CONTENTS Hearings held Dec. 4, 1972: Morning session.. Dec. 5, 1972: Morning session.. Afternoon session. Statements: Bruce, Hon. Louis R., Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Carlucci, Frank, Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget Ducheneaux, Franklin, National Congress of American Indians. Loesch, Hon. Harrison, Assistant Secretary of Interior for Public Land Morton, Hon. Rogers C. B., Secretary of the Interior.. Robertson, Robert, executive director, National Council on Indian Wilson, Jerry V., Chief of Police, Metropolitan Police Department.... Aspinall, Hon. Wayne N., chairman, House Interior Committee, to Mr. Ralph E. Erickson, Deputy Attorney General, dated Nov. 30, 1972. Carlucci, Frank, Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget, to Hon. James A. Haley, dated Jan. 16, 1973 Dean, John W., III, Counsel to the President, the White House, to 4 5 6 147 Erickson, Ralph E., Deputy Attorney General, to Hon. Wayne N. Gallegos, Bert A., General Counsel, Office of Economic Opportunity, Holman, Ben, Community Relations Service, to Hon. Wayne N. Morton, Hon. Rogers C. B., Secretary of the Interior, to Hon. Wayne Affidavit of John F. Galuardi, Acting Commissioner, Public Buildings Civil Action No. 2207-72, order for arrest and to show cause issued by 47 Copy of receipt for the $66,650, dated Nov. 8, 1972 (sum received for the purpose of providing travel expenses to places of residence for stranded and destitute Indians, plus justification for payment). Chronology of Events, 1972 153 11 Decisions of Leonard Garment and Frank Carlucci dated November 6 and 8, 1973.. 92 Legal justification summary NCAI grant supplement (document supplied for the record by Bert A. Gallegos, General Counsel, Office of Economic Opportunity). 149 Additional information-Continued List (incomplete) of names and addresses of Indian participants in occupation of BIA building. Negotiating groups: Interagency negotiating team meeting with TBT-November 4, 1972 Negotiations meeting Sunday, November 5, 1972-Indians vs. Interagency negotiating team meeting with TBT, Nov. 5, 1972__ Page 14 49 49 50 50 48 41 101 Travel assistance for Indians involved in the "Trail of Broken 100 Twenty demands made by the Indians.. 162 Twenty answers supplied by Frank Carlucci, Deputy Director, 171 Temporary restraining order issued by Judge Pratt, November 2....... "Trail of Broken Treaties" caravan budgets. SEIZURE AND OCCUPATION OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS HEADQUARTERS BUILDING MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1972 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS, Washington, D.C. The subcomittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:45 a.m. in room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. James A. Haley (chairman) presiding. Mr. HALEY. The committee will be in order. I might state that this hearing is called for the purpose of determining facts involved in the seizure and destruction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Headquarters Building on Constitution Avenue in the heart of this Federal City by a group of Indians acting in total disregard of law and lack of consideration for civilized governmental procedures. I can conceive of no justification for their action. They apparently seized a Federal building illegally. They apparently ousted the Federal employees using the building and prevented them from performing their governmental function. This brought the administration of the Federal Indian affairs program to a standstill for 6 days while they occupied the building; and then when they left, they looted the building, virtually destroying the inside of the building and the contents of various offices. They destroyed most of the furniture and equipment. They destroyed Indian records. They took without permission other records, equipment, and property and removed them from the building. I was not in town when all of this occurred, and I was therefore not able to examine the building as the Indians left. The chairman. of the full committee, Mr. Aspinall, however, and some members of the committee and the committee staff, did examine the building, and I am told it is almost impossible to conceive of the wanton and willful destruction without actually seeing it. This was vandalism at its worst. In fact, I understand that the building looked similar to a building in which a bomb had exploded. But worse, because of the obvious and deliberate destruction, all of this occurred in the middle of the Nation's Capital where ample Federal and local police forces were available. They were not used. We need to know why. Records and property were carted away from the building, with no effort to intercept them by the law enforcement officers. We need to know why. The persons responsible for creating all of this mess were allowed to leave town. No arrests were made. We need to know why. The leaders were not only allowed to leave; they were actually given Federal money to pay the cost of transportation home. We need to know why. During the week that the Indians were in possession of the building without permission, their leaders met many times with our Government officials. It is reported that they made various demands that they said must be satisfied before they would leave. I understand that the persons in charge of these meetings were members of the White House staff, and these White House staff members made all of the major decisions. If this is true, they arrogated to themselves authority which Congress by statute has placed in the Secretary of the Interior. I personally feel that the entire episode was a disgraceful performance by both the Indians involved and by the executive branch. These hearings are intended to bring out the facts with respect to the executive branch handling of the action. We will hear from the Indians later. I want to make an official record in this first hearing of exactly what happened, who made the decisions, and who is responsible for the failure to maintain law and order. Therefore, before calling our first witness, I am going to recognize the chairman of the full committee, who was in town and was able to view the destruction down there. I might say I want to apologize that we don't have more room so that we could let everybody in here. We hope to overcome that deficiency, if we are able during the noon recess to get a larger hearing room, so that all the people who want to hear the proceedings will be able to do so. At this time I recognize the distinguished gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Aspinall. Mr. ASPINALL. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate very much the opportunity to make a statement on the matter now before this fine subcommittee which has rendered most valuable services to the Nation generally and to the American Indians in particular. Mr. Chairman, your great service in the work of this committee is recognized and highly valued by all who are wisely informed about the jurisdiction of the committee. I am glad to be able to take note of this fact, and I commend you most highly for such services. My statement this morning will be somewhat lengthy. It is divided into two parts. The first part has to do with a general treatise on government. The second part has to do with the specifics of this hearing. Mr. Chairman, before we get to the intricacies of the particular matter now before us, I wish to make a short statement on the structure and procedures of our form of government. Today, Mr. Chairman, we are operating here as the Representatives of all the people of our country. This forum is the seat of their responsibility. With all of our shortcomings and limitations, we are the people because we speak and act for them. We are their legislators, their representatives. We are charged not only with making policy, but also with the responsibility and duty of seeing to it that the laws are enforced diligently and wisely, and also in seeing to it that the complaints and desires of the people generally and specifically are heard. Today we want to hear about certain administrative difficulties of the administrative branch of the Government. It is my understanding, Mr. Chairman, that, later on, the criticisms, the desires, and wishes of certain of our citizens who are interested in this matter will be heard. I am heartily in favor of this additional task of this subcommittee. Today and tomorrow we shall try and hear, seek, and evaluate the facts concerning and directly related to the event that left the Bureau of Indian Affairs without its National Capital offices and the personnel and facilities to man them. This is the first time that the legislative branch of Government will have had by established and orderly procedure any knowledge of the planning and preparation for the event of the Trail of Broken Treaties, of the events and happenings of such pilgrimage while it was taking place, as well as some of the consequences of such pilgrimage. As I have stated before, the Federal Congress represents the people. It authorizes policy programs. It appropriates the money to carry on such programs. It possesses not only the authority but the responsibility also to see that the moneys are wisely spent, and also that those tangible values for which the moneys have been spent-in this instance, the building and the facilities of the Bureau of Indian Affairs-are safely protected and guarded. In any form of government, the governing body-in this instance, the people themselves-have the right to know who made the decisions in their affairs and who was responsible for such decisions. To permit any other procedure is in fact dictatorship in its worst form. It is government without responsibility. In fact, it borders on anarchism. Such should not be permitted at any time, regardless of good intentions or the shortcomings of government generally or specifically. These hearings are not being held for any purpose except to find out what happened, why it happened, and who was responsible for it happening; that is, who made the decisions. We are not looking for scapegoats. We have no intention of trespassing upon the prerogatives of the executive or judicial branch of the Government. They, too, have their work cut out for them. We are proceeding on the theory that people who exercise authority should be held accountable for what happened. We are not going to attempt to hold people responsible if they had such authority and it was taken away from them. We should assure, if possible, that our countrymen know who was not responsible as well as those who were responsible. Also, we should keep in mind that our national social fabric is, or at least should be, a closely knit fabric, and we must bear certain responsibility of any event of national significance. In my mind, this doesn't mean that each succeeding generation necessarily has the right to hold responsible preceding generations for all the inequities, shortcomings, and failures of the national society of today. But it does mean that each citizen in his way must keep our social and political fabric as strong and uniformly serviceable as it is individually and collectively possible to do so. So much for a short treatise on government. Now, Mr. Chairman, the unlawful seizure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Headquarters Building; the wanton destruction of Government property; the destruction of important Indian records and the theft of other records and property; the disruption of the governmental process; the willingness of the executive branch to negotiate |