The main group supporting our movement is A.I.M., or american Indian Movement. This grouphas been formed to work for our rights. Our A.I.M. leader Russell Means organized a march we call the Trail of Broken Treaties in Washington D.C. to protest the U.S. government's numerous treaty violations.
As our march goes on, we are trying to abolish the B.I.A., which is the Bureau of Indian Affairs. We will march and occupy the B.I.A. building to destroy records, and maybe cause extensive property damage. We hope to gain national attention when we seize the Bureau of Indian Affairs national headquarters and present a 20-point list of demands to the federal government. Here are our demands:
Restore treaty-making (ended by Congress in 1871);
Establish a treaty commission to make new treaties (with sovereign Native Nations);
Provide opportunities for Indian leaders to address Congress directly;
Review treaty commitments and violations;
Have unratified treaties reviewed by the Senate;
Ensure that all American Indians are governed by treaty relations;
Provide relief to Native Nations as compensation for treaty rights violations;
Recognize the right of Indians to interpret treaties;
Create a Joint Congressional Committee to reconstruct relations with Indians;
Restore 110 million acres (450,000 km2) of land taken away from Native Nations by the United States;
Restore terminated rights of Native Nations;
Repeal state jurisdiction on Native Nations (Public Law 280);
Provide Federal protection for offenses against Indians;
Abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs;
Create a new office of Federal Indian Relations;
Remedy breakdown in the constitutionally prescribed relationships between the United States and Native Nations;
Ensure immunity of Native Nations from state commerce regulation, taxes, and trade restrictions;
Protect Indian religious freedom and cultural integrity;
Establish national Indian voting with local options; free national Indian organizations from governmental controls; and
Reclaim and affirm health, housing, employment, economic development, and education for all Indian people.
The agency is ineffecient and corrupt, so if you would like to help our cause, please contanct A.I.M. Representatives instead.To return home:http://1960-social-movements5.wikispaces.com/Native-American1