American Indian Movement Southern California (AIM SoCal) is an unsanctioned, autonomous, left-of-center Native American activist organization. ^[1] AIM SoCal is an inter-tribal organization has brought lawsuits against the federal government on Native American sovereignty and treaty issues,^[2] worked to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from the California State Capitol,^[3] called for legalization of all illegal immigrants in the United States,^[4] and worked for “sacred sites protection,” preservation of Native American language and culture, and other issues. ^[5] AIM SoCal was unsanctioned by the grand governing council of the national American Indian Movement (AIM) on June 16, 2020. ^[6]

AIM SoCal co-hosted a rally to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from the California State Capital in June 2020 with left-wing groups such as Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, Bayan SoCal, GuateMaya LA, California Poor People’s Campaign, far-left socialist organization Struggle for Socialism (La Lucha por el Socialismo), White People 4 Black Lives, Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice, the Statewide Coalition Against Racist Symbols^[7] and the radical left-wing group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER Coalition). ^[8] It seeks the removal of Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva (D) as a member of the left-of-center Check the Sheriff Coalition. ^[9]

History and Leadership

American Indian Movement Southern California (AIM SoCal), also known as AIM Santa Barbara,^[10] is an unsanctioned, autonomous, left-of-center Native American activist organization. ^[11]

On June 16, 2020, AIM SoCal was unsanctioned by the grand governing council of the national American Indian Movement for disrespecting numerous members and former members; lack of communication with leaders of neighboring AIM chapters and infringing in their area; lack of accountability for chapter leadership’s speeches against other California tribes and in support of the oil industry; and endorsement of non-sanctioned AIM chapters. In a letter removing AIM SoCal’s sanctioning, AIM national leadership also ordered the group to stop representing the American Indian Movement and threatened legal action. ^[12]

Walter Ruiz was the director of AIM SoCal at the time of the organization’s removal of sanctioning by AIM. ^[13]

Activities and Funding

Despite being unsanctioned by the national AIM leadership in June 2020,^[14] AIM SoCal has continued to use the name AIM SoCal as it engages in activism on Native American issues. ^[15]

In 2021, AIM SoCal co-hosted an “emergency rally” in Los Angeles to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba and demand no military interventions in Haiti;^[16] partnered with the radical left-wing group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER Coalition), Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice, and Bayan USA for a caravan event to honor “lost children and survivors” at the Sherman Indian School Cemetery;^[17] and co-sponsored a May Day event with other left-wing organizations that called for legalization of all illegal immigrants in the United States. ^[18]

In 2020, AIM SoCal co-hosted a rally to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from the California State Capitol with left-wing groups including Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, Bayan SoCal, California Poor People’s Campaign, far-left socialist organization Struggle for Socialism (La Lucha por el Socialismo) White People 4 Black Lives (within the far-left network Showing Up for Racial Justice),^[19] and the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice. ^[20]

Also in 2020, AIM SoCal promoted an event called “Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage Against Colonialism.” ^[21] This event called for “autonomous, anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, and anti-fascist actions” to combat a “plague of colonialism” that allegedly destroys Native American lands; addressed missing or murdered “womxn,” girls, transgendered, and “two-spirit” relatives; opposes “resource colonialism,” colonial borders, and the “settler colonial state” in support of “total liberation.” ^[22]

On May 8, 2020, AIM SoCal hosted an event led by “Resist US-Led War Movement” on a people’s teach-in on “Revolutionary Women and the History of Mother’s Day. ^[23]

AIM SoCal supports the removal of so-called “racist mascots” from sports teams,^[24] has shared posts from the left-of-center Indigenous Environmental Network,^[25] and seeks the removal of Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva (D) as a member of the left-of-center Check the Sheriff Coalition. ^[26]