The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American activism group in the United States, founded in July 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AIM was initially formed to address American Indian sovereignty, treaty issues, spirituality, and leadership, while simultaneously addressing incidents of harassment from police as well as other minority groups and racism against Native Americans forced to move away from reservations and tribal culture by the 1950s enforcement of the U.S. federal government-enforced Indian Termination Policies originally formed in the 1930s.

The 1972 Indian Education Act was the landmark legislation establishing a widespread approach to meeting the unique needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students. This act provides federal assistance in education over and above the limited funds appropriated annually for Indian education programs in the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, to help close the gap which now exists between Indian education and the general educational level of the United States.

The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 authorized the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and some other government agencies to enter into contracts with, and make grants directly to, federally recognized Indian tribes. The tribes would have authority for how they direct the funds, which gave them