P
June
The International Indian Treaty Council
is founded.
The First International Indian Treaty Conference
results in the formation of the International In-
dian Treaty Council. The conference, held on the
Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, is
organized by the American Indian Movement
and attended by several thousand Indians from
97 Indian groups from North, Central, and
South America. The participants outline IITC’s
philosophy in “The Declaration of Continu-
ing Independence,” which calls on governments
throughout the world to recognize and respect the
sovereignty of indigeneous peoples. (See also entry
for JULY 1977.)
“Might does not make right.
Sovereign people of varying
cultures have the absolute right
to live in harmony with Mother
Earth so long as they do not in-
fringe upon this same right of
other people. The denial of this
right to any sovereign people,
such as the Native American
Indian Nations, must be chal-
lenged by truth and action.
World concern must focus on
all colonial governments to
the end that sovereign people
everywhere shall live as they
choose, in peace with dignity
and freedom.”
—from the International
Indian Treaty Council’s
“Declaration of Continuing
Independence”June 17Morton v. Mancari et al. upholds preference
to Indian applicants for Bureau of Indian
Affairs jobs.
In Morton v. Mancari et al., the legality of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs’ time-honored policy
of giving Indian job applicants preferential treat-
ment is challenged as unconstitutional. A Supreme
Court ruling, however, states that this preference
does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s prohibi-
tion on racial discrimination but rather emerges
naturally from the federal government’s responsi-
bility to allow and encourage Indians to govern
themselves. The decision thus implies that because
of the unique historical relationship between In-
dian nations and the United States, Congress
may grant preferences to Indians in other areas as
well.
Long criticized for its lack of Indian represen-
tation, the staff of the BIA will radically change its
racial make-up in the wake of Morton v. Mancari.
By the beginning of the 1980s, more than 75 per-
cent of BIA positions will be staffed by Indians.JulyCanada establishes the Office of
Native Claims.
As a result of the Canadian Supreme Court’s ruling
in Calder v. Attorney General (see entry for JANU-
ARY 31, 1973), the Canadian government creates
the Office of Native Claims. Like the Indian Claims
Commission (see entry for AUGUST 12, 1946) in
the United States, the Office of Native Claims will
hear Indian land claims cases and offer restitution
to Native groups whose ancestral lands were taken
from them illegally.July 22 to August 28The Ojibwa Warrior Society seizes an
Ontario park.
A radical group modeled after the American Indian
Movement, the Ojibwa Warrior Society begins a