To House Government Reform
Committee asking them to
include the Reign of Terror
and the Case of Leonard Peltier
in their investigation of the FBI

PRESS RELEASE FOR RELEASE June 8, 2001 BY:
MINISTRY FOR INFORMATION AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT GRAND GOVERNING COUNCIL
PRESS RELEASE
June 26, 2001
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RE: Initiative to Free Leonard Peltier
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BY: AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT GRAND GOVERNING COUNCIL

Contact:
Vernon Bellecourt, American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council
Phone: (612) 721-3914
Fax: (612) 721-7826
Email: aimggc@worldnet.att.net

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

June 8, 2001

The Honorable Senator Patrick Leahy
Chairman Senate Judiciary Committee
433 Russell Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-4502

The Honorable Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
Chairman House Judiciary Committee
2332 Rayburn House Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4909

The Honorable Senator Daniel Inouye
Chairman, Senate Indian Affairs Committee
722 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1102

Dear Honorable Senators:

On behalf of the Leonard Peltier family, we are appealing to President George Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft, the United
States Congress and the American people, and people worldwide to respond to our appeal in a just and equitable manner.

June 26, 2001 will mark twenty-seven years since the F.B.I., utilizing agent/operatives and recruited extremist informants,
initiated a fire fight at the Jumping Bull residence on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota that resulted in the death of a
young Oglala man, Mr. Joseph Stuntz, and two federal agents, Mr. Ron Williams and Mr. Jack Coler. They and their loved ones
as well the loved ones of dozens of other Indian people murdered and Leonard Peltier are the principal victims of the reign of
terror conducted by the F.B.I. and other government agencies. Subsequently, this year will also mark the twenty-fifth year of
imprisonment for Mr. Leonard Peltier.

In light of the recent denial by the Clinton Administration of Mr. Peltier's petition for Executive Clemency, the American Indian
Movement in collaboration with the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee is launching a national and international effort requesting
congressional intervention and remedies to the clearly documented F.B.I., United States Attorneys and other related government
agent's misconduct and collusion in the trial and conviction of Mr. Leonard Peltier.

At this time we are requesting the Honorable Members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees of the United States
Congress to fully and vigorously open a Congressional Investigation regarding the following documented evidence of F.B.I. ethical
and professional misconduct as sighted below that resulted in obtaining a guilty verdict twenty-five years ago against Leonard Peltier.

1. Coercion and intimidation of Ms. Myrtle Poor Bear by F.B.I. agents that resulted in her signing false affidavits that were used in
the extradition hearing of Mr. Peltier.

2. The intentional presentation of a false affidavit to the courts of law in the United States and Canada in order to procure Mr.
Peltier's extradition.

3. The F.B.I. presented false and distorted testimonies obtained through improper methods of three adolescents who were forced
to testify at Mr. Peltier's trial

4. The concealment of a firing pin test performed by F.B.I. ballistics expert, Mr. Evan Hodge.

5. The abrupt and substantive changes in the F.B.I. description of the vehicle pursued into the Jumping Bull residence prior to
the firefight.

6. F.B.I. actions that created an improper atmosphere of fear and distrust of American Indians, especially American Indian
Movement members, amongst the general population and jury pool during Mr. Pelitier's trial. Such intentional actions deprived
Mr. Peltier of a fair trial.

At this time we are also requesting the Honorable Members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees of the United States Congress to investigate the blatant attempts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association to intentionally create public confusion and fear in order to deprive Mr. Peltier a fair consideration of his request for parole and clemency. The advertisement and Web site paid for by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association is a matter of public record and can be furnished upon request by Mr. Peltier's legal team.

At this time we are also requesting the Honorable Members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees of the United States Congress to pass an act to declassify over 6,000 documents pertaining to the case of Mr. Peltier, currently being withheld by the F.B.I. in part for reasons of "national security" and "ongoing" police investigations. With Mr. Peltier imprisoned for the past twenty-five years what possible issues of investigation and security exist today in the year 2001? Attached is a small sampling of the 17,722 documents thus far released under the Freedom of Information Act, which we have reviewed. These documents which were withheld from defense attorneys during Mr. Peltier's trial clearly show that a covert, illegal counter-intelligence program targeting the American Indian Movement leaders and members was first hatched by the Nixon White House. The conspiracy included President Nixon, Special Counsel, John Dean III, F.B.I. directors J. Edgar Hoover and Mark Felt, the Justice Department, and the Central Intelligence Agency. Their action places them in violation of their own charter prohibiting spying and targeting United States citizens. In this case members and leaders of the American Indian Movement.

More outrageous is the following documented fact. On the date of April 6, 1976 Senator James O. Eastland, Chairman of, and Presiding convened a session of the Senate Judiciary Sub-Committee To Investigate The Administration Of The Internal Security Act. Sub-Committee members present were Senators John MCLlellan of Arkansas, Birch Bayh of Indiana, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, and William F. Scott of Virgina. Senator Eastland called one witness. That witness was Douglas Durham who was exposed by the American Indian Movement as an F.B.I. Agent/Operative and held no position in the American Indian Movement. This individual was proven to be a pathological liar under oath, and with direction of the F.B.I. blatantly perjured himself before the Senate Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate.

The misinformation campaign of the F.B.I. continues at the present time against efforts to correct this injustice by freeing Mr. Peltier. Could it be that opponents to freeing Mr. Peltier such as Majority Leader Senator Tom Dashle of South Dakota, Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois, William J. Clinton, and others are again being deceived? We must ask that question. (See http://www.aimovement.org/csi/index.html Council on Security and Intelligence, to review a sampling of the 17,722 pages of declassified documents that were released upon our request under the Freedom of Information Act which were withheld from defense attorneys by the F.B.I. during Mr. Peltier's trial).

At this time we are requesting the Honorable Members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees of the United States Congress to implement Congressional oversight of the Parole Commission. In 1984 the Comprehensive Crime Control Act was passed, the act set forth the total abolition of the U.S. Parole Commission, and made mandatory minimum sentencing on a federal level.

Mr. Leonard Peltier is not only eligible for parole, but is long over due. In 1994 the U.S. Parole Commission examined Mr. Peltier's conduct since his imprisonment, factored severity rate of the crime he was convicted of, and determined to be eligible for release after 188 months (16 years) of imprisonment under Parole Commission guidelines. Since then Mr. Peltier has undergone one full parole hearing and three interim parole hearings and has been arbitrarily denied. Mr. Peltier's next full hearing is scheduled for 2008. According to law, the Parole Commission is required to justify their reasons for denying a prisoner parole beyond what the guidelines set forth. However, the commission has failed to articulate any rational reasoning for doing so, and have demonstrated bias and discrimination towards Mr. Peltier. For the above-sited reasons it is imperative that Congress follows and implements its own legislative enactment and abolish the U.S. Parole Commission and release Mr. Peltier.

