This website is undergoing a long overdue overhaul and update.... On NDN Time and with limited resources.
WE ARE STILL HERE
NAGPRA: Native American Graves and Repatriation Act
| American Indian Movement of Florida faces many issues. One of the most common we are faced with is the destruction and desecration of sacred sites including but not limited to Indigenous Burial Mounds, Temple Mounds and other Sacred Sites. During the time before colonization inflicted it's holocaust and cultural genocide upon Indigenous people, most of the Indigenous people of so-called "florida" were mound builders, as were many Indigenous Nations now known as the Eastern Woodland Cultures of what is currently often called the eastern woodlands of so-called "north america". Some mounds were or are in the shape of animals and other sacred designs and can be extremely large, an engineering feat even in modern times. Burial Mounds, Temple Mounds and other Sacred Sites in what is now called florida no longer look as they originally did, largely due to colonization and genocide of the original Indigenous cultures that built them and the out right destructive activities of colonists/settlers. Now the precious few that still exist often appear as small to very large hills in the typically flat lands of "florida" and may seem to stand out visually. Many construction companies, private builders, home owners and artifact hunters destroy these ancient and sacred mounds for their own selfish desires. This is not only unethical it is against Federal Law. (The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Pub. L. 101-601, 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law enacted on 16 November 1990.) Many times in the process of leveling the ground for construction, builders bulldoze Burial Mounds to the point of complete destruction, for some reason they almost never stop even after human remains such as bones, teeth, hair and funeral objects continue to surface from the Earth. There are typically several hundred bodies in a Burial Mound, this was done to keep the Clans and Nations together. These sites are Very Sacred to Indigenous People. If you suspect you have come upon a Burial Mound or other Sacred Site it is best to not draw attention to it in order to avoid the purposeful looting and/or destruction of it and as soon as possible contact us about it so that the Sacred Site may be protected. | |
About AIM Florida
The Florida chapter of the American Indian Movement was founded in 1986. In 1989 the Florida Chapter of AIM was recognized by the National AIM leadership at the 1989 Eastern AIM Conference in Accokeek, MD.
In 2006 we reorganized and elected Ruby Beaulieu of White Earth, Minnesota as our Executive Director. We take direction and leadership from AIM Grand Governing Council, the international Indigenous Rights organization founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, MN.
Mission Statement
American Indian Movement of Florida (AIM Florida) is a not for profit Florida organization of Indigenous peoples from North, Meso and South America working for the civil rights, human rights, treaty and sovereign rights of Indigenous peoples as well as the recognition of, and protection of the rights of Indigenous peoples, Nations and sacred lands.
Welcome to our website. Feel free to explore our pages and participate in discussion about Indigenous Rights in our forums.
Seven Generations 
