The Indian Case Gose To Court

Boson attorney Daniel B. Bickford said Tuesday he had recommended to Massachusetts Attorney General Robert H. Quinn that Quinn seek a court ruling in the Indian College trust case.

The attorney general appointed Bickford last April to study claims by the Native American Student Association (NASA) that Harvard is obligated to provide rent-free rooms for Indian students under the terms of a 1653 trust agreement.

Quinn will meet next week with Daniel Steiner '54, counsel to the University, and representatives of NASA to give both sides "a final chance to air their views before the takes any action," a source in Quinn's office said.

The controversy stems from an agreement between Harvard and the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England under which the Society may have donated up to 400 pounds sterling to build a dormitory to house Indian students.

A member of NASA said the donation was "huge" by standards of the time. "The University's tax report for the previous year shows a net worth of 400 pounds, so the gift doubled the worth of the University," he said.

NASA claims the University owes Indian students as much as $2.5 million and will ask the court to direct Harvard to establish 20 scholarships for Indians.