American Indian Movement leader Clyde Bellecourt dies at 85
January 13, 2022 6:04AM CST
FILE – Clyde Bellecourt, co-founder or the American Indian Movement, speaks on Jan. 26, 2018, at Minneapolis City Hall, in Minneapolis. Bellecourt, a leader in the Native American struggle for civil rights and a founder of the American Indian Movement, has died. He was 85. Bellecourt died Tuesday , Jan. 11, 2022, from cancer at his home in Minneapolis, Peggy Bellecourt, his wife, told the Star Tribune. (AP Photo/Amy Forliti File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Clyde Bellecourt, a leader in the Native American struggle for civil rights and a founder of the American Indian Movement, has died.
He was 85. Bellecourt died Tuesday morning from cancer at his home in Minneapolis. Bellecourt was a co-founder in 1968 of AIM, which began as a local organization in Minneapolis that sought to grapple with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans. The group would lead a string of major national protests in the 1970s, including a 71-day occupation in 1973 of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, to highlight corruption on the reservation and federal injustices against Indians.