At this time we are requesting that the Honorable members of the United States Congress set forth a new chapter in United States history with American Indian people, and uphold an exemplary standard of morale, and professional ethics for its government agencies and agents as it pertains to constitutional law, protection, due process, rights to a fair trial, and the twenty-five year legal battle of Mr. Peltier and his fight for truth and freedom.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Respectfully,

Vernon Bellecourt
National Representative
American Indian Movement
Grand Governing Council

Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Actor, Activist and Goodwill Ambassador
For the International Indian Treaty Council and
American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council

Stephanie Autumn
Coordinator of American Indian Movement
Task Force to Free Leonard Peltier

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Sample Letter from the Leonard Peltier Committee to Senator Patrick Leahy
2. Letter to Senator Orin Hatch, Chairman Judiciary Committee from the American Indian Movement, 12/6/99
3. Letters between W. Mark Felt, Acting Director of FBI and John Wesley Dean III, Counsel to President Nixon
4. FBI teletype, "Lock Peltier into this case," (The Resmurs) the code name for reservation murders
5. File #1 Exemption Explanations: Reason for the censorship of documents-typical field report on AIM activities, 8/24/73
6. File #100-462483, Volume #1, Memorandum to E.S. Miller from G.C. Moore, re: Recruitment of Extremist Informants-Memo from FBI Director W. Mark Felt asking, "Are you sure we should go this far?"
7. File 21, Chicago Public Broadcasting Station News Program, WTTW, manuscript of program aired 3/12/75, televising Douglas Durham's confession
8. Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate, Ninety Fourth Congress, Second Session, April 6, 1976
9. File #11, CIA requested to furnish information, and complying with request, 12/5/73
10. File #22, the use of Special Agents of the FBI in paramilitary law enforcement operation in Indian country in lieu of the use of troops

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ATTACHMENT #1
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Leahy,

I want to begin this letter by thanking you for all of your fine work in support of civil rights and justice. Your courage and integrity are admired by many. I also want to congratulate you on your new position in the Judiciary Committee. I am very encouraged to see that you will be overseeing such an important government duty.

I am writing today to express my firm support for top to bottom investigations of the FBI as called for by both Senator Schumer and Senator Grassley. There is an obvious pattern of FBI misconduct involving the withholding of evidence and obstruction of justice which must be examined and halted. Such conduct puts in jeopardy our nation’s concepts of democracy, open government, and equal justice.

I am especially concerned with the FBI’s treatment of Leonard Peltier, the Native American rights activist who Amnesty International calls a “political prisoner” who should be “immediately and unconditionally released.” Mr. Peltier has been imprisoned for over twenty-five years, following his highly controversial conviction of the 1975 murders of two FBI agents. During Mr. Peltier’s trial, the FBI and U.S. Prosecutors emphatically swore that every FBI document had been handed over to the defense. Yet, years later a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit would force the release of over 17,000 FBI documents which had in fact been withheld. Had the jury been able to consider this evidence at trial, I have no doubt that Mr. Peltier would be free today.

Among the documents was a formerly concealed ballistic test, which proved that the fatal bullets could not have come from the gun tied to Mr. Peltier at trial. The exposure of the test prompted the U.S. Prosecutor to admit during subsequent oral arguments, “we can’t prove who shot those agents”. Yet, a new trial was denied on technical grounds, even though the court found that, “There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to him in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government's case.” The judge who authored the denial now supports Mr. Peltier’s release.

To make matters worse, the FBI continues to withhold over 6000 documents pertaining to the Peltier case today, come twenty- six years after the incident. We are convinced that these files contain even more critical information.

We also note that Mr. Peltier’s conviction is deeply rooted in the Pine Ridge “Reign of Terror.” During this period, the FBI cooperated with vigilantes who killed over 60 members and supporters of the American Indian Movement and terrorized, assaulted and battered scores of others.

Given all of the above, I am asking you to initiate a Senate investigation of the FBI, which will include a comprehensive examination of the Peltier case, including the subpoena of 6,000 FBI documents still withheld today.

Thank you for your time and consideration to this matter.

Sincerely,

(name)

cc. Senator Grassly
Senator Schumer

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ATTACHMENT #2
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
December 6, 1999

Senator Orrin Hatch
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Hatch,

In the interest of justice, human rights, and fairness, we respectfully request that you and your office support our request that the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate hold hearings on the Oglala Lakota Nation's Reservation at Pine Ridge, South Dakota. We request the appointment of a Special Investigator to investigate, not only the recent deaths of Indian people in Rapid City and Mobridge, South Dakota, and in White Clay, Nebraska, but the many unsolved deaths that occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the violent and turbulent 1970's that took place during and after the armed confrontation between Indian people and U.S. Government forces at Wounded Knee in 1973.

Attached to this letter is a sampling of the first of 17,722 pages of FBI, CIA, White House, and other U.S. Government documents declassified under the Freedom of Information Act. Another 6,000-plus pages have been withdrawn from various U.S. Government files and placed under a National Security cover following hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act, and other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Ninety Fourth Congress, Second Session, April 6, 1976.

Only one witness was called. That witness was Douglas Durham, an exposed FBI agent operative, one of several uncovered by the American Indian Movement Council on Security and Intelligence. Many others are yet to be exposed, some, no doubt, are still operating undercover.

This Committee on the Judiciary of the United States now must investigate what role the FBI and their extremist agent/informants, and other U.S. Government agencies played during the reign of terror in 1973 and thereafter in South Dakota. The families of the victims have waited long enough, such as the families of Anita Wilcox, Jeanette Bissonette, Pedro Bissonette, Byron DeSersa, Anna Mae Aquash, Jancita Eagle Deer, Frank Clearwater, and Buddy LaMont who was a Vietnam Veteran murdered by FBI snipers at Wounded Knee, 1973. There are dozens of other uninvestigated and unsolved murders of Indian people that took place during this time that need to be investigated as well.

Moreover, the Committee on Judiciary must include in its investigation the shoot out on June 26, 1975 at the Jumping Bull residence on the Pine Ridge Reservation which claimed the lives of Joseph Stuntz, and FBI agents, Ronald Williams, and Jack Coler in what appears to have been a botched FBI operation due to the actions of their extremist agent informants. Additionally, the Committee must review the Justice Department's prosecution of Leonard Peltier who is still in federal prison after 23 years.

Sincerely,

Vernon Bellecourt
National Representative of the
American Indian Movement Grand Govering Council

cc:
- President William J. Clinton
- Senator Ben Night Horse Campbell, Chairman of Senate Indian Affairs
- Senator Paul Wellstone
- Senator Orrin Hatch
- The Honorable Elsie Meeks, Commission Member, U.S. Commission on Human Rights
- President Harold D. Salway, Oglala Lakota Nation
- The Honorable Mary Francis Berry, Chairperson U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
- The Honorable Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States
- Senator Patrick J. Leahy
- Senator Tom Daschle
- Senator Tim Johnson

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ATTACHMENT #3
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20535

December 4, 1972

BY LIAISON

Honorable John Wesley Dean, III
Counsel to the President
The White House
Washington, D. C.

