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Riz Khan
The first Americans
Native American actor and activist Russell Means on his quest for a new homeland.
Last Modified: 28 Nov 2009 14:18 GMT



Watch part two

When Native Americans shared a harvest feast with English colonists in 1621, the event was known as the first Thanksgiving.

But to some, the US holiday marks the day when Native Americans began to have their lands - and ways of life - stripped from them. 

Over the next 200 years, as the US expanded its borders, many Native American tribes were left with little or no land at all as a result of warfare and countless broken treaties.

The Native Americans have since lived in government-created reservations ridden with poverty and disease. The consequences of dispossession can be seen elsewhere in today's world, from the Palestinians to the Australian aborigines and first nations people of Canada. 

So what can be done to protect the rights of dispossessed peoples?

On Thursday, Riz speaks to Native American actor and activist Russell Means about American Indian rights and his quest for a new homeland.

This episode of the Riz Khan show aired on Thursday, November 26, 2009.

Source:
Al Jazeera
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