Alva Review-Courier -

In 1969 Jackie Marks made his way from California to New York City to further his journalism career. Marks was already somewhat successful, having published numerous magazine articles and two books.

Soon after arriving in his new city, he became enamored with Native American culture. Like many other non-Indian Americans, Marks was observing an increase in activism in the United States by Native Americans and several other minority groups.

Almost all historians of the United States point to the turbulent 1960s as a time of great change taking place in the country. The civil rights movement, an ongoing struggle for equal treatment for African Americans, was at the forefront of this push for progress in race relations.

Meanwhile, propelled by encouragement from leaders in education and government, more and more young people were going to college in that decade than at any other time in American history.

College campuses became the scene of many protests against actions of past and present American leaders. Students not only protested against racially prejudicial laws but other governmental actions, chief of which were those that got the country involved in the Vietnam War.

College students and others became activists against discriminatory treatment not only of African Americans but of other minority groups as well. Cesar Chavez, for example, began advocating for better treatment and increased wages for Hispanic farm workers in California and elsewhere.

Women of all ages and races began getting more involved in political and business affairs, leading soon to what became known as the women’s liberation movement.

But it was Native American activism that caught the attention of Jackie Marks. Several Native American leaders had begun in 1968 an organization called the American Indian Movement, advocating for more rights and better treatment by the government.

Then, in 1969 Sioux intellectual Vine Deloria Jr. published a book called “Custer Died for Your Sins” decrying past government mistreatment of American Indians and sparking a cultural and literary so-called Native American Renaissance. Jackie Marks jumped on that bandwagon – as we will see next week.