Dear Mr. Dean:

Reference is made to your name check request concerning Hank Adams and some other individuals. Attached are separate memoranda concerning the following individuals:

Hank Adams
Clyde Bellecourt
Vernon Bellecourt
Russell C. Means
Sidney Mills

Sincerely yours,
For the Acting Director

W.Mark Felt
Acting Associate Director
Enclosures (9)

CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL ATTACHED

Felt/Dean Original Letter 1.

REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535

December 1, 1972

BY LIAISON

Honorable John Wesley Dean, III
Counsel to the President
The White House
Washington, D. C.

Dear Mr. Dean:

Reference is made to your name check request concerning Dennis Banks and some other individuals. Attached are separate memoranda concerning the following individuals:

Dennis Banks
Robert R. Burnett
Andy Callone
Carter Camp

Sincerely yours,
For the Acting Director

W. Mark Felt
Acting Associate Director

Enclosures (4)

Felt/Dean Original Letter 2.

CONFIDENTIAL

705 PM 11-04-72 MRF
PRIORITY
TO: WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM 0 10
ATT.: JOHN W. DEAN III
U. S. SECRET SERVICE (PID) 015
ATTORNEY GENERAL (BY MESSENGER)
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL (BY MESSENGER)
FROM: ACTING DIRECTOR FBI

CONFIDENTIAL

AMERICAN INDIAN DEMONSTRATION, WASHINGTON D.C.

ON NOV. FOUR, SEVENTY TWO, SOURCE WHO HAS FURNISHED RELIABLE INFORMATION IN THE PAST, ADVISED THAT AT APPROXIMATLY SIX THIRTY AM, TODAY, HE RECEIVED A CALL FROM ANDY CALLONE (PHONETIC) END PAGE ONE
PAGE TWO CONFIDENTIAL

WHO ADVISED HE WAS IN BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, WASHINGTON D. C. AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT PRESS (AIMP). AIMP IS A LIBERAL POLITICAL SPLINTER GROUP OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY. CALLONE HAD MET SOURCE DURING ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATION IN NEW HAVEN APRIL, SEVENTYTWO AND GAVE CURRENT ADDRESS AS COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORAD0 TELEPHONE NUMBER, THREE ZERO THREE -SIX EIGHT FIVE - ONE ONE TWO NINE.

CALLONE STATED THAT INDIANS HAD BARRICADED THEMSELVES IN BUILDING HOUSING BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AND WERE PREPARING FOR A CONFRONTATIOI WITH POLICE IF FORCEFULLY REMOVED. CALLONE'S PURPOSE IN CALLING WAS TO HAVE SOURCE CONTACT MEMBERS OF VIET NAM VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (VVAW) AND MEMBERS OF ANTI WAR AND REVOLUTIONARY GROUPS TO HAVE THEM CARAVAN TO WASHINGTON AND JOIN IN INDIAN PROTEST. ONCE IN WASHINGTON ARRIVING GROUPS ARE TO CONTACT THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS INSIDE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS WHO WILL LET THEM IN:

VERNON BELLECOURT, CLYDE BELLECOURT, SIDNEY MILLS, OR ANDY CALLONE. CALLONE ADVISED THAT WASHINGTON D. C. VVAW IS NOT JOINING PROTEST FOR FEAR OF REPERCUSSIONS. SOURCE ADVISED THAT CALLONE END PAGE TWO

DECLASSIFIED
E.O. 12958, Sect. 3.6
By SRG NARA, Date 9/9/97

PAGE THREE
INTENDS TO CALL CONTACTS IN SURROUNDING STATES FOR SUPPORT.
SOURCE EXPECTS NO SUPPORT FROM STATE OF CONQECTICUT.
WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT AND GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION ADVISED.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ATTACHMENT #4
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An FBI teletype three weeks after the shootout which indicates that
in the absense of any real knowledge of who may have killed the two agents,
the FBI was to develop information to lock Peltier into the case

RESMURS
DAILY SUMMARY TELETYPE
RE RAPID CITY DAILY SUMMARY TELETYPE TO BUREAU AND OTHER OFFICES DATED JULY 16, 1975.
OSCAR BEAR RUNNER

BEAR RUNNER APPEARED AT THE FEDERAL BUILDING IN RAPID CITY ON JULY 16 1975, AND PUBLICLY TORE UP THE COPY OF THE SUBPEONA WHICH HAD BEEN ISSUED FOR HIM. HE STATED THE SUBPOENA WAS NOT VALID AS IT HAD BEEN SERVED ON HIS FATHER. HE WAS SERVED WITH ANOTHER SUBPOENA BUT MADE THE STATEMENT THAT HE WOULD NOT HONOR IT AS HE HAD NOT APPEARED AT THAT LOCATION VOLUNTARILY.

1) COMPLETELY IDENTIFING ALL OF THE SUSPECTS, ADDING NEW CASES OR ELIMINATING THEM AS APPROPRIATE;

2) ESTABLISHING THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE SUSPECTS DURING THE PERTINENT PERIOD;

3) IDENTIFY AND LOCATE ALL OF THE RESIDENTS OF "TENT CITY" WHO WERE THERE DURING ANY PERIOD OF IT'S EXSISTENCE AND/OR WHOSE FINGER PRINTS HAVE BEEN FOUND ON MATERIAL TAKEN FROM "TENT CITY;"

4) EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE AND CONNECTING IT TO THE SUSPECTS;

5) DEVELOP INFORMATION TO LOCK PELTIER AND BLACK HORSE INTO THIS CASE

6) DEVELOP ADDITIONAL CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS AND SOURCES

7) COORDINATE WITH AUXILIARY OFFICES IN ORDER TO FULLY DEVELOP BACKGROUND AND ACTIVITIES OF SUSPECTS WHO EITHER LIVE IN THEIR AREA OR HAVE ASSOCIATES THERE;

8) ATTEMPTING TO DEVELOP WITNESSES AND SOURCES WHO CAN AND WILL TESTIFY AS TO THE ACTUAL EVENTS OF THE AFTENOON OF JUNE 26, 1975. AS THE BUREAU IS AWARE, THE GRAND JURY IS BEING USED IN AN EFFORT TO FACILITATE THIS LATTER ASPECT WHERE WITTNESSES ARE RELUCTANT TO FURNISH INFORMATION.

An FBI teletype three weeks after the shootout which indicates that in the absence of any real knowledge of who may have killed the two agents, the FBI was to "develop information to lock Peltier into the case.

