in how exactly the government picks what tribes to be ‘Recognized’ and which tribes to be ‘Not Recognized’.

This protest relates to the Catholic Gaudium et Spes where the right of the people who are oppressed by a Government power to demand for equal representation. These groups of unrecognized people are being unfairly treated by the Government when special privileges are given out to other Native American Tribes. Which is only the most recent of offenses that the Federal Government has committed against Native Americans as a whole. As history teaches us that the Unites States has been notorious for repeated dishonoring of treaties, rewriting territorial boundaries and forced migration all throughout the history of the groups feuding. If there are going to be special privileged afforded to Native American groups under the jurisdiction of the United States. The Gaudium teaches that all people should be treated fairly under the law and the moment the government becomes tyrannical through its policies, it becomes the right of the people affected to speak out for their rights.

The Protest was able to garner enough support and the 11 Bills in Congress were never passed into law, The Long Walk was deemed successful by its organizers and it is considered one of the cornerstones of Native’s peaceful resistance against the US Government in the fight for their rights. The Long Walk would happen several more times throughout the late 20^th century and each walk was dedicated to a different topic related to the defense of Native American life, culture, and health. The Longest Walk has a website that describes its history and missions if you are interested in further reading.

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