BY ROGER GROS
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Barricades ?
By Roger Gros
BY ROGER GROS
A change in administrations in Washington is always an unsettling time for the country , with new leadership installed in all federal departments . For American Indians , the changes can often result in better service and more focus on what the tribes truly require .
PHOTO BY ROGER GROS
It was early November in 1972 , just days before the presidential election that would have Richard Nixon win in a landslide over George McGovern from South Dakota , despite widespread political unrest and the war in Vietnam still raging .
And for many Native Americans , the federal government wasn ’ t the solution to their problems , it was the root of their problems . This dissatisfaction resulted in the formation of the American Indian Movement ( AIM ), which occupied the Alcatraz penitentiary in San Francisco from November 1969 to June 1971 .
AIM then organized a protest called the “ Trail of Broken Treaties ,” during which more than 500 Native Americans from across the country showed up at the Bureau of Indian Affairs ( BIA ) building in Washington , D . C . and took over the offices . For six days , the building was occupied until supplies ran out , patience wore thin and the protestors exited the building , taking with them thousands of documents and a pledge from the government that it would consider the 20 items on their list of demands .
Ironically , Richard Nixon did more for Native Americans than any president before him . He was the first to return land to tribes , along with generous settlements . He appointed the first Native American to head the BIA — Mohawk citizen Louis Bruce — and doubled its budget . Most importantly , he ended the government ’ s “ termination ” plan , which was designed to dismantle Native government and eliminate reservations .
10 TRIBAL GOVERNMENT GAMING 2025