RESMURS-Daily Summary FBI Teletype 7/16/75.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ATTACHMENT #5
_________________________________________________________________________________
#1
EXEMPTION EXPLANATIONS: REASONING FOR THE CENSORSHIP
TYPICAL FIELD REPORT ON AIM ACTIVITIES
8/24/73

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION-PRIVACY ACTS SECTION
READING ROOM LIST
COMPILED AS OF 10/31/94

The following material is available for review in the freedom of Information-Privacy Acts (FOIPA) Reading Room at FBI Headquarters. Appointments should be made no later than 48 hours in advance by calling (202) 324-3477.

Subject matter

1. Adamic, Louis - Pages Available 632

2. Addams, Jane - Pages Available 188

3. Algren, Nelson - Pages Available 687
a. Headquarters - Pages Available 325
b. Albany (Duplicates) - 0
c. Chicago - Pages Available 131
d. Indianapolis - Pages Available 178
e. New York - Pages Available 53

Ali, Noble Drew
SEE: Moorish Science Temple of America

4. Amerasia - Pages Available 12,583
a. Headquarters Pages Available 7,175
b. New York - Pages Available 5,678

5. America First Committee - Pages Available 2,939

6. American Friends Service Committee - Pages Available (Main File) - 3,498

7. American Indian Movement - Pages Available 17,722

8. American POWs/MIAs in Southeast Asia - Pages Available 6,944

9. Ananda Marga - Pages Available 1,510

10. Atlanta Child Murders - Pages Available 2,825

11. Ball, Lucille - Pages Available 46
Baker, Norma Jean
SEE: Marilyn Monroe

12. Barker, Arthur - Pages Available 252

13. Barker, Fred - Pages Available 16

WHITE HOUSE CENTRAL FILES
SUBJECT FILES
IN
(Indian Affairs)

This subject category contains materials pertaining to Indian affairs such as land development and use; guidance and assistance in economic, and social matters; educational and welfare services; resources management in agriculture, forests, irrigation and trust property; law enforcement; and relocation services. Primary correspondents are the President, Vice President Spiro Agnew, Daniel Moynihan, Leonard Garment, Bradley H. Patterson, Jr., Barbara Green Kilberg, John Ehlichman and Tod Hullin. Related subjects may be found in the following categories:

FG 19-9 Bureau of Indian Affairs
FG 39-6 Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
FG 142 Indian Claims Commission
FG 173 National Council on Indian Opportunity
FG 279 Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
FG 999 Indian Trust Council Authority

The Executive file contains materials from Indian tribal officials and organizations such as the National Congress of American Indians and the American Indian Movement, congressmen, governors, charitable organizations, educational institutions and the general public relating to Indian affairs. Included are materials from the Vice President's Council on Indian Opportunity, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Economic Opportunity, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Found in this category are materials concerning Indian legislation, including the Taos Pueblo 'Blue Lake Bill (H.R. 471), the restoration of Yakima Indian land (E.O. 11670), and the Indian Education Act of 1971 (S. 659). There are also materials relating to Indian demonstrations, including the occupations of Alcatraz Island, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

The General file contains materials from school children, the general public, Indians, Indian Tribal officials and organizations, congressmen, governors, educational institutions and charitable organizations concerning Indian affairs. There are many telegrams and group letters relating to the impoundment of Indian Health Service funds by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the occupations of Alcatraz Island, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The materials from Indian tribal officials, organizations and individuals concerns Indian legislation, policy statements, tribal politics, reservation administration and legal matters, including previous treaties with the United States government and the tax and draft status of Indians. Also found in this category are materials relating to reports, meetings, studies and programs of government agencies responsible for Indian affairs.

Original Copy Special Files Materials

ITEM REMOVED FROM THIS FILE FOLDER

Restricted document has been removed. See document entry number I on Document Withdrawal Record (GSA Form 7279) or NARS Withdrawal Sheet (GSA Form 7122), located in the fron of this folder, for a description of the item and an explanation for its removal.

Special Files Materials*

Scope and Content Note

Richard C. Tufaro served as a staff assistant of the White House Domestic Council from April 1972 to July 1973. During those fifteen months, he held two principal and concurrent assignments to other organizations. The initial detail was to the Interagency Classification Review Committee (ICRC), in which he was concerned with the problems of expediting the declassification of security classified documents; and, in the second, the Cabinet Committee to Combat terrorism. Tufaro performed his duties with the ICRC under the supervision of John S. D. Eisenhower; and while engaged with CCCT activities, he represented Kenneth R. Cole, Jr., Executive Director of the Domestic Council.

Tufaro's materials are arranged into two series: Subject Files and Chronological Files. The first series is larger than the second, and covers the period between July 1972 and June 1973. These subject files reflect in some detail Tufaro's active participation in the working sessions of the CCCT. The correspondence, memoranda, notes, telegrams, cables, and reports, of the CCCT in Tufaro's files also indicate the White House's deep concern and determined efforts to combat international terrorism. Significant topics and 'subjects in the series consist of highly classified and sensitive information contributed by the members of the CCCT.

*The White House Special Files Unit maintained files considered sensitive either for reason of political content or security classification. This scope and content note does not describe all the materials of Richard . Tufaro. As other groups of his material are processed and described, the resulting finding aids will be attached.

Original Copy Special Files Materials.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
American Indian Movement's Council on Security and Intelligence

These links take you to scanned images of declassified FBI, CIA, Justice Department and White House documents obtained by AIM under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Listing of original document images in directory: FBI Images
Info on AIM from the FBI., 1970s

ORIGINAL FBI DOCUMENTS-THUMBNAIL IMAGES.

See Council on Security and Intelligence for more Information:
Council on Security and Intelligence.

4- -694a (Rev. 12-4-86)

EXPLANATION OF EXEMPTIONS

SUBSECTIONS OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 552

(b)(1) (A)specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order;

(b)(2) related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency;

(b)(3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), provided that such statute

(A)requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or
(B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;

(b)(4) trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential;

(b)(5)inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency;

(b)(6)personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(b)(7)records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of
such law enforcement records or information

(A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings,
(B) would deprive a person of a night to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication,
(C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,
(D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution which furnished information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or information compiled by a criminal law enforcement
authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential source,
(E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law,-or
(F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life of physical safety of any individual;

(b) (8) contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; or

(b) (9) geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells,

SUBSECTIONS OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 552a

(d) (5) information compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action proceeding;

(j) (2) material reporting investigative efforts pertaining to the enforcement of criminal law including efforts to prevent,
control, or reduce crime or apprehend criminals, except records of arrest;

(k) (1) information which is currently and properly classified pursuant to Executive Order 12356 in the interest of the
national defense or foreign policy, for example, information involving intelligence sources or methods;

(k) (2) investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes, other than criminal, which did not result in loss of
a right, benefit or privilege under Federal programs, or which would identify a source who furnished information
pursuant to a promise that his/her identity would be held in confidence;

(k) (3) material maintained in connection with providing protective services to the President of the United States
or any other individual pursuant to the authority of Title 18, United States Code, Section 3056;

(k) (4) required by statute to be maintained and used solely as statistical records;

(k) (5) investigatory material compiled solely for the purpose of determining suitability eligibility, or qualifications
for Federal civilian employment or for access to classified information, the disclosure of which would reveal the
identity of the person who furnished information pursuant to a promise that his identity would be held in confidence;

(k) (6) testing or examination material used to determine individual qualifications for appointment or promotion in
Federal Government service the release of which would compromise the testing or examination process;

(k) (7) material used to determine potential for promotion in the armed services, the disclosure of which would reveal the
identity of the person who furnished the material pursuant to a promise that his identity would be held in confidence.

