AIM Caravan takes over Bureau of Indian affairs
In November 1972, the movement moved eastward across the country gathering up Indians as it went, going towards Washington DC. The plan, called The Trail of Broken Treaties, was to present twenty points, a list of grievances focusing primarily on treaty agreements to address the loss of land and self governance. They would arrive just at the end of the Presidential race, in an effort to gain more publicity and perhaps garner more bargaining power with the presidential candidates.
"The Twenty Points presented a new framework for considering the status of Indian tribes and the nature of their federal relationship...The first point dealt with a restoration of constitutional treaty-making authority"(Deloria,1974,p.59)
The demands
- Congressional commission to examine treaty violations and create a protocol for treaty violation review
- Clearly define Native property rights and relationship with United States federal government
- One status for all Indians, which was easily understandable and impossible to erode
- Mandatory Relief - the ability for federal courts to issue injunctions against states that violate treaties until they are satisfied that treaties were being upheld
- Elevation of Indian treaties above state law, as promised by the Federal Government in the original treaties dating back hundreds of years
"We seek a new American majority - a majority that is not content merely to confirm itself by superiority in numbers, but which by conscience is committed toward prevailing upon the public will in ceasing wrongs and in doing right. For our part, in words and deeds of coming days, we propose to produce a rational, reasoned manifesto for construction of an Indian future in America. If America has maintained faith with its original spirit, or may recognize it now, we should not be denied." - A.I.M. press statement, 10.31.72
The complete twenty point proposal can be found on the American Indian Movement Site.
http://www.aimovement.org/archives/
http://www.aimovement.org/archives/
The siege
When the caravan reached the B.I.A. headquarters in Washington D.C., they found that no one was there to negotiate with them. Moreover, they encountered hostility with the B.I.A. and the police. The A.I.M movement decided to occupy the building, barricading themselves in and fighting back police, until their grievances were addressed by the administration. The building suffered severe damage as a result of the siege by police, with fearful Indians using whatever was in arms reach to protect themselves and to keep the police out. A narrative that the occupiers were urban Indians, inciting unrest, began to spread. However, the Trail of Broken Treaties caravan actually had a roster to prove that the vast majority of protesters were reservation residents. At the end of the week long occupation, the occupiers were allowed to return home safely. Media attention focused on the damage done to the building, which was substantial, estimated at over $700,000. (Baker,1972) Adjusted for inflation, this would be the equivalent to nearly $4 million today. According to the terms of the end of the occupation, the administration would need to reply to the twenty points in two months.
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"It became apparent why the government had been so willing to agree not to prosecute the Indians: The presence of agent-provocateurs and the intensity of their work would have made it extremely difficult for the government to have proven an intent by the real Indian activists to destroy the building."(Deloria,1974,p.67)
The agents implanted to incite the destruction of property may have done more than cast attention away from the legitimate grievances of the occupiers. A member of the tribal council was quoted saying "They have destroyed records so vital to our people- real estate, enrollments, leases - that it will take years to recover"(Baker,1972)
The administration's response
The Nixon administration, in impeccable political form, recounted its previous efforts and pledged to continue working in Native interests. They also rejected demands to re-open treaty negotiations because "individual Indians had been made citizens earlier in the century and no treaties could be made with individual citizens". (Deloria,1974,p.71)
"While they seethed with rage, the ,A.I.M. people vowed never again to surrender without receiving a definite commitment from the administration. This attitude of intractability would later be displayed at Wounded Knee" (Deloria,1974,p.71)
Citations and References
DELORIA, V. (1974). BEHIND THE TRAIL OF BROKEN TREATIES; AN INDIAN DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. NEW YORK: DELACORTE PRESS.
BAKER, D. (1972, NOVEMBER 10). AMNESTY DENIED TO INDIANS. WASHINGTON POST, P. A1.
BAKER, D. (1972, NOVEMBER 10). AMNESTY DENIED TO INDIANS. WASHINGTON POST, P. A1.