Robideau, Robert L.

Robert Robideau joined the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1973. Indian inmates, Clyde Bellecourt, Dennis Banks, and Edward Benton-Banai founded AIM in 1968 in the Stillwater State Penitentiary. The organizers endeavored to teach the many Indian inmates about their spiritual history and how to stay out of jail once paroled. The movement aimed to revitalize a sense of pride in traditional Indian values and to correct the conditions under which Indians lived: 70-80% unemployment; inadequate housing, education, and health care; and the highest infant mortality rate and the lowest life expectancy in the nation. By the time Robideau joined in 1972, AIM added to their objectives the need for tribal sovereignty and began its quest to restore it. AIM-s quest for sovereignty rights and self-determination alarmed the US government and from 1970 to 1980 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) targeted AIM as a terrorist organization. During this time three major incidents occurred: The Trail of Broken Treaties caravan in 1972 (or the BIA building takeover), the Wounded Knee Occupation in 1973, and the incident at Oglala in 1975. In 1975, the FBI raided the AIM camp at Oglala on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. A shoot-out occurred between AIM members and FBI agents resulting in the death of two FBI agents, Mr. Jack Coler and Mr. Ron Williams, and a young Native American, named Joe Stuntz. The FBI launched an investigation, called RESMURS, focusing on prominent AIM members known to be present during the shoot-out: Jimmy Eagle, Oglala Sioux/Arapaho, Pine Ridge, Robert Robideau Sioux/Chippena, North Dakota, Dino Bulter, Rogue River Tututney, Oregon, and Leonard Peltier, Chippewa/Sioux, North Dakota. Robert E. Robideau was one of the prime suspects in the incident at Oglala. He was acquitted, along with Dino Butler, in the killing of the two FBI agents in 1976. Ever since, Robideau devoted himself to justice campaigns. He worked for the release of his cousin Leonard Peltier, sentenced to two life terms for the FBI agent killings. In pursuit of Peltier-s freedom, Robideau served two terms as the director of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, published articles and embarked on speaking tours to educate the public on Peltier-s innocence. Alongside his work for Peltier's release, Robideau also educated the public on the murder of AIM activist, Anna Mae Aquash. A year after the Oglala shoot-out, the body of Anna Mae Aquash was found dumped in a ravine on the Pine Ridge Reservation. She was buried as an unidentified person until her body was exhumed, at the request of family and friends. Once her identity was confirmed, her family ordered a second autopsy revealing she died from a bullet wound at the back of her head. Robideau worked to publicize and educate Native Americans and the public at large about the Leonard Peltier and Anna Mae Aquash cases. Robideau never gave up his Indian activist work. In 1994, he led a contingent of thirteen chapters of the American Indian Movement in denouncing the Minneapolis chapter of AIM (or National AIM) because that chapter was subverting the movement. This led to the creation of what is now known as the Autonomous Chapters of the American Indian Movement. Robideau worked not only as an activist for AIM, but also for the Indigenous Civil and Human Rights Movement. He died on February 17, 2009 in Barcelona Spain. He was 61 years old. Authorities said that his death might have been related to seizures caused by shrapnel left in his head from an accidental explosion.

From the description of Robert E. Robideau American Indian Movement papers, 1974-2007. (University of New Mexico-Main Campus). WorldCat record id: 33124315