MEMORANDA FILES.

SUBJECT FILES, CONFIDENTIAL FILES 1969-74.

White House Container Files (Indian Affairs).

Document Withdrawal Record (Nixon Project).

Document Withdrawal Record (Nixon Project 2).

Document Withdrawal Record (Nixon Project 3).

FILE DESCRIPTION

SUBJECT: American Indian Movement
FILE NO: 100-462483
VOLUME NO: 1
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

Memorandum

1-Mr. E.S Miller
1-Mr. R.E. Gebhardt
1-Mr. L.M. Walters
1-Mr. G.C.Moore

To: Mr. E.S. Miller

From: G.C. Moore

Subject: American Indian Movement

Extremist Matters

Extremist Informants

all information contained herein is unclassified

Date 12/29/83 By: sp5rig/pmc

The purpose of this memorandum is to secure for the sending of the attached airtel to all offices the implementation
of an intensified effort to identify violence-prone individuals or organizations within the American Indian movement
who may be planning future violent demonstrations or criminal activities.

157-27740-1

By memorandum dated November 21, 1972, Mr.Ralph E. Erickson, Deputy Attorney General, made reference
to recent occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D. C. which resulted in
substantial destruction of the interior of the building and the theft of government property and documents.
He indicated that the constitutional rights to assemble and protest peacefully are recognized however, the
recent activities in Washington, D. C. have gone far beyond constitutionally protected activities. It is of
particular concern to the Department that similar circumstances may arise in the future without
sufficient advance information regarding the leadership, numbers to be involved and plans -- whether
violent or nonviolent. In order to lessen the possibility of a recurrence of such activities Mr. Erickson
requested that the Bureau intensify its efforts to identify violent-prone individuals or organizations
within the American Indian movement who may be planning future violent demonstrations or criminal activities.

In order to be in a position to keep the Attorney General and Mr. Erickson advised on a current basis in
accordance with the request, the attached airtel is being directed to all offices for the purpose of
implementing an informant development program within the American Indian Movement so that we will be
able to furnish the requested information on a current basis.

Mr. Erickson's memorandum has been acknowledged by separate communication.

ACTION:
That the attached airtel be approved and sent.

100-462483-73
CONTINUED OVER
DEC 11, 1972
ENCLOSURE DEC 15,1972

Original MEMORANDUM ON EXTREMIST MATTERS.
Original MEMORANDUM TO E.S. MILLER.
Original MEMORANDUM FROM W.M. FELT TO DIRECTOR, FBI.
Original MEMORANDUM FROM W.M. FELT TO DIRECTOR, FBI Pg2.

To: SAC, Albany

From: For the Acting Director, FBI

W. Mark Felt

Acting Associate Director

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT

EXTREMIST MATTERS

EXTREMIST INFORMANTS

DATED 12/15/72

As a result of the recent occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C. the Deputy Attorney
General by letter dated November 21, 1972, requested the Bureau intensify its efforts in identifying violence-prone
individuals or organizations within the American Indian Movement who may be planning future violent demonstrations
or criminal activities.

Accordingly, each SAC should have a survey conducted and following data should be furnished to Headquarters:

1.) Approximate number of Indians residing within the division;
2.) Number of reservations including the number of Indians residing thereon;
3.) Identity of the tribes within the division

2- All Field Offices

ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED, DATE, 12/29/83

Original MEMORANDUM FROM W.M. FELT TO SAC, Albany Pg1.

Airtel to Albany Page 2

Re: American Indian Movement

4) Identity of any known extremist organizations or extremist individuals active within
the Indian community including the Bureau file number, if any.

In order to obtain the desired information, each division having American Indians located
therein should institute a program to develop informants and sources able 'to furnish
information concerning extremists or extremist organizations operating within the American
Indian Movement as well as advance information concerning any future demonstrations or other
activity on the part of American Indians which could result in violence or criminal activities.

Each division should submit to Headquarters the identities of any current sources or informants
which can be utilized in this program as well as specific details of its plan to implement this
informant development program.

The Extremist Intelligence Section of the Domestic Intelligence Division has assumed supervision
of the intelligence gathering aspect of this matter. Therefore, investigations instituted with the
aim of developing informants in this field are to be handled under the 170 classification and in
accordance with instructions set forth in Section 130 of the Manual of Instructions. Investigations
instituted on individual extremists or extremist organizations are to be handled under the 157
classification and in accordance with instructions set forth in Section 122 of the Manual of Instruction.

All investigations in conjunction with the intelligence gathering aspect of the American Indian Movement
must be most discreet. Nevertheless, it is imperative and essential the Bureau earn of any indications of
advance planning or organized efforts to create disturbances and civil unrest by extremist organizations or
individuals within the American Indian Movement.

Original MEMORANDUM FROM W.M. FELT TO SAC, Albany Pg2.

Airtel to Albany
Re: American Indian Movement

In this regard it is pointed out that recent press releases have indicated that only approximately one half
of the American Indians living in this country reside on reservations. It is also alleged that the more will
want Indians giving leadership to the current extremist activities within the American Indian Movement reside
in the urban areas of the country and not on reservations. Therefore, your efforts must be directed toward
developing information of extremist nature on Indian reservations but must, also be directed toward developing
information regarding those Indians living in the urban areas that are promoting extremist activities within
the American Indian Movement.

Your attention is also directed to teletype dated November 24, 1972, from "for acting Director, FBI, W.Mark Felt,
Acting Associate Director," to all SAC's except Anchorage, Honolulu, and San Juan captioned "WASHAIRP." You
should coordinate your efforts with the investigations being conducted in accordance with the above-referred-to
teletype with particular emphasis upon developing sources and informants within the American Indian Movement that
may become evident as a result of the investigation currently being conducted in the WASHAIRP case.

Results of this survey as well as your plans for the informant program are to be furnished to the Bureau no later
that 12/15/1972. In the future when submitting your Monthly Status Report Extremist Informants- Extremist other
groups (White Black), you should list under the miscellaneous section progress being made in developing informants
in the American Indian Movement. The FD-405a should list the identities of individuals who may have participated
in or are active in planing acts of extremist violence.

The Deputy Attorney General has requested that we keep him and the Attorney General advised on a current basis of
our results achieved in this regard.

