Extremely Eloquent, Therefore Extremely Dangerous
John Trudell: In His Own Words
“We want to return Indian education to Indian people. We do not want the usual government solutions of threats to close down the school. We want improvement within the school, or the building of Indian-controlled schools in the Indian communities. We will not be stayed by intimidation. We are tired of waiting and we will wait no more.” ~
SOURCE: Akwesasne Notes. p. 16.
“Police, armed with shotguns, guarded the back door of the BIA office, while some men were placed on the roof of the building. Sheriff’s deputies were marshalled at the courthouse. But police withdrew at the request of George Scott, a member of the task force and deputy director of the BIA’s office of education in Washington. There was no need to call the police. Between our group and George Scott’s group, the situation was completely under control. We were in our building, doing Indian work.” ~
SOURCE: Akwesasne Notes. P.9
I want to thank the graduating class for inviting me. Personally, one of my main concerns is education, and to narrow it down further, it’s BIA education. To start this off I’m going to read a statement that was used last December at Chilocco Indian School. This statement was issued by the Native American Rights Movement in Oklahoma.
Continue reading “Graduation at the Institute of American Indian Arts | June 8, 1972”