On this day, Nov. 3, in 1972, 600 members of American Indian Movement took over the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in D.C. after a monthlong “Trail of Broken Treaties” journey that began on the West Coast.
The miles-long caravan was staged to arrive at the capital on the eve of the 1972 presidential election, with the intention of presenting President Nixon with a 20-point list of demands.
But Nixon was out of town campaigning. The activists stormed the building and confiscated vast numbers of confidential files and inflicted $2.2 million in damage to the building.
After a six-day standoff, Nixon promised to respond to their demands within a month and gave the activists $66,000 in travel expenses in exchange for a peaceful end to the occupation.
— Scott McCabe
