Indians agree to leave BIA building today, officials say
Indians agree to leave BIA building today, officials say
Protesting Indians agreed Tuesday night to leave the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building they held for almost a week after reaching an agreement with government negotiators, the White House said.
The provisions of the agreement were not immediately available, but Chert Phillips of the White House press office said:
"An agreement was reached and the Indians should be leaving Wednesday morning."
The meeting with the Indians had started at around noon yesterday and went on into the evening hours, the White House spokesman said.
But Vernon Bellecourt, spokesman for the American Indian Movement, said that despite the agreement, the building would not be vacated until the government acts on the issues that brought the Indians to Washington.
These Include demands that treaties be respected, that the BIA be abolished and -- in apparent contradiction -- that $30 million be restored to the BIA budget.
"We're supposed to be negotiating an agreement for our departure," from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building, said Hank Adams, an Indian lawyer, moments before the talks began.
But Adams cautioned that longstanding Indian grievances, as well as "provisions for allowing our people to return to our communities," also would be brought up by the Indians.
The meeting was called after a U.S. District Court ordered the federal government to oust the protesters. The ouster was delayed until 9 p.m. today by the U.S. Circuit Court here.
The Indians seized control of the building Thursday after coming to Washington to protest government policies. The Indians, coming from all parts of the country, described their journey as the Trail of Broken Treaties.
They strengthened security around the building following the federal court eviction order. Windows were taped, presumably to prevent shards of glass from flying about if the windows were broken, and doors were barricaded.
Unconfirmed rumors also have circulated that the protesters have planted explosives or gasoline in the building and plan to destroy it if they are forcibly evicted.