It would be worth noting that the activities of AIM in the southern
California area are viewed with much
suspicion by the active members of the Native Americans in the
community and that AIM has been either thrown out of or outright banned from attending many
powwows for
disruptive and
disrespectful behavior.
Also, I find it interesting that while the organization is the American Indian Movement, the southern California membership shuns the word Indian and instead uses Native American in all of their dealings. Most Native Americans I have met, on the other hand, call themselves Indians.
I have only seen one member of AIM that was other than a middle-class caucasian. This demographic is likely different in different areas. They dress nice, they work hard, and they seem to rarely ask the community they are supposed to be helping what needs to be worked on and often have their own agenda.
A common renaming of the group dubs them "Assholes in Moccasins".