Picket of LT Gov Callihan's Legislative Coffee

COAIM BLOG
(latest news,
updates, opinions,
etc.)

CO AIM
principles
councils
history
photos
in the media

LATEST NEWS
community
upcoming events
urgent issues

MEDIA
alternative
indigenous
mainstream

RESOURCES
educational
legal
perspectives
links

STRUGGLES
native struggles

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT TO PICKET LEGISLATIVE COFFEE BY LT GOVERNOR

CALLIHAN ACCUSED OF RACISM TOWARDS URBAN INDIANS; REFLECTS BROADER PROBLEM IN STATE.

On Friday, March 15, 1991 on the EAST steps of the State Capitol the American Indian Movement, and other concerned American Indian groups and individuals, will hold a press conference and picket to publicize a pattern of racial bigotry and arrogance from the office of Lieutenant Governor Mike Callihan.

Callihan, who also Serves as the head of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs (CCIA), has consistently shown an arrogant disrespect toward Indians, particularly Indians living in urban centers. In November, 1988 Callihan had the audacity to feed a group of hungry Indians in the back of a moving van on the steps of the capitol. He used the Indians for his personal aggrandizement to promote his Always Buy Colorado program, and was affronted when AIM and others showed up to protest his insensitivity. Since then, the Commission has gone downhill. More recently:

· Callihan has summarily removed the past four Indian Executive Directors of the CCIA, without consultation of the Denver area Indian community.
· Most Indians in Colorado live in the communities of Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs, yet Callihan has disbanded the Urban Indian Advisory Council to the CCIA, and there are no urban Indian representatives on the Commission.
· Non-Indians outnumber Indians on the Commission. This smacks of the historical paternalism in Indian Affairs of the "Great White Father" dictating what is best for Indians, when we are perfectly capable of speaking for ourselves.

There are many other examples of racism coming from Callihan's office, and from the State of Colorado generally that will be covered at the press conference and picket.

TIME: 8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1991
PLACE: EAST STEPS OF THE STATE CAPITOL