© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2009 University of Chicago Library
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Native American Educational Services, Chicago American Indian Community Organization Conference. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
The Chicago American Indian Community Organization Conference (CAICOC) developed as a direct result of the organizational training and development classes offered by the Community Board Training Program (CBTP) and the Native American Educational Services (NAES) College during 1980-1981. During a Chicago Political Systems class in March 1981, class members raised key questions which led to a conference on May 4, 1981, hosted by CBTP and sponsored by NAES. This meeting brought together representatives of fifteen Chicago Indian community organizations and programs to discuss the need for a community conference. The overall goals and objectives of the conference were determined to be: 1) to develop statements on common issues affecting the Chicago Indian community; 2) to provide a more effective networking system among Chicago Indian community agencies; and 3) to develop a statement of purpose on behalf of the community, as well as drafting position statements on a wide range of issues directly affecting the Indian urban community. These statements would then serve as a guide and resource to community development efforts for the next several years.
The result of this initial conference was the development of CAICOC, which was held on June 25-26, 1981 at the American Indian Center in Chicago. CAICOC was structured to obtain maximum participation and input from the Indian community. Eight representatives per organization were encouraged to attend, with the recommendation that four of these participants be community members or service recipients.
The total number of participants at CAICOC was 132, representing thirty-five different tribes and members of 22 different organizations, programs and tribal clubs serving the Chicago Native American community. Statements were developed on the following core issues: Chicago Indian Community and Other Communities; Economic Development; Education; Employment; Health; Housing; Legal Services; Public Relations (Media); Social Services Delivery; and Youth Services.
The success of this conference and the continuing need to further address position statements led to a follow-up retreat, which was held June 4-6, 1982 at the Woodstock Conference Center in Woodstock, Illinois. 38 directors and board executives from all of the Chicago area Native American organizations and programs attended. Specific action plans on various issues were developed to promote and design programs to meet the needs of the Chicago Native American community, and to identify those agencies with services already in place. Annual CAICOC retreats, with on-going subcommittee activities guided by the action plans developed at the retreats, continued for several years, due in large part to the continuing support and direction of Louis Delgado, Director of the Community Board Training Program at NAES College and CAICOC Conference Coordinator. CAICOC was also involved in publications on community development and organization.
The last CAICOC retreat was held in June 1985; however, committee activities continued until about June 1987, when the Chicago American Indian Working Together Community-Wide Conference was sponsored by CAICOC in February 1987.
This collection forms part of the archives of Native American Educational Services. The collection documents the Chicago American Indian Community Organization Conferences from 1981 to 1987, as well as a policy breakfast in 1999. Also included are records of the Community Board Training Project (CBTP), which led to the first CAICOC conference. This collection is separated into three sections; the first contains background materials for planning future American Indian conferences. The second contains publications that came out of the Conferences. The last section contains materials related to the conferences themselves. Files within these sections are arranged chronologically. The collection contains a variety of administrative and programming materials, including meeting minutes, agendas, reports, statements, publicity material, resolutions, financial materials, questionnaires, abstracts and schedules.