Native American Women and Coerced Sterilization: On the Trail of Tears in the 1970s

During the 1970s, the majority of American protest efforts focused on the feminist, civil rights, and anti-government movements. On a smaller scale, Native Americans initiated their own campaign. Network television periodically broadcast scenes of confrontation ranging from the Alcatraz Occupation in 1969 through the Wounded Knee Occupation of 1973. The consistent objective was to regain treaty rights that had been violated by the United States government and private corporations.