American Indians once lived prosperous and full lives, relying on the generosity of the land and nature. Colonization by white settlers disrupted this peaceful existence, uprooting tribes from their lands and forcing them to assimilate to new cultural and religious views. Years of mistreatment and abuse led to the organization of the American Indian Movement to fight for their rights and freedom. Through AIM, Indians attempted to gain recognition and spread knowledge of their culture and heritage to American citizens in order to gain a place in society. AIM leaders created a manifesto of change in 1972 in which they listed the goals they wanted to achieve in three broad categories: economic, social and political. Although AIM was organized in response to the lack of basic rights and oppressive nature of the United States government, its goals have yet to be achieved with any long-term success. The Wounded Knee Massacre politically altered the relationship between American Indians and the U.S. government with long-lasting repercussions. The massacre took place approximately one hundred years before the formation of AIM, on December 29, 1890, as the last battle of the American Indian War, a massacre took place on the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation near South Dakota. The U.S. 7th Calvary intruded on the reservation as a means to disarm the Lakota of their rifles. It is speculated that a deaf tribal man refused to hand over his rifle to the American authorities, in response the Calvary shot the man point blank leading to chaos as the few Lakota warriors fired as a defense mechanism before quickly being outnumbered . (Nelson) The definition of massacre is the killing of many unresisting human beings in aristocratic circumstances. The Wounded Knee Incident is... the center of the paper... the rebellious Indians had to face, but once time passed, everything was forgotten and now the American Indians continue to be oppressed and yet they do not speak nor their struggles are activated as they once did. The American Indian movement had both positive and negative effects on the community and freedom of Indian tribes and peoples. Protests and discussions became a way of uniting tribes, while strengthening the hope and strength of oppressed Indians. Their will to fight became a newfound hope, and without that hope the movement would not have succeeded. AIM's perseverance led to national knowledge of the issue which then led to government help, thus creating a less oppressed and cruel nature for the American Indians. Although the American Indian movement was not perfect, it provided hope and helped minimize the daily injustices that American Indians were facing.