(Why do we have to say this? Will SAC of the FBI not carry out an order from the Acting?)

Original MEMORANDUM FROM W.M. FELT TO SAC, Albany Pg3.

FILE DESCRIPTION
SUBJECT: American Indian Movement
FILE NO. 100-462483
VOLUME NO. 45
FBI

Date: 3/13/75

Transmit the following (type in plain text or code)

Via: Airtel (Priority)

To: Director, FBI (100-462483)

From: SAC, CHICAGO (105-34860)

SUBJECT: AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT (AIM)

EM-AIM

(00:MP)

Re CG teletype, 3/12/75

Referenced teletype advised Channel 11, WTTW-TV, Chicago's Public Broadcasting Station news
Program televised at 7:00 p.m., 3/12/75, a discussion of matters relating to allegation
DOUGLAS DURHAM, Chief Security officer for AIM was a paid FBI informer.

Attached hereto are two copies of verbatim transcription, consisting of eight pages, for the
Bureau and Recipient offices, of TV news broadcast.

Copies being furnished to OM and MI in view of material set forth pertaining to their Division.

ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED

HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED

Date 1/27/84 By sp5

2-Bureau (RM)
2-Minneapolis (RM)
2-Omaha (100-8748) (RM)
2-Milwaukee (157-2028) (RM)
2-Chicago

sld

(10)

Approved by: Special Agent in Charge

Original MEMORANDUM FROM SAC, Chicago to FBI Director Pg 1.

MP 157-1458

And approximately one-half mile south of a building occupied by Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense
Committee workers, as they approached BLACKED OUT residence they noted several new gates in the pasture
leading to the home. A bunker with an American flag flying upside down was noted on the hill behind the
home and at the gate.

One of the bunkers was made of Shell gas tanks and tires which were filled with sand and boards.

He heard rifle fire which he considered to be target practice coming from the direction of BLACKED OUT residence
during the past week.

Efforts are continuing to locate fugitive PELTIER and other fugitives who are believed located in the area of
Special Agents working Pine Ridge Indian Reservation are fully aware of the potentials for danger which they may
face in connection with their investigations and as in connection with the foregoing , strict precautions are taken.

Original MEMORANDUM FROM SAC, Chicago to FBI Director Pg 2.

#21

3/12/73 re: WITW broadcast of Durham's confession

Manuscript of Program

Memo: re: Concern over other informants from Minneapolis.

Suggests pulling other informants out of AIM until trials are finished.

Determination by FBI director not to pull informants, based on determination that Durham and two other informants did
not invade the defense establishment.

5/16/75 Information on whereabouts of fugitive Peltier

Public News Center, a television news show on Chicago's WTTW-TV (Channel 11) on their 7:00 p.m. news show,
March 12, 1975, presented the following information relating to the American Indian Movement (AIM).

JOHN CALLAWAY, WTTW-TV News Editor and News Show Moderator, commenced news program, Introducing Joel Wiesman, WTTW-TV Political Editor.

Other speakers on news program as indicated below are SCOTT SIMON, WTTW-TV news reporter and Sanford
Unger, Washington Editor of the "Atlantic Monthly".

Set forth is a verbatim transcription of WTTW-TV news show relating to AIM.

FBI

Date: 4/7/75

Transmit the following (type in plain text or code)

Via Airtel Airmail (Priority)

To: Director, FBI (ATTENTION: INTELLIGENCE DIVISION)

From: SAC, MINNEAPOLIS (157-1458)

SUBJECT: AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT (AIM)

DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMANTS

This is to advise FBIHQ that in our view the operation of informants in the American Indian Movement at this time has
more disadvantage than advantages and, therefore, for the time being this practice should be discontinued.

Ever since the disclosure of DOUGLAS DURHAM as an FBI source, we have been deluged with motions, hearings, etc., and,
most particularly, with unfavorable comments by the media concerning the issue of an FBI informant penetrating the
defense establishment. Regardless of what we in the FBI may think, we must take cognizance of the generally unfavorable
reaction that this disclosure has precipitated.

At the present time, in the area covered by the Minneapolis Division, many AIM leaders are under indictment for Federal
and/ or State offenses. Some of the individuals involved include DENNIS BANKS, RUSSELL MEANS, VERNON BELLECOURT,
CLYDE BELLECOURT, CARTER CAMP, STANLEY HOLDER, AND LEONARD CROW DOG. All of these individuals will be in
court sometime during 1975 to face an assortment of charges, some of which stem from Wounded Knee and some pertain
to other situations. At the present time, a trial is underway in state court involving AIM personnel causing damage at the
Minnehaha Courthouse in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Trials will be held in state court in Custer, South Dakota, in the
near future for the Custer riots that occurred in early February, 1973. We will have further non-leadership Wounded
Knee trials in Sioux City, Iowa, including the very important case of the individuals charged with shooting an FBI Agent
during the Wounded Knee Occupation. It is expected that soon a new trial date will be set in Federal Court for the
Wounded Knee Leadership Cases.

All of the above criminal charges will be unnecessarily placed in jeopardy by operating FBI informants or sources until
all of these trials are complete. It is simply not enough for us to say that we have no way of assuring that the informant
will not in fact, be privy to defense strategy in these cases. Of particular significance is the fact that a low echelon
informant can seldom furnish meaningful information. The higher the informant is in an organization such as AIM, the
more vulnerable we are to having a case dismissed and severe criticism directed at us because of the operation of an
informant who may have been privy to defense strategy.

Another aspect of this issue is the fact that the violent activities of the AIM movement appears to be spontaneous; and,
thus far at least, FBI informants have been unable to advise us in advance of these situations; thus we can say that
operating these informants has not so far at least prevented any of their violent activities.

I am instructing in this office that all AIM informants be immediately closed, and that we have no further contact with
them until after the trials are completed. Furthermore, we do not want informants coming into this territory from other
Field Offices.

At the completion of the trials mentioned above, we will reassess our position in this matter and submit an appropriate
recommendation to FBIHQ.

ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED

HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED

Date 1/27/84 By sp5

0-Bureau (RM)

1-Minneapolis (RM)

:jwh

Approved by

(Special Agent in Charge)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES-THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT

HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE INTERNAL SECURITY ACT AND OTHER INTERNAL SECURITY LAWS OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE
SECOND SESSION

April 6, 1976
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
James O. Eastland, Mississippi, Chairman
John H. McClellan, Arkansas
Roman L. Hruska, Nebraska
Philip A. Hart, Michigan
Hiram L. Fong, Hawaii
Edward M. Kennedy, Massachussetts
Hugh Scott, Pennsylvania
Burch Bayu, Indiana
Strom Thurmond, South Carolina
Quentin N. Burdick, North Dakota
Charles McMathias, Jr., Maryland
Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia
William L. Scott, Virginia
John V. Tunney, California
James Abourezk, South Dakota

Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws
James O. Eastland, Mississippi, Chairman

John L. McClellan, Arkansas
Birch Bayh, Indiana
Strom Thurmond, South Carolina
William L. Scott

Richard L. Schultz, Chief Counsel
Alfonso L. Tarabochia, Chief Investigator
Robert J. Short, Senior Investigator
Mary E. Dooley, Research Director
David Martin, Senior Analyst

RESOLUTION

Resolved by the Internal Security Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, That the testimony of
Douglas Frank Durham, taken in executive session on April 6, 1976, be printed and made public.
James C. Eastland, Chairman
Approved, August 9, 1976

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice at 10:10 a.m. in the Russell Senate Office Building, Senator
James O. Eastland, chairman presiding.

