and U.S. law and has succeeded in several legislative and social efforts. When it broke off, the Colorado faction accused the Minnesotans of various crimes: for the most part, the Bellecourts labeling themselves national AIM officers fraudulently, because national leaders do not exist in a grassroots organization. Trail of Broken Treaties In August 1972, tribal chairman Robert Burnette of the Rosebud Reservation proposed a peaceful march on Washington, D.C., which became known as the Trail of Broken Treaties. They wanted to highlight the failures of the federal government in fulfilling its treaty obligations and the widespread poverty among Native Americans. The group supported establishing a Federal Indian Commission as part of the executive branch and the abolition of the BIA, among their list of demands. Organizers originally planned a peaceful tour of Washington landmarks and meeting with leading government officials to present their "20 points," as a list of their grievances and demands. Finding no accommodations elsewhere, about 1,000 activists occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They allegedly caused extensive damage to treaty files and other records of the history between the federal government and the tribes. They called for ending corruption and mismanagement within the BIA. Bellecourt, Banks and other AIM leaders negotiated with the federal government. Following an occupation from November 3 until November 9, the Nixon administration gave the activists $66,000 in transportation costs in exchange for a peaceful outcome. Wounded Knee Occupation In 1973 AIM activists were invited to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota by its local civil rights organization to aid in securing better treatment from state and local law enforcement in the border towns, which had been slow to prosecute attacks against Lakota. They were also protesting the failed impeachment of the elected tribal chairman, Richard Wilson, who was opposed by many on the reservation, and poor living conditions. AIM occupied Wounded Knee, a town in the reservation that is the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. Soon they were surrounded by FBI agents and U.S. marshals. Two people were killed in the 71-day armed standoff. Bellecourt became a negotiator. Eventually, he, Russell Means, and Carter Camp held a meeting with a representative for U.S. President Nixon, when they negotiated an audit of Wilson's finances and an investigation of his private militia, the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs). After leaving Pine Ridge, Bellecourt and Means were arrested in Pierre,