Pat Bellanger, 2022, American Indian Movement.
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Pat Bellanger, a White Earth Ojibwe activist whose Ojibwe name was Awanakwe, meaning “water woman” was a founding member of American Indian Movement (AIM). Working behind the scenes, she is involved in Native American initiatives of her lifetime. She was one of the founders of the Heart of the Earth Survival School in 1972 in Minneapolis. This was the first school of its kind and incorporated Native American traditions into class time.
One of the founders of Women of All Red Nations (WARN) in 1974. Bellanger was an active voice against mining companies for their practices and the government for its policies that led to excessive numbers of sterilizations and infertility of Native women on tribal lands. In 1977 she spoke at a United Nations conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Bellanger challenged the U.S. government to stop taking children from Native families by way of force or coercion and adopting them into white families. Her activism helped lead to the U.S. government passing the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978 giving tribal governments rights over children living on reservations. |
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