American Indian Caravan Given Grants
Diocesan Press Service. November 8, 1972 [72179]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- "The Trail of Broken Treaties " Caravan, representing a coalition of 250 of the nation's 300 American Indian tribes, has been given emergency grants of $5, 000 each by two groups in the Episcopal Church.
The grants were made by the General Convention Special Program (GCSP) and the National Committee on Indian Work (NCIW), two agencies of the Episcopal Church which are concerned about self-determination for minority groups and the needs of the poor and powerless.
Several thousand American Indians from across the country converged on Washington, D.C., just before the national election, to demonstrate against "broken treaties and mistreatment. " A series of services, workshops and other activities were planned to dramatize the Indians' needs and traditions. The Indians proposed to discuss legislative drafts with members of Congress and Congressional sub-committees.
The Indians came to Washington to press 20 demands, including reform treaty procedures, enforcement of existing treaties, protection of Indian lands, and reform of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. On November 2, about 500 of the Indian demonstrators seized the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs offices after the government refused to give them food and housing for their week-long protest.
The grants by the GCSP and the NCIW will provide funds for the Caravan's travel, food, housing, communications, printing and data collection.