Also present: Richard L. Schultz, chief counsel; Robert J. Short, senior investigator; David Martin
senior analyst.

The CHAIRMAN. The subcommittee will come to order.

We are here today to receive testimony concerning the American Indian Movement. There is no question in the
minds of the great majority of Americans that our Indian citizens have many legitimate grievances and that there
is much that must be done to eliminate the inequities and improve the quality of their lives. Many people an
organizations are working to bring about the needed reforms, including the various tribal councils, the American
Indian Association, church groups which have a strong interest in the problem, and dedicated members of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs who realize that our treatment of our Indian minority over the years leaves much to be desired.

Several years ago there appeared on the scene a new organization, the American Indian Movement, which claimed to
speak for the majority of the American Indians. It attracted a lot of public attention, primarily as a result of
its violent occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building in Washington in the month of November 1972 and
its occupation of the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota for a period of 11 weeks beginning in February of 1973.
In the case of the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the American Indian Movement militants did $2 million
dollars worth of damage and made off with entire file cabinets of records-despite the fact that they had been given
assurance that there would be no prosecution and the participants would be given return fare to their reservations
or home addresses. The occupation of Wounded Knee, similarly, resulted in major damage to buildings in the town as
well as the death of two Indians and the wounding of three Federal agents.

As a result of the extensive publicity the American Indian Movement received from these episodes, the public
impression was that the American Indian Movement spoke for the masses of the Indian people. This, of course, is
simply not true. The elected tribal councils speak for the masses of the Indian people - and the record is clear
that the elected tribal councils look upon the American Indian Movement as a radical and subversive organization.

The purpose of today's hearing is to try to establish whether there is, in fact, reason for believing that the
American Indian Movement is a radical subversive organization rather than an organization committed to improving
the lot of the American Indians. One of the questions that has to be answered is whether there are any demonstrable
ties between the American Indian Movement and the various Communist movements that exist in our country.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The evidence presented to the Subcommittee, which was supported by extensive documentation, established the following basic facts about the movement:

1. THE TRUE DIMENSIONS OF AIM:
The American Indian Movement does not speak for the Americans Indians. It is a minority which, at the most, number several thousand followers. It is noteworthy that its most spectacular and most publicized activities have never involved more than several hundred people.

2. AIM IS A REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION:
It is a frankly revolutionary organization which is committed to violence, calls for the arming American Indians, has cached explosives and illegally purchased arms, plans kidnappings, and whose opponents have been eliminated in the manner of the Mafia. Some of AIM's leaders and associated have visited Castro Cuba and/or openly consider themselves Marxist/Leninist.

3. FOREIGN TIES:
It has many foreign ties, direct and indirect - with Castro Cuba, with China, with the IRA, with the Palestine Liberation Organization, and with support organizations in various European countries.

4. DOMESTIC EXTREMIST TIES:
In the United States, it has maintained contact with and has received propaganda and other support from a large number of left extremist organizations, including the Weather Underground, the Communist Party, the Trotskyists, the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Black Panther Party, Youth Against War and Fascism, the Indo-China Solidarity Committee, the Prisoners Solidarity Committee, etc.

5. AIM AND THE MEDIA:
AIM's commitment to spectacular actions has resulted in massive media coverage. This coverage, while not always uncritical, has generally been sympathetic - perhaps because of the widespread tendency to convert sympathy for the plight of Indian people into sympathy for AIM, without asking certain essential questions. The sheer mass of the media coverage, moreover, has served to foster a widespread impression in government circles as well as among the general public - that AIM speaks for the great mass of the Indian people.
Regrettably, with rare exceptions, the media have not sought to moderate this impression by seeking out the views of the tribal leaders and the other legitimate leaders of the American Indian peoples.

6. SUPPORT FROM FEDERAL, CHURCH AND OTHER SOURCES:
Taking advantage of the massive public relations build-up they have received from the media, the American Indian Movement has been able to obtain many hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of support from various offices of the Federal government and from a variety of religious organizations, Catholic and Protestant. Threats and the physical occupation of buildings have also been used as instruments of persuasion in promoting Federal and religious funding. AIM has also received substantial sums of money from business, from labor groups, and from private individuals.

7. FINANCIAL ABUSES:
The bulk of the money given to AIM by the United States government and by the churches has been used to radicalize the Indians, to stage confrontations like the occupation of Wounded Knee and the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., and to take care of the personal financial needs of the AIM leaders. Contrary to the representations of AIM in soliciting these funds, they have not been used, except to a very minor extent, to improve the lot of the American Indians.

In a postscript to his testimony, the witness informed the Subcommittee that, to his knowledge AIM has never published a financial statement.

8. THE UNDERCUTTING OF LEGALLY CONSTITUTED INDIAN AUTHORITY:
The supine attitude of government officials in
dealing with manifestations like the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the many hundreds of thousands
of dollars they have lavished on AIM for social programs that were never implemented, and the deferential - indeed,
almost obsequious - manner in which they have conducted their negotiations with representatives of AIM, have not
only strengthened AIM enormously, but have also served to undercut the prestige and authority of the tribal
chairmen and of the National Tribal Chairman's Association. This was thesubject of a bitter complaint to
Secretary of the Interior, Roger Morton, from the National Tribal Chairmen's Association on November 12, 1973.

THE CASE OF JUDGE NICHOL:
Important testimony was given concerning the prejudicial attitude of Federal Judge
Fred Nichol, who on September 19, 1974, dismissed the charges against American Indian Movement leaders Dennis
Banks and Russell Means. In March 1975, the U.S. Attorney's office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, had filed a
strongly worded motion of prejudice against Judge Nichol, asking that he disqualify himself from the remaining
Wounded Knee leadership trials. In the supporting affidavit, the U.S. attorney claimed that Judge Nichol often
expressed respect for the people who were involved in the Wounded Knee takeover, and that during the trial he
had attended a luncheon addressed by defense counsel William Kuntsler and had led a standing ovation for Kunstler
at the conclusion of his speech. The witness testified that in October 1973, Judge Nichol had driven Dennis Banks
and his attorney to his residence, where Judge Nichol and Mrs. Nichol entertained the guests with coffee and
cookies, and Mrs. Nichol was made any honorary member of the American Indian Movement.

