March 12 marks the 44th Anniversary of an important part of the Indian Civil Rights Movement, when 12 Indian employees at the Bureau of Indians Affairs’ Plant Management Engineering Center filed a formal complaint against the bureau stating discriminatory practices in training, hiring and promotions, and misusing government funds meant for Indians. The group formally filed complaints against the BIA with Edward. E. Shelton, the Director of Interior Department’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, and BIA commissioner Louis R. Bruce.

“It was called the country clubs of BIA’s, everyone knew in the office that they were enjoying Colorado on the BIA’s dime.” one activist said of the misuse of funds at the BIA office. “Instead of improving the structure at the office after our protests, they shut it down.”

The group, who would be later called the Littleton Twelve, consisted of Indians from a variety of tribes, many of whom had been brought to Denver during the Indian Relocation Act. Vaughn Arkie, Phyllis Culbertson, Corrine Durmace Deal, Enola Freeman, Toni Guerue, Robert Henderson, Ellen Hickman, Fray Laforge, Katherine Sherman, Carson Sine and Glenda Tom would spark a movement in Denver that utilized direct action and non-violent civil disobedience to secure Indian hiring preference at the BIA. The complaint gathered support from many other Indian activists who supported the Littleton Twelve, including activists who would later participate in strategic arrestable actions.