The initial contact already established, in the concluding
years of the first Bahá'í century, in obedience to 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Mandate, with
the Cherokee and Oneida Indians in North Carolina and Wisconsin, with the
Patagonian, the Mexican and the Inca Indians, and the Mayans in Argentina,
Mexico, Peru and Yucatan, respectively, should, as the Latin American Bahá'í
communities gain in stature and strength, be consolidated and extended. A
special effort should be exerted to secure the unqualified adherence of members
of some of these tribes to the Faith, their subsequent election to its
councils, and their unreserved support of the organized attempts that will have
to be made in the future by the projected National Assemblies for the
large-scale conversion of Indian races to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a
letter dated 5 June 1947 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'ís of the West;
The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Teaching Among Aboriginal and
Indigenous People)
