Churchill has been active since at least 1984 as the co @-@ director of the Denver @-@ based American Indian Movement of Colorado , now an autonomous chapter of the American Indian Movement . In 1993 , he and other local AIM leaders , including Russell Means , Glenn T. Morris , Robert Robideau , and David Hill , broke with the national AIM leadership , including Dennis Banks and the brothers Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt , claiming that all AIM chapters are autonomous . The AIM Grand Governing Council is based in Minneapolis and retains the name of the national group . It says that the schism arose when Means , Churchill , Glenn T. Morris and others openly supported the Miskito Indian group Misurasata , who were allied with the anti @-@ revolutionary , CIA @-@ backed Contras .