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1103350
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American Indian Movement
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document
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1
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1103350
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document
title
American Indian Movement
citationUrl
collections
Bradley H. Patterson Files (Ford Administration)
Bradley Patterson's Native American Programs Files
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Indians of North America
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1103350
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1976-01-01
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1
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1976
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1976-01-01
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1
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1976
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The original documents are located in Box 1, folder "American Indian Movement" of the
Bradley H. Patterson Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box 1 of the Bradley H. Patterson Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
January 30 [1976]
Ted -
I don t mean to stick any fingers in
your current' business, but if it seems helpful
to you might mention one point about this problem
of Indian militancy:
Garment's and my experience with 5 ye ars
of that crap indicated that the "setting of a
deadline" tends to play very much into Indian
hands. Deadlines heighten tension and heightened
tension means heightened press play and that
is the name of the game for the militants.
Some of them are real paranoids and
actually live off the idea of threat, tension,
pitched battle and "dying at the last assault".
Many times I have had them shout to me at
one conference table or another' You know, Mr.
Patterson, we are going to die tonight; you know
that, don t you?" Martyddom at the last assault,
with the mêdia looking on, is in a peverse way
sort of the ultimate triumph.
Setting any "hours certain" of "time past
which" tends to inflate all of these developments;
the tears of the softie sympathizers grow hotter,
the Brandos weep louder, the television crews
accumulate, the national news nets antitipate,
and the stage is set for apocalypse:- all of which
is precisely what the militant leaders want and
need in order to keep their flock together and
hiped up. Neglect and boredom and lack of
publicity are the antitheses of this.
I am not saying that law enforcement
should be too long delayed -- but just that if
it is to be used, one simply has to "move in"
without making a lot of announcements ahead of
time or Getting "deadlines". Add presumably after
negotiations fail.
FORD LIBRARY 078839
Courts set deadlines and that's why we
at Wounded Knee avoided getting into the Court
track; we should avoid setting our own for the
reasons indicated.
Free advice from the armchair
Said