THE WITNESS

The witness at this hearing, Mr. Douglas Durham, infiltrated the American Indian Movement under the instructions
of the FBI, won the confidence of Dennis Banks and Russell Means and the other leaders of the movement, and occupied
a series of high level positions in the organization. When Dennis Banks, after being indicted in connection with his
role in the Wounded Knee events, went into hiding in Canada, Mr. Durham was instructed to come to yellow Knife in
the Canadian Northwest Territories, "to get get a small plane and bring a lot of guns ammunition, and money." An
experienced pilot, Durham flew Banks all over the United States in rented plans - that were never paid for,
according to the knowledge of the witness.

Describing his relationship with the American Indian Movement, Mr. Durham - a non-Indian who looks remarkably
like an Indian - said the following:

"My membership in the American Indian Movement began in March 1973, after visiting Wounded Knee for 1 day as a
photographer for a newspaper, 'Pax Today.' The trip to Wounded Knee was made with the knowledge and assistance
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, Larry Bastocky, asked me to become familiar with the Des Moines,
Iowa chapter; assistant director of the Des Moines, Iowa, chapter of the American Indian Movement, and, if possible,
joint it. I was a member of the American Indian Movement for approximately 2 years and achieved the titles of public
relations director of the Des Moines, Iowa chapter; assistant director of the Des Moines chapter; National AIM pilot;
national security director; administrator of U.S. national offices of the American Indian Movement; personal bodyguard
to Dennis Banks; international charge d'affaires. During my 2 year tenure with the American Indian Movement, I collected
considerable information regarding its revolutionary activities, its financing, its association with other groups, its
plans for the bicentennial, the operational goals of National AIM and the personalities and methods of operation of the
national leaders of AIM. I organized and established the national office in St. Paul, Minnesota and traveled around the
United States with national leaders of the American Indian Movement as a national figure."

Mr. Durham testified that, as a paid operative of the FBI, he received approximately $20,000 over a two-year period,
from March 1973 to March 1975 in expense money. The FBI had publicly acknowledged that Durham was a paid operative - and
they have also stated that threats against Durham's life were made in the summer of 1975, based on his involvement with
the American Indian Movement. Mr. Durham has since testified publicly on behalf of the Department of Justice, in a trial
involving the leaders of AIM.

Mr. Durham was repeatedly and rigorously instructed by the FBI during the period of his association with AIM to avoid
putting himself in the posture of transmitting an confidential information relating to the legal defense of the AIM
leaders.

THE ORIGINS OF AIM

The American Indian Movement was launched in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1968 by Clyde Bellecourt, Dennis Banks, and
George Mitchell, all Chippewa Indians from Minnesota. The witness confirmed AIM's claim that a catalyst to its
formation was the inordinate number of Indian Americans in jail in the Minneapolis area - a number completely out
of proportion to the number of Indian residing in the area. Initially, according to the witness, AIM concerned
themselves primarily with the problem of getting Indians out of jail. As Mr. Durham put the matter: "They established
an AIM patrol that attempted to reach the scenes of disturbances in Indian areas prior to the police, or at least at
the same time the police arrived, to act as a mediator in negotiating the release on the scene of Indians being arrested
by the Minneapolis police."

According to Mr. Durham, AIM "was involved in taking over the operation of the CCC program, funded by the OEO, in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. The assistance of the Attorney Douglas Hall and the Reverend Dr. Paul Boe was used to gain the
support within the CCC program (CCC stands for Citizens Community Center, a Minneapolis anti-poverty program set up in
1967) to operate the American Indian Movement..."

A fact sheet distributed by AIM in early 1974 claimed that AIM had played a role in more than 150 demonstrations prior
to November 1972. The first demonstration referred to was a "nationwide protest in 7 major cities in early 1970 against
BIA treatment of urban Indian people who leave the reservations under the Relocation Program, secured menial jobs
in the city, and then abandoned them." The final paragraph in this leaflet describes AIM's relationship with other
Indian groups and with the radical left. The paragraph reads:

"AIM stands to represent ALL Indians as a fact of Indian life in a free world."

"AIM is regarded as a radical leftist movement; however, AIM's goals are to represent itself as a peaceful movement trying
to get these things which have been promised to them. Historically it has been proven that the American Indian has been
treated inhumanely and now, because of AIM's thrust for equality, the Indian is fighting for honor, ignored until Wounded
Knee. AIM is now looked to for direction by Left and Third World groups. In the words of Russell Means, 'AIM represents
the only true revolutionary group, a sovereign people with a land base backed by treaties with the federal government.
The Indian people have 24,000-40,000 years experience on the Western Hemisphere. We should be able to tell people
with 250 years experience...'"

As Mr. Durham pointed out, the short range objectives publicized by AIM sound high-minded and reasonable. They
call for a program to better the Indian housing situation; another program directed toward the Indian youth; a
third program to encourage the employment of Indian Americans; a fourth program to educate industry in the area
of Indian culture and its effect on the Indians; a fifth program to improve the communcations between the Indian
people and the community; and finally, a program to educate the Indian citizen in his responsibility to the community.

When he was asked whether in his association with AIM he had seen any of these objective achieved, Mr Durham replied:

"Not that I can recall...I saw quite the contrary. I saw the Indian housing program which was number one, stopped on the
Wounded Knee Reservation when AIM took over Wounded Knee. The Indian youth program could be interpreted two ways. However,
the Indian youth gathered together in a militant manner and talked about passing out rifles and revolution. The positive
program for employment of Indian Americans is a definite farce. I heard Dennis Banks say that if you were striving for
employment, you had no business being in AIM."

A confidential programmatic document distributed within AIM spoke more ambitiously about freeing "Indian people
throughout the Americas from white man's oppression and racism, so as to create free Indian states that reflect
self-determination of free peoples..." The document called for:

"(a) dissolution of the BIA;
(b) establishment of the free Indian congress;
(c) re-establishment of reservation sovereignty and self-determination;
(d) establish and conduct negotiations with all nations of world for free trade and economic relations;
(e) establish of trade tariffs and interface with surrounding countries in the world."

The confidential AIM program also placed its major emphasis on the education of the very young and the establishment of
AIM control over Indian schools. The program said under this heading:

"The major objective of the movement is to regain the young. Once the BIA is eliminated and individual tribal states are
created, schools will not be a major problem. However, until such time as this goal is realized, AIM must plan, support
and execute the following school activities:

(1) Prepare and release to local AIM chapters a 'how-to-manual' for founding Indian schools;
(2) Since most behavior characteristics are learned from the first 5 years, AIM should begin with pre-school elementary
programs;

(f) AIM national center to provide basic teaching aids such as reading, cultural materials and lore."


THE TURN TOWARD MAJOR VIOLENCE

Asked about the series of violent actions in which AIM has been involved over the past four years, Mr. Durham replied: