20 Well-Known Tribal Chiefs
By NAT Staff
Chief Geronimo
Apache
1829-1909
Chief 1850 - 1886
Photograph by Frank Rinehart, 1898
Gerónimo was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. While well-known, Geronimo was not technically a chief of the Bedonkohe band of the Central Apache but actually a shaman, as was Nokay-doklini among the Western Apache. However, since he was a superb leader in raiding and warfare, he frequently led large numbers of 30 to 50 Apache men.
From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands – the Tchihende, the Tsokanende (known as the Chiricahua by Americans) and the Nednhi – fighting against Mexican and U.S. military campaigns in numerous raids. In 1874, approximately 4,000 Apaches were forcibly moved by U.S. authorities to a reservation at San Carlos, a barren wasteland in east-central Arizona. Deprived of their traditional tribal rights, short on rations, and homesick, the tribes turned to Geronimo to lead breakouts from the reservations in an attempt to return to their previous nomadic lifestyle.
At a conference in 1886 at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona, Geronimo surrendered under the promise that, after an indefinite exile in Florida, he and his followers would be permitted to return to Arizona. However, the promise was not kept. Geronimo and his fellow prisoners were put at hard labour. Moved to Fort Sill in 1894, he at first attempted to “take the white man’s road.” He farmed and joined the Dutch Reformed Church, which expelled him because of his inability to resist gambling. He never saw Arizona again, but, by special permission of the War Department, he was allowed to sell photographs of himself and his handiwork at expositions. Before he died, he dictated his autobiography, Geronimo: His Own Story.
Library of Congress, Washington D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ62-36613)
Famous Quote:
“I was no chief and never had been, but because I had been more deeply wronged than others, this honor was conferred upon me, and I resolved to prove worthy of the trust.”
Chief Black Kettle
Cheyenne
1803 - 1868
Chief 1854 - 1868
Chief Black Kettle, leader of the Southern Cheyenne Suhtai, or “Buffalo People,” was a member of the Council of 44 Chiefs of the Cheyenne people and was known as a peacemaker who negotiated treaties with the U.S. government in an effort to protect his people. He signed the Fort Wise Treaty of 1861 to obtain secure lands for his people, however this treaty was broken by the actions of the American colonists and ultimately proved untenable. Chief Black Kettle continuously worked to find peace for his people, and safety for the thousands of Cheyenne and Arapaho people he led.
In 1864, war broke out in the Great Plains. In an attempt to negotiate peace, Chief Black Kettle sent a letter to Major Edward Wynkoop, the commanding officer at Fort Lyon pleading for peace, and the promise of freeing the colonist captives. He was able to set up a council meeting with Major Wynkoop in the Camp Weld Conference on September 28, 1864. There, Chief Black Kettle said, "All we ask is that we have peace with the whites. We want to hold you by the hand. You are our father."
Chief Black Kettle was directed by the American Military to return to Sand Creek to await an official Army delegation. Upon their arrival, the Native Americans were attacked in what came to be known as the Sand Creek Massacre. It was there that Chief Black Kettle’s wife, Medicine Woman Later, suffered nine bullet and shrapnel wounds in the attack. At the Little Arkansas Treaty in 1865 and Medicine Lodge in 1867, Chief Black Kettle continued to ask for peace with the United States and a reservation for his people. Chief Black Kettle died at Washita, November 27, 1868, almost four years exactly after the Sand Creek Massacre. Troops of the 7th U.S. Cavalry shot and killed him and Medicine Woman Later as they fled across the Washita River. The site of the Battle of Washita is now a unit of the National Park Service.
Custer, Black Kettle, and the Fight on the Washita,
Charles J. Brill, 2002, Archive.org.
Famous Quote:
“Although the troops have struck us, we throw it all behind and are glad to meet you in peace and friendship.”
Chief Cochise
Apache
1805 - 1874
Chief 1863 - 1874
Bronze bust of imagined likeness of Cochise by
Betty Butts, Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Arizona
Cochise was the leader of the Chiricahui local group of the Chokonen. Upon the death of his co-fighter Mangas Coloradas, Cochise became principal chief of the Apaches. A notable war leader in the Apache Wars, he was thrust into a decade-spanning battle against the settlers when an Irish-American named John Ward falsely claimed Cochise kidnapped his adopted son, Felix Tellez. Although Ward had been away at the time of the raid, he believed that Cochise had been the leader of the raiding Apache. The US Army arranged a meeting with Cochise and his men, ultimately arresting them when they could not return the boy. Refusing to be taken hostage, Cochise used a knife to cut a hole in the tent he was being held in and escaped.
Cochise and 200 followers eluded capture for more than 10 years by hiding out in the Dragoon Mountains of Arizona. From there, they continued their raids until 1872, when General Oliver O. Howard, accompanied by his aide 1st Lt Joseph A. Sladen and Captain Samuel S. Sumner, negotiated a peace treaty with Cochise. Based on statements made by Sumner and Sladen, modern historians such as Robert M. Utley believe that Cochise's Spanish interpreter was Geronimo.
Tragically, Cochise wasn’t able to enjoy the peace treaty for long. In 1874, he became seriously ill, with what is presumed to have been stomach cancer. That night his warriors painted his body yellow, black, and vermilion, and took him deep into the Dragoon Mountains, the exact location of which remains unknown. Today, that section of the Dragoon Mountains is known as Cochise’s Stronghold. Cochise County is also named after him. Nearly a decade after Cochise’s death, Felix Tellez—the boy whose kidnapping had started the war— was found, working as an Apache-speaking scout for the U.S. Army. He reported that a group of Western Apache, not Cochise, had kidnapped him, finally clearing his name.
Cochise Circa 1800s. The exact date and artist
are unknown. (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Famous Quote:
“You must speak straight so that your words may go as sunlight into our hearts.”
Chief Crazy Horse
Ogala
1840 - 1877
Chief 1865 - 1877
A 1934 sketch of Crazy Horse made by a Mormon missionary
after interviewing Crazy Horse's sister, who claimed the depiction was accurate.
Crazy Horse was a Lakota chief of the Oglala band in the 19th century. A skilled tactician and a determined warrior, Crazy Horse took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by White American settlers on Native American territory and to preserve the traditional way of life of the Lakota people. He was instrumental in the Sioux resistance to European Americans’ invasion of the northern Great Plains.
As early as 1865, Crazy Horse was a leader in his people’s defiance of U.S. plans to construct a road to the goldfields in Montana. He participated in the massacre of Captain William J. Fetterman and his troop of 80 men where he personally served as a decoy, in the battle, as well as in the historic Wagon Box fight. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills Dakota Territory in 1874, white prospectors disregarded Sioux treaty rights and swarmed onto the Native American reservation there. General George Crook thereupon set out to force Crazy Horse from his winter encampments on the Tongue and Powder rivers in Montana Territory, but Crazy Horse took his people and retreated further into the hills
Crazy Horse then moved north to unite with the main Sioux encampment of Chief Sitting Bull on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. Crazy Horse and his followers then returned to the hill country to resettle and continue the Native way of life. However, Colonel Nelson A. Miles, leading an army campaign to force all Native Americans to come to the government agencies, pursued Crazy Horse and his tribe ultimately leading Crazy Horse to surrender to General Crook at the Red Cloud Agency in Nebraska on May 6, 1877. Just four months after surrendering, Crazy Horse was fatally wounded by a bayonet-wielding military guard while allegedly resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in northwestern Nebraska. He was honored by the U.S. Postal Service in 1982 with a 13¢ Great Americans series postage stamp.
The Crazy Horse Memorial in 2020 (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)
Famous Quote:
“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.”
Chief Black Hawk
Fox and Sauk
1767 - 1838
Chief 1832 - 1838
Portrait by George Catlin, 1832
Black Hawk was the leader of a group of Fox and Sauk Indians. Born in the Virginia Colony in 1767, Black Hawk established himself as a powerful war leader after taking on multiple raids of neighboring villages. Black Hawk and the Sauk and Fox Indians chose to support the British troops during the War of 1812 and fought against the Americans. American government officials initially tried to make peace with a rival of Black Hawk, but many of the Native Americans were not pleased with the negotiations as they ultimately led to the loss of more land. They then turned to Black Hawk to take a stance and fight for more Native land.
Though the United States government had an oral agreement that gave them control of a large tract of land in Illinois along the Rock River, Black Hawk disregarded the treaty and moved his people onto the fertile land. More than a thousand Native men, women and children came to Rock River looking for land that they could farm. In retaliation for violation of the treaty, the Illinois militia attacked Black Hawk and his people in 1832, and Black Hawk was taken prisoner the following year.
Before his release from custody, Black Hawk told his life story to an interpreter. With assistance from a newspaper reporter, he published Autobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, or Black Hawk, Embracing the Traditions of his Nation in 1833. This was the first Native American autobiography to be published in the US. It became an immediate bestseller and has gone through several editions. Black Hawk died in 1838, at age 70 or 71, in what is now southeastern Iowa.
Plaster life cast of Black Hawk, original ca. 1830,
at Black Hawk State Historic Site.
Famous Quote:
Chief Hiawatha
Mohawk/Onondaga
1525 - Unknown
Chief Exact Years Unknown
Hiawatha, an 1874 painting by Thomas Eakins
Hiawatha, also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he was born an Onondaga but adopted into the Mohawks. While there are many variations of Hiawatha's story (including some that feel more in line with legend), there are some consistent elements. Hiawatha was an Onondagan warrior who lived during the Mourning Wars. In one of these battles, Hiawatha lost his wife and daughters; after falling into a deep depression he abandoned his community and wandered into the forest. This period of his life helps explain one of the translations of his name: "He who has lost his mind, but seeks to find it."
While he was in the forest, he was visited by a man named Dekanawidah, or the Great Peacemaker. Together they created The Great Law of Peace in an effort to unite warring tribes. This established the Iroquois Confederacy, and through their superior organization, they were able to consistently defeat larger enemies, and were also the only Native American tribe to maintain a sustained balance of power with European colonists. It would later serve as a model for federalism, separation of powers and participatory democracy that would inspire leaders like Benjamin Franklin and James Madison during the formation of the United States.
The reason and time of his death is unknown; however, his legacy is still passed on from generation to generation through oral stories, songs, and books. The story of Hiawatha is told in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha (1855), a long poem, written in the metre of the Finnish Kalevala, that enjoyed wide popularity.
Sculpture in National Park Seminary, in Silver
Spring, Maryland. Photo by Jack E. Boucher, 2001.
Famous Quote:
“Instead of a man of peace and love, I have become a man of violence and revenge.”
Chief Joseph
Nez Percé
1840-1904
Chief 1871 - 1877
Portrait by Edward Sheriff Curtis, 1903
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, was a leader of the wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) band of Nez Perce of the Pacific Northwest. His father, Joseph the Elder, built an unprecedented relationship with the settlers, as he'd been one of the early Nez Perce leaders to convert to Christianity. In 1855, Joseph the Elder forged a new treaty that created a new reservation for the Nez Perce. However, after gold was discovered in the Nez Perce territory, white prospectors began to stream onto their lands, leading to the United States government taking back millions of acres it had promised to Joseph the Elder and his people.
Chief Joseph took charge after his father’s passing. When the United States attempted in 1877 to force the Nez Percé to move to a reservation in Idaho, he reluctantly agreed. But while preparing for the removal, Chief Joseph learned that a trio of young men had massacred a band of white settlers and prospectors. Fearing retaliation by the U.S. army, Chief Joseph and his followers fled the United States in an attempt to reach political asylum alongside the Lakota people, who had sought refuge in Canada under the leadership of Sitting Bull. The Nez Percé were finally surrounded in the Bear Paw mountains of Montana, within 40 miles (64 km) of the Canadian border. On October 5, 1877, Chief Joseph surrendered to General Miles, offering his rifle in a symbolic gesture of surrender and giving an impassioned speech that was recorded by one of the soldiers, which went on to be one of the most famous speeches of the American West.
To his surprise, Chief Joseph had become a nationwide sensation due to his perseverance in battle and the power of his words. The press referred to him as "The Red Napoleon." Joseph tried to leverage his notoriety to get a better deal for his people. He was sent to Washington, D.C., in 1879 to meet with President Rutherford B. Hayes and other officials. He received a huge ovation when he spoke to a group of congressmen and other officials, but was unable to win any material gains for his people. On September 21, 1904, as he lay dying of an undiagnosed illness, he asked his wife to get his headdress because "I wish to die as a chief.”
Chief Joseph, c. 1903. (Photo Credit: Britannica)
Famous Quote:
“...Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."
Chief Seattle
Suquamish & Duwamish
1780 - 1866
Chief 1810 - 1866
The only known photograph of Seattle (c. 1864)
Seattle was a leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples. Seattle and the Duwamish helped many early American settlers, guiding them along the Duwamish River and its tributaries, providing them with safe transportation, and helped clear forests for the cultivation of crops, and provided labor in early sawmills and farms. In 1854, Seattle gave a speech, delivered in his native language of Lushootseed, to Isaac Stevens, during a visit to the city of Seattle. A pioneer, Henry A. Smith, had attended the meeting and taken notes of the speech. Thirty-three years later, in 1887, a text was reconstructed from Smith's notes and published in the Seattle Sunday Star. Smith's speech reconstruction has been lauded as "a powerful, bittersweet plea for respect of Native American rights and environmental values."
In 1855, Seattle signed the Port Elliott treaty, ceding Indian land and establishing a reservation for his people. The unpopular treaties caused many Duwamish to renounce Seattle's leadership. Alongside many other tribes, the Duwamish participated in the Puget Sound War, a part of the broader Yakima Indian War, however Chief Seattle continuously supported the efforts of the settlers. After the war's conclusion with the defeat of Native forces, Seattle tried to help his people regain their footing and sought clemency for the Native leaders in the war, such as Leschi. One reason for the war was the unratified treaty and illegal enforcement, so Seattle continuously advocated for the final ratification of the treaties.
Seattle continued to seek relationships with American settlers, eventually gaining relationships with Doc Maynard, William De Shaw, and George Meigs, who all helped Seattle further his goals in helping the local Native and Settler populations. Despite his friendships with the Americans, the town forced Seattle to leave the city that bore his name in 1865 after the Town of Seattle Ordinance No. 5 banned all Native Americans from the town unless housed and employed by a white settler. Seattle then moved to the Suquamish Reservation, where his people continued to take care of Seattle and recognized him as their leader until his death, bringing him food and water to his house. Seattle died June 7, 1866, on the Port Madison Reservation after suffering from a brief yet severe fever.
Chief Seattle Fountain by Artist James Wehn (Photo Credit: Seattle Arts)
Famous Quote:
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”
Chief Sitting Bull
Hunkpapa Lakota
1831 - 1890
Chief 1866 - 1890
Sitting Bull, c. 1883
Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. After participating in his first war party at age 14, Sitting Bull quickly gained a reputation for fearlessness in battle. He became a leader of the powerful Strong Heart warrior society, ultimately joining the Silent Eaters, a select group of warriors concerned with tribal welfare. As a tribal leader, Sitting Bull helped extend Oceti Sakowin hunting grounds westward into what had been the territory of the Shoshone, Apsáalooke, Assiniboin, and other Indigenous peoples.In 1866 he became principal chief of the northern hunting Oceti Sakowin, with Crazy Horse, leader of the Oglala Lakota, as his vice-chief. Respected for his courage and wisdom, Sitting Bull was made principal chief of the entire Oceti Sakowin nation about 1867.
In 1868 the Oceti Sakowin accepted peace with the U.S. government on the basis of the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, which guaranteed the Oceti Sakowin a reservation in South Dakota. But when gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the mid-1870s, a rush of prospectors invaded lands guaranteed in the treaty. Late in 1875 those Oceti Sakowin who had been resisting the incursions were ordered to return to their reservations by January 31, 1876, or be considered hostile to the United States. The Native chiefs then moved their encampment into the valley of the Little Bighorn River. At this point Sitting Bull performed the Sun Dance, leading him to a vision in which he saw many soldiers, "as thick as grasshoppers,” falling upside down into the Lakota camp. His people took as a foreshadowing of a major victory in which many soldiers would be killed. About three weeks later, the confederated Lakota tribes with the Northern Cheyenne defeated the 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer on June 25, 1876, wiping outCuster's battalion, just as Sitting Bull saw in his prophetic vision.
In response to the defeat, the U.S. government sent thousands more soldiers to the area, forcing many of the Lakota to surrender over the next year. Sitting Bull refused to surrender, and in May 1877, he led his band north to Wood Mountain, North-West Territories. He remained there until 1881, when he and most of his band returned to U.S. territory and surrendered to U.S. forces. After 1883, Sitting Bull lived at the Standing Rock Agency, where he vainly opposed the sale of tribal lands.The Ghost Dance movement began to gain popularity on the reservation, prophesizing a Native messiah who would sweep away the settlers and restore Indigenous traditions. Out of fear that Sitting Bull would join the movement, Indian police and soldiers were sent to arrest the chief. After being seized on the Grand River on December 15, 1890, Sitting Bull was killed while his warriors were trying to rescue him.
Sitting Bull holding a calumet (peace pipe). (Photo Credit: Britannica)
Famous Quote:
“Is it wrong for me to love my own? Is it wicked for me because my skin is red? Because I am Sioux? Because I was born where my father lived? Because I would die for my people and my country?”
Chief Tecumseh
Shawnee
1768-1813
Chief 1796 - 1813
Painting of Tecumseh based on an 1808 sketch
Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. An impactful orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and promoting intertribal unity. When he was about 14 years old, during the American Revolution, he accompanied Blackfish in combined British and Indian attacks on Americans. After the war Tecumseh was for a number of years a marauder, fighting small actions against the whites in the Old Northwest and assisting the Cherokees in the South.
In the War of 1812, Tecumseh joined his cause with the British, recruited warriors, and helped capture Detroit in August 1812. The following year he led an unsuccessful campaign against the United States in Ohio and Indiana. When U.S. naval forces took control of Lake Erie in 1813, Tecumseh reluctantly retreated with the British into Upper Canada, where American troops led by Richard Mentor Johnson engaged them at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813, in which Tecumseh was killed. His death caused his confederacy to collapse. The lands he had fought to defend were eventually ceded to the U.S. government.
Even though his efforts to unite Native Americans ended with his death in the War of 1812, he became an iconic folk hero in American, Indigenous, and Canadian popular history. His legacy as one of the most celebrated Native Americans in history grew in the years after his death, although details of his life have often been obscured by mythology.
Meeting of Isaac Brock and Tecumseh, 1812. (painting by C.W. Jeffreys)
Famous Quote:
“A single twig breaks, but a bundle of twigs is strong.”
Chief Pontiac
Ottowa
1720 - 1769
Chief 1755 - 1768
This interpretation of Pontiac was painted by John Mix Stanley.
Pontiac or Obwaandi'eyaag was an Odawa war chief known for his role in the war named for him. Little is known of Pontiac’s early life, but by 1755 he had become a tribal chief. His commanding manner and talent for strategic planning primed him to become the leader of a loose confederacy among the Ottawa, the Potawatomi, and the Ojibwa. From 1763 to 1766, he led Native Americans in an armed struggle against the British in the Great Lakes region due to dissatisfaction with British policies. Under British rule, Pontiac’s people would no longer be welcome in the forts and they were deprived of their hunting grounds because of settlers encroaching upon their ancestral lands.
In 1762, Pontiac enlisted support from many neighboring Indian tribes from Lake Superior to the lower Mississippi for a joint campaign to expel the British from their land. In what the English called “Pontiac’s Conspiracy,” he arranged for each tribe to attack Fort Detroit in May 1763, combining forces to wipe out the undefended settlements. Pontiac laid siege to the fort, where he was eventually joined by more than 900 warriors from a half-dozen tribes. Meanwhile, messengers spread the word of Pontiac's actions, and the war expanded far beyond Detroit. By July of that year, Pontiac defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Bloody Run, but he was unable to capture the fort. In October, he lifted the siege and withdrew to the Illinois Country. Pontiac's actions contributed to the British Crown's issuance of the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited any settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains to preserve an area for Native Americans.
Pontiac’s larger plan was more successful. Of the 12 fortified posts attacked by the united tribes, all but 4 were captured, with most of the garrisons wiped out. Several relief expeditions were nearly annihilated and the frontier settlements were plundered and laid desolate. However in 1764, continuing British action began to take its toll and Pontiac finally agreed to conclude a treaty of peace in July 1766. Three years later, while he was visiting in Illinois, a Peoria Indian stabbed and killed him. His death occasioned a bitter war among the tribes, and the Illinois group was almost annihilated by his avengers.
Pontiac, as depicted in an 1879 history of Illinois
Famous Quote:
“I am the Master of Life, whom thou desirest to know and to whom thou wouldst speak. Listen well to what I am going to say to thee and all thy red brethren. I am he who made heaven and earth, the trees, lakes, rivers, all men, and all that thou seest, and all that thou hast seen on earth.”
Chief Red Cloud
Ogala Lakota
1822 - 1909
Chief 1865 - 1909
Red Cloud in 1880
Red Cloud was a leader of the Oglala Lakota from 1865 to 1909. Though he had no hereditary title of his own, Red Cloud emerged as a natural leader and spokesman of his people through the force of his own character and through bravery in battle. He was one of the most capable Native American opponents whom the United States Army faced in the western territories, leading the Lakota to victory over the United States during Red Cloud's War and establishing the Lakota as the only nation to defeat the United States on American soil.
The largest action of the war was the 1866 Fetterman Fight, with 81 US soldiers killed; it was the worst military defeat suffered by the US Army on the Great Plains until the Battle of the Little Bighorn 10 years later. After signing the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), Red Cloud led his people in the transition to reservation life. Some of his opponents mistakenly thought of him as the overall leader of the Sioux groups (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota), but the large tribe had several major divisions and was highly decentralized. Bands among the Oglala and other divisions operated independently, though some individual leaders were renowned as warriors and highly respected as leaders, such as Red Cloud.
While he kept his pledge of peace, Red Cloud defended Native culture and continued to criticize the policies of the federal government. In 1878 he and his people moved to Pine Ridge Agency, whence he made several trips to Washington, D.C., to publicize his views. Red Cloud and his wife were baptized as Christians and took the names John and Mary a few years before his death.
“Mahpiya Lutu Print – Red Cloud”: A striking portrayal of Oglala Lakota Itancan
(Chief) Red Cloud (1822-1909) by East Coast artist James Ayers.
Famous Quote:
Woman Chief
Crow
1806 - 1854
Chief 1830 - 1854
Idealized illustration of "Pine Leaf", possibly identified with Woman Chief,
from James Beckwourth's autobiography (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)
The woman known as Woman Chief or Pine Leaf was born to the Gros Ventre people. Though her birth name is unknown, her story begins at age 10 when she was taken prisoner by a raiding party of Crows. She was adopted by a Crow warrior who had lost his sons and chose to raise her among his people. She quickly established her position in the tribe by demonstrating excellence in horse riding, marksmanship, and the ability to field-dress a buffalo. In approximately 1830 her father died, and she assumed leadership of his lodge. She proved herself as a battle leader during a raid by the Blackfoot on a fort sheltering Crow and white families. It is said she fought off multiple attackers and was instrumental in turning back the raid. She responded by raising her own band of warriors and raiding Blackfoot settlements in return. These actions led to her representing her lodge as the bacheeítche (chief) in the Council of Chiefs and was given the name Bíawacheeitchish, or Woman Chief. She eventually rose to the rank of third among the council's 160 lodges.
Woman Chief was known in her community as a Two-Spirit. In Native American cultures, "Two-Spirit" refers to a person who embodies both masculine and feminine spirits. Though she embodied masculine roles as a chief, unlike other Two-Spirits, she wore typical female clothing rather than adopting men's garments. Woman Chief ultimately married four wives, which in turn increased the wealth and prestige of her lodge. She was seen by Western visitors as an exotic figure among the patriarchal Crow and likened her to the Amazons of European myth. Many figures, including Edwin Denig and Rudolph Kurz, gave their accounts of her story and provide valuable details about Woman Chief's life. James Beckwourth wrote about a Crow warrior named Bar-chee-am-pe, or Pine Leaf, who may be identified with Woman Chief. Some details of Pine Leaf's life match what is known of Woman Chief, though Beckwourth's account appears to be greatly exaggerated, if not entirely fictional.
Following the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, she became involved in peace negotiations with other Upper Missouri tribes and successfully negotiated peace with the Gros Ventres, the tribe of her birth. Tragically, it was this diplomacy that ultimately led to her end. In 1854, while trying to fortify a peace treaty with the Gros Ventre, Woman Chief and her bodyguards were ambushed and attacked. They fought back heroically, but Woman Chief was killed in action, fighting under a flag of peace at the age of 48.
Famous Quote:
"I conceive it to be my duty to devote a few lines to the bravest woman that ever lived, namely, Pine Leaf – in Indian, Bar-chee-am-pe. For an Indian, she possessed great intellectual powers. She was endowed with extraordinary muscular strength, with the activity of the cat and the speed of an antelope. When I engaged in the fiercest struggles, no one was more promptly at my side than the young heroine. She seemed incapable of fear; and when she arrived at womanhood, could fire a gun without flinching, and use Indian weapons with as great dexterity as the most accomplished warrior." - James “Bloody Arm” Beckworth, American Frontiersman
Little Turtle
The Miami People
1747 - 1812
Chief 1780 - 1794
Lithograph of Little Turtle, reputedly based
upon a lost portrait by Gilbert Stuart that was
destroyed when the British burned Washington, D.C., in 1813
Little Turtle was a chief of the Miami people, and widely known as one of the most famous Native American military leaders. He was born in what became present-day Whitley County, Indiana, at either a small Miami village along Devil's Lake or a larger nearby village known as Turtletown. He was selected as the war chief of the Atchatchakangouen division of the Miami people during the American Revolutionary War. In 1780, Little Turtle attacked a French calvary led by Augustin de La Balme, killing forty of his men and taking the rest prisoner. Little Turtle's army suffered almost no casualties. The victory ended the campaign and established Little Turtle's reputation as a war leader, although he was never the head chief of the Miami, which was a hereditary position.
Little Turtle is generally credited with leading a coalition force of about 1,000 warriors that routed the U.S. forces near the headwaters of the Wabash River on November 4, 1791. The battle remains the U.S. Army's worst defeat by American Indians, with 623 federal soldiers killed and another 258 wounded. The Indian confederacy lost an estimated 100 men. Although Indian resistance to the Americans diminished after the Treaty of Greenville was signed, Indian raids continued to threaten settlements along the frontier until 1815. For the remainder of his life, Little Turtle was a committed peacekeeper, causing some to consider him an "accommodationist" who believed that his people would have to adapt to the Americans' way of life if they hoped to endure. In November 1796, Little Turtle met with President George Washington, who presented him with a ceremonial sword. President Thomas Jefferson also corresponded with Little Turtle to encourage the introduction of American agriculture to Miami society. At Little Turtle's and other chiefs' request, Jefferson provided agricultural equipment and livestock to the Miamis and Potawatomis to encourage the tribes to adopt farming.
Little Turtle died on July 14, 1812, at the home of his son-in-law William Wells, not far from Kekionga. Little Turtle had been suffering from gout and rheumatism for some time. He was honored with a military-style funeral with full military honors at Fort Wayne. Little Turtle was buried in his ancestral burial ground near Spy Run. Historian Wiley Sword calls him "perhaps the most capable Indian leader then in the Northwest Territory." Little Turtle's legacy was one of initial resistance and cooperation to preserve the lives and future of his people.
Little Turtle, from the U.S. Army Military History Institute
Famous quote:
"A safe leader is better than a bold one."
Ouary
Ute
1833 – August 20, 1880
Chief 1860 - 1880
Ouray, Ute Chief, Colorado, 1874
Ouray was a chief of the Tabeguache band of the western Colorado Ute tribe. Raised in the culturally diverse town of Taos, Ouray learned to speak many languages that helped him in the negotiations. He spent much of his youth working for Mexican sheepherders, hauling wood and packed mules that were bound for the Santa Fe Trail. Ouray was the band's best rider, hunter, and fighter, and he became an enforcer and then sub-chief of the band. In 1860, Ouray became chief of the band at the age of 27. That year, he went on an exploratory mission to determine the number of settlers that were residing in the Uncompahgre and Gunnison River valleys. Ouray was concerned by the number of miners and settlers on ancestral lands of the Utes, but ultimately believed that fighting the settlers would not turn back the tide of colonialism. Instead, he felt that the solution was to engage in treaty negotiations to protect the interests of the tribe.
Because of his leadership ability, Ouray was acknowledged by the United States government as a chief of the Ute and he traveled to Washington, D.C. to negotiate for the welfare of the Utes. Ouray met with Presidents Lincoln, Grant, and Hayes and was called the "man of peace" because he sought to make treaties with settlers and the government. The U.S. government appointed a commission to determine a reservation for the Ute and Ouray and Chipeta went to Washington, D.C. in 1880 for the final treaty for the Utes. Members of the commission were Alfred B. Meacham, former U.S. Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon; Otto Mears, a railroad executive, and George W. Manypenny, former Commissioner of Indian Affairs. When President Rutherford B. Hayes met Ouray in Washington, DC, he said that the Ute was "the most intellectual man I've ever conversed with."
In the summer of 1880, Ouray and his wife, Chipeta, journeyed to the Southern Ute agency at Ignacio to negotiate again with the white man. Though Ouray completed the journey, he was a sick man when he arrived. He died of Bright disease on August 24, 1880. His people secretly buried him near Ignacio, Colorado. Forty-five years later, in 1925, his bones were re-interred in a full ceremony led by Buckskin Charley and John McCook at the Ignacio cemetery. A 1928 article in the Denver Post reads in part, "He saw the shadow of doom on his people.” The city of Ouray, Colorado was named in his honor.
Photo taken in 1880 in Washington D.C. when Ouray and other
Utes traveled to Washington. D.C. to negotiate a treaty that would
result in the removal of the White River and Tabeguache Utes from
Colorado to the Uintah Basin in present-day Utah.
Famous Quote:
"The agreement an Indian makes to a United States treaty is like the agreement a buffalo makes with his hunter when pierced with arrows. All he can do is lie down and give in.”
Rain-in-the-Face
Lakota
1835 – September 15, 1905
Chief 1866 – 1881
Rain-in-the-Face in 1874
Born in the Dakota Territory near the forks of the Cheyenne River about 1835, Rain-in-the-Face was from the Hunkpapa band within the Lakota nation. His name may have been a result of a fight when he was a boy in which his face was splattered like rain with his Cheyenne adversary's blood. Late in his life, the chief related that the name was reinforced by an incident when he was a young man where he was in a battle in a heavy rainstorm with a band of Gros Ventres. At the end of the lengthy combat, his face was streaked with war paint.
At the Battle of Little Big Horn on Custer Hill on June 25, 1876, Rain-in-the-Face is alleged to have cut the heart out of Thomas Custer, a feat that was popularized by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in "The Revenge of Rain in the Face". According to the dubious legend, Rain-in-the-Face was fulfilling a vow of vengeance because he thought Captain Thomas Custer had unjustly imprisoned him in 1874. Some contemporary accounts also claimed that the war chief had personally dispatched George Custer as well, but in the confused fighting, a number of similar claims have been attributed to other warriors. Late in his life, in a conversation with writer Charles Eastman, Rain-in-the-Face denied killing George Custer or mutilating Tom Custer.
Rain-in-the-Face joined other Hunkpapa as they fled north into Canada, spending the next several years in exile. He finally led his band in to surrender in 1880 and was transferred to the Standing Rock Agency the following year. In a census of the Lakota taken at Standing Rock in September 1881, Rain in the Face's band is recorded as numbering 39 families or 180 people. Rain-in-the-Face died in his home at the Bullhead Station on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation after a lengthy illness. On his deathbed he reputedly confessed to a missionary that he thought that he might have killed Custer, shooting him from so close as to leave powder marks upon his face.
Rain-in-the-Face circa 1880–1890
Famous Quote:
“I have lived peaceably ever since we came upon the reservation. No one can say that Rain in the Face has broken the rules of the Great Father. I fought for my people and my country. When we were conquered I remained silent, as a warrior should.”
Quanah Parker
Comanche
1852 – February 23, 1911
Chief 1890–1911
Quanah Parker, c. 1890
Quanah Parker was a war leader of the Kwahadi band of the Comanche Nation. He was the son of Kwahadi Comanche chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, an Anglo-American who had been abducted as a nine-year-old child during the Fort Parker massacre in 1836 and assimilated into the Nokoni tribe. Following the apprehension of several Kiowa chiefs in 1871, Quanah Parker emerged as a dominant figure in the Red River War, clashing repeatedly with Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. With European-Americans hunting American bison, the Comanches' primary sustenance, into near extinction, Quanah Parker eventually surrendered and peaceably led the Kwahadi to the reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Quanah Parker was never elected chief by his people but was appointed by the federal government as principal chief of the entire Comanche Nation. He became a primary emissary of southwest indigenous Americans to the United States legislature. According to his daughter "Wanada" Page Parker, her father helped celebrate President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inauguration by appearing in the parade. In April 1905, Roosevelt visited Quanah Parker at the Star House. President Roosevelt and Quanah Parker went wolf hunting together with Burnett near Frederick, Oklahoma. Quanah Parker is also credited as one of the first important leaders of the Native American Church movement and fought for the legal use of peyote in the movement's religious practices.
At the age of 66, Quanah Parker died on February 23, 1911, at Star House. In 1911, Quanah Parker's body was interred at Post Oak Mission Cemetery near Cache, Oklahoma. In 1957, his remains were moved to Fort Sill Post Cemetery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After his death, the leadership title of Chief was replaced with chairman; Quanah Parker is thereby described as the "Last Chief of the Comanche", a term also applied to Horseback. Biographer Bill Neeley wrote: "Not only did Quanah pass within the span of a single lifetime from a Stone Age warrior to a statesman in the age of the Industrial Revolution, but he never lost a battle to the white man and he also accepted the challenge and responsibility of leading the whole Comanche tribe on the difficult road toward their new existence."
Parker in December 1889 wearing European-American business attire
Famous Quote:
“The White Man goes into his church house and talks about Jesus, but the Indian goes into his tipi and talks to Jesus.”
Little Raven
Araphaho
1810–1889
Chief: 1855 - 1889
Little Raven, some time between 1868 and 1874
Little Raven was born on the central Great Plains around 1810 along the Platte River in present-day Nebraska. He became a progressive leader known for his stately appearance and oratorical skills. In 1840, he mediated peace between the Southern Arapaho and Cheyenne and the Kiowa, Comanche, and Plains Apache. To aid his tribe's subsistence, in 1857 he sought agricultural tools and instruction from the United States government.
Along with six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and three others of the Arapaho, Little Raven signed the Fort Wise Treaty on 18 February 1861, but he became frustrated when whites failed to comply with the agreement. Following the Battle of the Washita on 27 November 1868, Little Raven led the Southern Arapaho to Fort Sill for protection. Then the Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne were granted a reservation in western Indian Territory. Little Raven again toured Washington, D.C., and other Eastern cities, in 1871. He spoke before a large audience at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. President Ulysses S. Grant even offered him a peace medal, but Little Raven declined, saying that he had no peace talk to make because he had never been at war with whites. Little Raven influenced the Southern Arapaho to remain neutral during the Red River War of 1874-75.
Eventually Little Raven settled at Cantonment in present-day Blaine County, Oklahoma, where the old military hospital served as his home. Little Raven died at Cantonment in 1889. His remains are interred at the Fort Sill Post Cemetery in Oklahoma. Little Raven Street in Riverfront Park between 15th and 20th Street in Denver, near the South Platte River, commemorates him.
Little Raven (Photo Credit: Frederick S. Barde Collection, OHS)
Famous Quote:
“I would like to shake hands with the white men, but I am afraid they do not want peace with us.”
Wilma Mankiller
Cherokee
1945 - 2010
Chief 1985 - 1995
Wilma Mankiller, the first female Chief of the
Cherokee Nation. (Photo Credit: Tulsa World)
Wilma Pearl Mankiller was a Native American activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. At age 11, her family relocated from Adair County, Oklahoma to San Francisco as part of a federal government program to urbanize Indigenous Americans. There she was inspired by the social and political movements of the 1960s, Mankiller became involved in the Occupation of Alcatraz and later participated in the land and compensation struggles with the Pit River Tribe. Mankiller returned to Oklahoma in 1976 when the Cherokee Nation hired her as an economic stimulus coordinator. By the early 1980s she was directing the newly created Community Development Department of the Cherokee Nation.
In 1983, incumbent Principal Chief Ross Swimmer invited her to run as his deputy in the tribal elections. When the duo won, she became the first elected woman to serve as Deputy Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She was elevated to Principal Chief when Swimmer took a position in the federal administration of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, serving until 1995. During her administration, the Cherokee government built new health clinics, created a mobile eye-care clinic, established ambulance services, and created education and job training programs. She developed revenue streams while establishing self-governance, allowing the tribe to manage its own finances.
Mankiller returned to her activist role as an advocate working to improve the image of Native Americans by authoring books including a bestselling autobiography, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, and giving numerous lectures on health care, tribal sovereignty, women's rights and cancer awareness after retiring from politics. In 2010, she passed away from pancreatic cancer. Mankiller was honored with many local, state and national awards, including the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Wilma Mankiller, 1986 (Photo Credit: Oklahoma
Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS)
Famous Quote:
"The most fulfilled people are the ones who get up every morning and stand for something larger than themselves."
Joe Medicine Crow
Crow
1913 - 2016
Chief 1935 - 2016
(Photo Credit: Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame)
Joseph Medicine Crow was a Native American writer, historian and war chief of the Crow Tribe. His writings on Native American history and reservation culture are considered seminal works, but he is best known for his writings and lectures concerning the Battle of the Little Bighorn of 1876. Medicine Crow was a founding member of the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth. He was the last war chief of the Crow Tribe and the last Plains Indian war chief.
After spending the latter half of 1942 working in the naval ship yards in Bremerton, Washington, Medicine Crow joined the U.S. Army in 1943. He became a scout in the 103rd Infantry Division, and fought in World War II. Whenever he went into battle, he wore his war paint (two red stripes on his arms) beneath his uniform and a sacred yellow painted eagle feather, provided by a "sundance" medicine man, beneath his helmet. Medicine Crow completed all four tasks required to become a war chief: touching an enemy without killing him (counting coup), taking an enemy's weapon, leading a successful war party, and stealing an enemy's horse. He touched a living enemy soldier and disarmed him after turning a corner and finding himself face to face with a young German soldier. Medicine Crow is the last member of the Crow tribe to become a war chief.
He was interviewed and appeared in the 2007 Ken Burns PBS series The War, describing his World War II service. Filmmaker Ken Burns said, "The story of Joseph Medicine Crow is something I've wanted to tell for 20 years." As historian, Medicine Crow was the "keeper of memories" of his tribe. He preserved the stories and photographs of his people in an archive in his house and garage. His books include Crow Migration Story, Medicine Crow, the Handbook of the Crow Indians Law and Treaties, Crow Indian Buffalo Jump Techniques, and From the Heart of Crow Country. He also wrote a book for children entitled Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird. Medicine Crow continued to write and lecture at universities and public institutions until his death, at the age of 102, on April 3, 2016.
(Photo Credit: Ben Thompson)
Famous Quote:
“I was never a smart man to begin with, but I love to learn.”
Interview with USDA’s Tribal Ambassador Gilbert Louis III
By NAT Staff
(Photo Credit: USDA)
Introduction
Indigenous peoples have long protected local ecosystems and preserved biodiversity through land management and farming practices. They taught colonists how to cultivate crops like corn, beans, and squash, which were crucial for their survival, especially during the harsh winters. Without the assistance of Native peoples, many settlers would not have been able to survive. In modern times, the community’s agriculture involves a blend of traditional practices and modern techniques, with a strong emphasis on sustainability and cultural preservation.
Following the forced removal of five tribes from their lands in the Southeast, cattle ranching quickly became one of the leading economic activities in Indian Territory. Many Indian agents, working with different tribes, believed establishing successful ranching operations would assist in the long-range goal of assimilation. Today many Native nations still participate in cattle ranching as an economic activity, continuing many ranching traditions. Native American ranching techniques, deeply rooted in sustainable practices, involved careful land management and a strong understanding of ecosystems.
The Pilgrims relied on Native peoples to learn how to live off the land.
(Photo Credit: Modern Farmer)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) supports America’s agricultural producers through effective, market-based risk management tools to strengthen the economic stability of agricultural producers and rural communities. They interact with the community through various initiatives aimed at improving access to and effectiveness of their programs, including federal crop insurance.
The United States has a unique government-to-government relationship with federally recognized Tribes as defined through treaties, statutes, court decisions, Executive Orders, and Departmental Regulations.
Interview
Gilbert Louis III serves as USDA’s Risk Management Agency’s first Tribal Ambassador, providing insights to Native American farmers and ranchers. In this role, he travels throughout Indian Country promoting risk management programs and practices to build prosperous and resilient agriculture in Tribal communities.
A proud member of the Pueblo of Acoma Tribe, Louis hails from a multigenerational family of ranchers, and brings forward his practical experiences to the job.
NAT
Tell us about your background with the USDA?
GL
I've been involved with USDA since around 2018, when I was on the Board of the Council for Native American Farming and Ranching, which is an advisory committee of USDA. It was established to address the unique challenges faced by Native American farmers and ranchers in accessing USDA programs and resources. Going back, the agency was under the false impression that Indian people had help from the Bureau of Indian Affairs or their local tribes and were referred back to their tribe for assistance. The Council’s job was to serve as an advocate and advisor for farmers, ranchers, and tribal entities. We delivered a strong message there’s a number of USDA programs we're allowed to participate in – and don't be apprehensive about signing up because USDA and its Risk Management Agency (where I presently serve) are there to be of help. We personalized the message where people can understand it, which eradicated some of the skepticism that may have been out there.
NAT
Skepticism?
GL
For example, when Native Americans hear about the insurance benefits being offered, some people can be a little bit skeptical of the government, just because treaties are still being broken to this day.
NAT
You mentioned “insurance” as an available USDA Risk Management Agency program to tap into. What’s that benefit about?
GL
I myself participate in the precipitation insurance, which is basically a rainfall insurance. If it's a bad drought, we get paid. You'll get a payment from USDA and/or the insurance company. This protects your business operations and helps to ensure you’re still farming and ranching next year.
NAT
Going back to the Council, do you feel it got a lot accomplished, along the way?
GL
So, the Council met a couple times a year and were giving feedback to USDA on tribal issues and concerns – and how they can better improve federal services. We were accomplishing our mission but there’s still a lot to do.
At a conservation planning training and workshop, Louis describes
the process and evaluation of soil sampling, including how to analyze
soil depth and identify soil types and horizons. (Photo Credit: FirstNations.org)
NAT
And your leadership role with the Council, how did that ultimately translate to your present position as Tribal Ambassador?
GL
I've been connected to agriculture all my life, and also was the Chairman on the Livestock Raising Board for five years, here in Acoma, New Mexico. I attended an agricultural conference in Las Vegas. There, I met some USDA personnel at their booth and while talking with them, noticed my picture on their promotional flyer. I said, “Hey, that's me on that flyer you got right there, that postcard, that's me, man.” I joked around and said, “I'll send you guys the bill for using my picture.” But I also mentioned if you guys have any jobs available, I’d love to help Indian Country. They asked me to send a resume and it just kind of happened like that. And I met with the Undersecretary for USDA’s Risk Management Agency, Marcia Bunger, and we just kind of kept in touch. A couple months later, they explained they tried an advocacy-type program with African Americans, and would like to do something similar with Native people. They asked if I’d be interested in becoming their Tribal Ambassador which I was happy to accept. Yeah, it was very fast paced, and honestly at one point I wasn’t sure if I could do it.
NAT
Do you feel being a multi-generational rancher played a role in their decision?
GL
I believe so. I think about my grandparents all the time and why they got into agriculture, raising animals and harvesting fields to provide for their family. It was a monetary situation where they can take their cattle to sale, their livestock to sale. Or, if they need food on the table, they have their animals and their crops. It was kind of a safety net, I would say, for my grandparents to provide for their family. And so, I'd like to keep that same mindset and provide for my own family – not just my immediate family, but my extended family, my aunts, cousins, you know, whoever I can help out. And help the community, too. I recently donated a steer to a neighboring tribe. Harvesting a buffalo the whole tribe will come out and ensure that we're all sharing in that bounty. It was a lot more than just, oh, yeah, we're big-time ranchers or big-time farmers. No, it wasn't that. It was having enough to provide for our people and making sure that our people are surviving and we're healthy. And so again, my family roots run deep. I have a beef company but at the end of the day, I told the people, I'll donate my steer. And so, my job as Tribal Ambassador is to advocate for our farmers and ranchers and to let them know various programs are available to be of support.
Ambassador Louis, a third-generation farmer and
rancher, poses with his father. (Photo Credit: USDA)
NAT
Speaking about roots and traditions, can you provide an example of how today’s Native farmers and ranchers honor old ways?
GL
As Native Americans, we pray to our cattle, we wash our cattle, we talk to our cattle. To us, they're sacred. Those are our prayers. And not only that, they provide the bounty for our people, the nourishment. You know, every time I take a cattle to get processed, I pray to it, I give it thanks, and I apologize to the mom, giving her thanks, even though she’s not present. I tell her that her calf is going to provide for our people, and we're very grateful and not to feel bad or hurt. Yeah, tradition and culture are all tied into it.
NAT
Tell us a bit about yourself as a young person leading to your time with Acoma Fire Department?
GL
I was always in trouble and in high school getting into fights. And at 17, I had a kid and I was freaking out. At that point I made my mind up and said, “Okay, you need to stop messing around. You need to graduate, get a good job, and not just any job. You need to get a career and provide for this child that's coming.” So, I did that, graduated from school and joined the Acoma Fire Department. I stayed there for three years until I turned 21 then went into Albuquerque Fire Rescue. And believe me, I wanted to quit during the Academy, it's military style and our instructors are yelling at us, and my legs are shaking. And I'm standing there in the hot sun, thinking I can go back to Acoma Fire Department and don't need this. But then the thought crossed my mind, you're doing this for your son, you want him to have a better life, you want him to have a house in Albuquerque. And so, I stuck it out and lo and behold, 20 years later, I took retirement. I now offer peer support to the department’s Retirees Association and mentorship to youth seeking careers as first responders, including my own son, Julian. After spending a little time in retirement, I started looking for another job which led me to USDA.
(Photo Credit: New Mexico State University, Jane Moorman, Photographer)
NAT
Does the Ambassador’s Office sponsor events, like symposiums or conferences? Basically, how do you promote the USDA opportunities available?
GL
Yes, we attend events to get the word out there and there's also an opportunity for the Native agricultural community to voice questions and concerns. And some of these events are big, like the Intertribal Agriculture Council which took place in Las Vegas. and the Gathering of the Nation's Pow Wow here in New Mexico. You would have a booth usually at the conference so people can learn and network with you. And so again, my job is to relay USDA and its Risk Management Agency’s programs and how they benefit farmers and ranchers.
NAT
If you had to sum it up, what’s the goal here?
GL
At the very minimum, to get farmers, ranchers and tribal entities to visit their local USDA building, to learn of various opportunities. The goal of the USDA is to make sure that America keeps farming and ranching right. We want to reach out to Indian Country and let people know that they can participate in our programs – what's available and why these programs are here. Recently, I heard the term warrior. A warrior not only protects his people, but provides for them as well. It really struck a chord on me as to who we are, as Native Americans.
End of Interview
To learn more about opportunities, contact Ambassador Louis at:
glouisrma@gmail.com, or via phone 505-250-3960. He’s also available for consultation on issues and challenges faced by farmers and ranchers.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) serves America’s agricultural producers through effective, market-based risk management tools to strengthen the economic stability of agricultural producers and rural communities. They are committed to increasing the availability and effectiveness of Federal crop insurance as a risk management tool. RMA’s vision is to secure the future of agriculture by providing world class risk management tools to rural America.
The USDA provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on public policy. Their vision is to provide economic opportunity through innovation, helping rural America to thrive. USDA preserves our Nation's natural resources through conservation, restored forests, improved watersheds, and healthy private working lands.
Mounted Defenders: The History of the Comanche Nation
By Native Hope
Three mounted Comanche Indian warriors, photographed 1892 (Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons)
The Comanche Nation has a history of fiercely defending its territory and challenging the encroachment of settlers. As one of the most renowned and warlike tribes in history, they struck fear in the hearts of anyone who approached their land. However, they have as rich and diverse history and culture as any other Native American tribe.
COMANCHE HISTORY
Where Did the Comanche Live?
The Comanche Tribe was originally part of the Wyoming Shoshone. The Comanche’s historical territory was often referred to as Comancheria. Their migration brought the tribe to the Southern Great Plains, with the earliest records of the Comanche appearing in Spanish references in 1706. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, they lived in northwestern Texas and areas in New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Peace was made with the Kiowa in the early 1800s, and they lived within this territory and would camp together with the Comanche. To the North were the Cheyenne and the Arapaho; to the south were the Karankawa and the Pueblos. To the west were the Apache, Navajo, and Ute tribes, and to the East were the Wichita, Caddo, and Tonkawa. To enter this land without an invitation was considered an act of war, and the Comanche responded as such.
Defending Comanche Territory: Raids and Battles
The Comanche fiercely defended their territory, confronting all threats to their land. They were uncompromising and relentless. When European Americans or other Native American tribes encroached on the Comanche battles ensued, and settlements were raided. The Comanche were experts in fighting on horseback. They drove some Native bands, like the Apache, off their territory and were at war with nearly every nearby tribe at some point. Comanche raids into Mexico usually took place under a full moon, so the Comanche could see what they were doing under the moonlight. Attacks in this fashion led to the term “Comanche Moon.”
Warfare was a significant part of life, and the Comanche Natives were known to significantly torture their adversaries during times of war and raids. However, if an individual expressed bravery in the face of death, the Comanche viewed them with honor. There are documented instances where some individuals were even released. When Comanche Natives took captives during warfare, many assimilated into the Comanche way of life. Even with an opportunity to return home to family, many captives, in turn, decided to remain living with the Comanche.
Comanche's Relationship to Settlers
American settlers and Comanche had an ambiguous relationship at best. Comanche territory was positioned between land claimed by Spain in the Southwest and France in Louisiana. Comanche Natives were valued trade partners with some settlers and raided other groups of colonizers. They had a better relationship with the French, with whom they traded buffalo hides for guns, but maintained a relationship with the Spanish whom they traded prisoners of war for horses.
With the purchase of the Louisiana Territory and later gold being discovered in California, this brought continued shifts in settlers. This disrupted the migration of the buffalo herd and brought many diseases to the tribes. The population of the Comanche was decimated from 20,000 to just a few thousand in the 1870s.
The Treaty of Medicine Lodge
Post-civil war, there was increased contact between those looking to expand settlements westward and the tribes. Conflict continued, and the Medicine Lodge Treaty was proposed to mitigate these conflicts. The treaty offered a 2.9 million-acre tract of guaranteed native territory to the Comanche and the Kiowa. This was to include the implements for farming and building of houses and schools and permission to continue hunting buffalo. This treaty would transition the Comanche from a lifestyle of nomadism to a sedentary life of farming. Even though this was not an agreement the tribe wished to pursue, the continued warfare, loss of food sources, and the onslaught of diseases continued to diminish the Comanche population and alter their only known lifestyle.
The treaty was signed on October 21, 1867. However, many articles were not honored by the United States Government or the Tribes. This led to political discord between the House of Representatives and the Senate, and by 1871, it ultimately ended any further treaty negotiations. During this time, inadequate rations were delayed. Sickness and starvation continued, as did the Comanche’s raids and taking of captives to address the tribe’s resistance and their starvation.
The Medicine Lodge Treaty marked a shift in political thought and movement away from genocide to ethnocide. This brought forth the years of mandatory boarding schools, language suppression, and bans on religious practices. Leading to a demonstration of further resiliency of the American Indians who lived through the times of those policies.
A Comanche war party, painted by George Catlin. Buffalo Hump’s raiding party of 1840 has been estimated to include as many as 1,000 Comanches, including 500 warriors. (Photo Credit: Warfare History Network)
COMANCHE CULTURE
Life in the Comanche Tribes
The Comanche formed “local bands” and “villages” of related extended families that regularly lived and traveled together. There were five major bands who played important roles in Comanche history:
- Penateka (Honey Eaters)
- Nokoni (Those Who Turn Back)
- Kotsoteka (Buffalo Eaters)
- Yamparikas (Yap-Eaters)
- Quahadis (Antelopes)
Each of these bands lived in different areas of the US and played an essential role in America’s history. These bands were fluid and would coalesce and break apart depending on the needs and goals of their members. The heads of these core families were called Paraivo. Divisions in these bands took place at the regional levels, with groups that shared common political interests joining together. The Comanche political structure was marked by its flexibility of the organization, as members could move between these divisions as they wanted.
Comanche Laws and Disputes
Traditional Comanche law-ways distinguished between the private/domestic sphere and the public sphere. Most private disputes were settled between the affected parties without involving the rest of the tribe. In the event the private matters became public and political the chief would step in to help settle disputes. Tribal decisions were made by a council of chiefs who were presided over by the head civil chief, but individuals were not bound to accept council decisions. Comanche society permitted great individual freedom, and that autonomy created complications in relations among themselves, other tribes and the Europeans.
Communal hunting, intertribal trade, and peacemaking were public and community matters. These issues could be discussed and debated at informal gatherings called “smoke lodges” and more formal councils.
Comanche Defined by Horses
The Comanche way of life was most clearly defined by horses. Horses gave the Comanche mobility to follow the buffalo herds, the advantage of hunting them and conducting warfare from horseback. The Comanche were skilled horsemen who were able to throw spears and shoot arrows from their horse's backs or from under their bellies. Horses became a measure of Comanche's wealth and were a valuable trade commodity for them. Children learned to ride at an early age. In horsemanship skills, Comanche men and women had no equal, their children learned to ride at an early age, and kindness was consistently utilized when training their horses.
Buffalo Hunt: A Numerous Group, by George Catlin, 1844 (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commmons)
Comanche Food: Dependence on Buffalo
Buffalo products were the core of the Comanche economy and way of life. These products included robes, tepee covers, thread, water carriers, and other goods. The tepees Comanche called home were plains-type tepees made from tanned buffalo hide stretched over sixteen to eighteen lodge poles.
Comanche clothing was made from bison hide or buckskin and included breechclout, leggings, and moccasins for men. Women wore fringed skirts, poncho-style blouses, leggings, and moccasins. In the winter, buffalo robes provided much-needed protection from the cold weather.
The food Comanche ate mostly consisted of buffalo, but it also included wild roots, fruits, and nuts. Produce was secured by trading with neighboring tribes who specialized in agriculture, like the Wichita, Pueblo, and Caddo groups.
Comanche Women and Children
The Comanche society is a polygamous culture where one or more women may take part in gathering and cooking for one man. The women were charged with raising the children and tending to the home. This included the setting up and taking down of the teepees when it was time to move to another location. Young girls learned these same skills, while boys, once old enough, took after their fathers, learning to hunt and fight.
When a new baby was born, it would be swaddled and remain with the mother for a few days in the tepee with a midwife. Then, the baby was placed in a cradleboard so the mother could work while caring for the baby. The cradleboard could remain strapped to the mother or be propped against a nearby tree.
Comanche Language
The Comanche spoke a Shoshonean dialect of the Uto-Aztecan language family, it was similar to Ute and Paiute languages. The Comanche language was once spoken across the southern plains and was referred to as the “court language of the plains” because of its wide use and the many who understood it. This was also the language utilized by the “Code Talkers” during World War II because it was a language the Japanese could not understand. However, the number of speakers has declined over the years. There are two Comanche language dictionaries in print today.
Numu Tekwapuha Nomnekatu, the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee, has worked to reestablish knowledge of the Comanche language through books. There are also several story texts and hymnals published in this language.
Famous Comanche
Charles Chibitty (1921-2005) was a code talker in WWII. Code talkers helped to turn the tide of the war, as enemy interceptors couldn’t understand their communication.
LaDonna Harris (b. 1931) is a political activist and founder of Americans for Indian Opportunity. This non-profit organization seeks to advance, from an Indigenous worldview, the cultural, political, and economic rights of Indigenous peoples in the United States and worldwide.
Modern-Day Comanche
Today, the Comanche live mostly in Southwest Oklahoma. The tribe has about 17,000 enrolled members and around 7,000 residing in the tribal jurisdiction area around Lawton Ft. Sill and other counties in Oklahoma.
This tribe still celebrates its vibrant culture and legacy today.
About Native Hope
Native Hope is a resource that helps Native communities meet their needs. They talk with community members, listen to their challenges, and partner with tribal entities to find solutions—in a unified effort to dismantle barriers, empower leaders, and give hope for a promising tomorrow.
Homepage Photo Credit: Reddit
Brooklyn, NY and its Native Origins
By Natiba Guy-Clement, Brooklyn Public Library Writer/Blogger
I attended a convening of Brooklyn based cultural institutions, hosted by Brooklyn Museum in partnership with the Lenape Center. It was a 2-day workshop to discuss Living Land Acknowledgements and develop ongoing collaborative projects between Lenape-Delaware Nations and cultural institutions in Brooklyn.
A Living Land Acknowledgment is a statement that recognizes the indigenous peoples who have been dispossessed from the homelands and territories upon which an institution was built and currently occupies and operates in. For Brooklyn, it was originally the “Lenapehoking” or the Land of the Lenape, an offspring of the Algonquin civilization; and includes present day New Jersey, New York and Delaware, until forced displacement started with European “discovery” of the land and continued well into the 19th century.
Map of Lenape languages and Tribes-Image from Wikimedia Commons
The Lenape lived in the area that is now known as New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, southeastern New York State, northern Delaware and a small section of southeastern Connecticut. They were often broken down into three clans: The Minsi (also known as Munsee) or Wolf, Unami or Turtle and the Unalachtgo or Turkey. Historians describe the period of European contact as the Lenape Confederacy, a loosely organized but wide ranging entity. The Minsi occupied lower New York and upper New Jersey, the Unami occupied central New Jersey and parts of Pennysylvania and the Unalatchtigo occupied lower New Jersey.
Europeans began to have contact with the now area of New York. Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed into New York harbor and traded with the Lenape in 1524, and this act according to historians marked the high point and downfall of Lenape culture as European-carried disease began to destroy their society. Verrazzano’s contact was followed by the first visit from the Dutch in the Hudson River area in 1598. With every new contact between the Lenape and European settlers, their numbers began to dwindle more and more. By 1623 there were only 200-300 Lenape left by some accounts.
Today, after numerous wars, treaties and forced displacement most of the Lenape are living in Oklahoma and Canada but several hundred Lenape/ Delaware Indian descendants still live in the New York area and many cities in the tri-state have Lenape names, for example, Allamuchy, Hackensack, Manasquan, and Manhattan. Many streets, parks, lakes, rivers and mountains also have Lenape names.
Customizable Land Acknowledgment template from the U.S
Department of Arts and Culture initiative, Honor Native Land
The practice of Living Land Acknowledgments is becoming an increasingly normalized act in places like Canada, and Australia where many public events or gatherings, begin with an acknowledgment to the First Peoples that originally inhabited the space. It is usually in the form of a statement or an honor, either with specificity, given to the known ancestors of said land or a general statement, giving honor to the original ancestors of the land. In the United States the practice has not yet become widespread. It may occur in places where ties to first peoples remain strong, but it not yet a national conversation.
At the convening in October, representatives from Lenapehoking and Brooklyn Cultural institutions discussed a range of ideas about incorporating Lenape history and paying homage to the space they call home. Ideas ranged from adding language to signs that welcome visitors and folks returning home to New York, that serves as a reminder that they are in Lenapehoking, to the importance of creating and teaching curricula to foster education about First Nations.
Lenape leaders attend the Of This Land convening at Brooklyn Museum
Tribal leaders and historians from Canada, Delaware, Oklahoma and the Lenape Center here in New York, engaged with us about their history, customs and traditions. From Chief Chester Brooks, the oldest chief in attendance, we learned about 7 generations of his family bloodline that he was able to recite to us from memory. This was quite a privilege for me to witness, the oral recitation of family ties that takes genealogists time and effort to compile. Other Tribal representatives shared their stories about the present conditions of their respective groups and talked about their efforts to educate newer generations about their history and culture.
Matthew Putnam, Vice Chairman of the Stockbridge Munsee
Community sharing with attendees.
When discussing Living Land Acknowledgments, the common thread shared with us by the leaders highlighted the importance of true inclusion. Finding significant ways as cultural institutions to honor the land and its original caretakers, was what was most important to everyone gathered there. Most of us in attendance agreed that the easy first step was to acknowledge that this was something of importance, but implementation in a meaningful and inclusive way was what required discussion among our respective stakeholders.
Having representatives from the Lenape helped all in attendance with brainstorming sessions to formulate ideas. Having them lead the conversation about their history, customs and legacy gave everyone in attendance necessary background about what we should be thinking about and some knowledge of the resources available to help us actualize our ideas. There were discussions about how we can create curriculum or educational initiatives that would center on comprehensive teaching about the Lenape and first peoples in Brooklyn, ideas about how we can create programs around their customs, reciprocal visits to current Lenape territories so learning can occur where they are now, to encourage reciprocity and to ensure that the burden of educating us is not one sided. There was also a lot of conversation about environmentalism and finding ways to incorporate the symbiotic relationship first peoples had with the land into discussions on climate change. At the end of the two days many of us in attendance felt equipped to go back to our respective institutions with valuable insight about how we can begin discussions that would lead us to consequential action.
Participant in the Gateway to the Nations Pow Wow at
Floyd Bennett Field in 2010. Image from the Bob Gore
Collection. Brooklyn Collection
The opening of the symposium was led by traditional prayers by the Lenape leaders, which served to welcome us current occupants to Lenapehoking. At the wrap-up session a representative of the Lenape Center offered a simple idea when we think about Land Acknowledgments: “Now that we have welcomed you how do you respond?” This should serve as a prompt to all who think about the space we occupy and the people who were here before us. It is a bit like welcoming a guest to your home, I’ve invited you in, now what would do you do next?
For more information about Living Land Acknowledgements visit Honor Native Land.
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
About the Author
Natiba Guy-Clement, based in New York, United States, is currently an Assistant Director, Collections and Public Service-Center for Brooklyn History at Brooklyn Public Library, bringing experience from previous roles at Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Public Library and New York Public Library. Natiba Guy-Clement holds a 2009 - 2012 Master of Library & Information Science (MSLIS) with distinction in Library and Information Science at the Pratt Institute. With a robust skill set that includes Research, Archival Preservation, Reference, Collection Maintenance, Inventory Management and more, Natiba Guy-Clement contributes valuable insights to the industry.
About Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library is among the borough’s most democratic civic institutions, serving patrons in every neighborhood and from every walk of life. It is the mission of Brooklyn Public Library to ensure the preservation and transmission of society's knowledge, history and culture, and to provide the people of Brooklyn with free and open access to information for education, recreation and reference.
NAT’s Editorial Board wishes to express its appreciation to BigBus for providing a special tour of Brooklyn, prior to publishing. We also extend our gratitude to tour guide, Jennifer, who along with her colleagues, have traditionally shared Brooklyn’s history relating to the Lenape Tribe. To learn more about Brookyln and New York, visit Jennifer’s Instagram.
After a Century of Displacement, Shasta Indian Nation Sees
Hope in Dam Removal
By Juliet Grable (Jefferson Public Radio)
Sami Jo Difuntorum, cultural preservation officer for the Shasta Indian Nation, stands
in the homeland of her tribe along the Klamath River in Northern California.
(Photo Credit: Cassandra Profita / OPB)
The Klamath dam removal is uncovering painful history for the Shasta Indian Nation. But the tribe’s leaders also see a chance to recover some of their lost lands, restoring ceremony, language, and community in the process.
When Sami Jo Difuntorum looks out across Copco Lake, she reads her own history in a sacred landscape that was nearly erased from public consciousness.
“You can see over there where the canyon narrows is where the historic river channel is — our traditional fishing site,” says Difuntorum. “It’s where we fished since time immemorial, as we say. We’re looking forward to that returning for future generations.”
Copco Lake is part of the Lower Kamath Project, a series of four dams and associated hydroelectric plants on the Klamath River near the Oregon-California border. The rugged country is marked by rolling foothills, rimrock rising out of oak woodlands, and the veins of shady creeks. This is K’íka·c’é·ki, the Shasta Indian Nation’s ancestral landscape, its heart currently submerged under the reservoir. Bound by Iron Gate dam to the west and a distinctive rock outcropping called Án·iruyruyhé·nax to the east, K’íka·c’é·ki encompasses the largest known Shasta village, smaller villages, camps, and fishing sites, a cemetery, and the site of their salmon ceremony.
Displaced first by gold miners and pioneers in the 19th century and by a massive hydroelectric project in the 20th, Shasta people have not had a place to call their own for over 100 years.
“We’re not homeless or houseless, but we’re away from home,” says Difuntorum, who serves as cultural preservation officer for the Shasta Indian Nation.
That may soon change. Next year, the three reservoirs of the Lower Klamath Project will be drained, and the dams and other infrastructure will be removed. Although the project is uncovering painful history for Shasta people, the tribe’s leaders also see a chance to recover some of their lost lands, restoring ceremony, language, and community in the process.
A tenuous hold
Multiple bands of indigenous people who spoke various dialects of the Shasta language once lived throughout northern California and the Klamath Mountains region. They were salmon people, thriving on the rivers’ abundant fish runs and the wealth of game and food plants in the uplands.
Gold miners arrived first in the Scott and Shasta Valleys, killing and displacing Indians wherever they went. Gold was discovered near Yreka in 1851, setting off a grim and bloody chapter for the Shasta who lived in the upper Klamath River canyon. While many were killed and some dispersed to nearby towns, a good number found a refuge in the fertile bottomlands along the Klamath River east of Yreka under the leadership of a Shasta chief named Bogus Tom Smith.
Bogus Tom was instrumental in spreading the Ghost Dance, a ritual believed to have the power to drive white settlers away, throughout Northern California and Oregon, says Dr. Brian Daniels, director of research and programs for the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. “During his travels he learned from other tribes that were fighting to hold onto their land.”
By the turn of the century, this group of Shasta had stitched together a land base by obtaining allotments, marrying into landowning families, and through outright purchase.
“It wasn’t as if the Bureau of Indian Affairs came in and said, ‘Oh, we’re gonna protect this land for you,’” says Daniels, who over the years has become a trusted advocate for the tribe. “This was the tribe itself holding itself together by owning or controlling these contiguous lands.”
Difuntorum’s own grandmother, Kitty Grasshopper, married a succession of white landowners, in part, Difuntorum suspects, so she could remain living on the land and near her people.
“They paid a price,” says Difuntorum of the tribe’s women, adding that strategic arranged marriages were not uncommon. “All of those efforts to keep the community intact? Guess what—the land was taken by eminent domain.”
In the early 1900s, Siskiyou Electric Power & Light Company began planning a large hydroelectric project on the Klamath River to serve its rapidly growing transmission network. In 1911, the company reorganized as California-Oregon Power Company, or Copco, and began acquiring land for the project.
A Shasta Indian woman named Kitty Ward, who had married a white rancher named Tip Ward, was living in a log cabin located on the lower end of the future reservoir when John C. Boyle, a surveyor who would go on to become vice president and long-time manager of Copco, delivered the news that she was going to have to move.
“She certainly knew how to put the white man in his place,” wrote Boyle in 50 Years on the Klamath, his account of the project. “Between sobs and tears, she refused again and again to leave her home[,] saying[,] ‘I no move, let water come, I die here.’” A ranch foreman persuaded Ward to travel to nearby Hornbrook. According to Daniels, she died of a cerebral hemorrhage in the process and never returned home.
A landscape transformed
Ultimately, six dams were built on the main stem of the Klamath River as part of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project. A curved concrete gravity arch dam called Copco 1 was constructed at the head of Ward’s Canyon, while the much smaller Copco 2 dam spanned the Klamath River just 500 yards below. Copco 2 was used to divert water through a tunnel and feed a hydroelectric plant two miles downstream, leaving most of Ward’s Canyon, a steep basalt gorge that Boyle deemed “unsurveyable,” dewatered for over a century.
Copco 1 dam will be removed sometime next year. Copco Lake is part of the Lower
Kamath Project, a series of four dams and associated hydroelectric plants on the
Klamath River near the Oregon-California border. (Photo Credit: Juliet Grable / JPR)
Once filled, Copco Lake submerged Shasta villages and ceremonial sites and flooded the most fertile farmland, while the dams blocked salmon and other fish, making it difficult for Shasta people to survive on even a subsistence level. The Shasta Indian Nation was not formally recognized as a sovereign entity by the federal government and no reservation was designated. According to Daniels, the last bit of property held by someone from Bogus Tom’s Shasta community was sold in 1968.
“It’s fascinating to me that when that person died, that property reverted to PacifiCorp,” says Daniels of the utility that, until recently, managed the dams. “And so, you really get a sense of just how much this community ends up getting pushed out.”
Along with the reservoirs and dams came powerhouses with turbines to generate power, penstocks to shuttle water to the power plants, transmission lines to move electricity, and even housing for dam workers.
This past summer, Copco 2 was partially deconstructed, and in September, the Yurok Tribe Construction Corporation and Yurok Fisheries Department worked with a local helicopter company to remove cottonwood and alder trees that had filled in Ward’s Canyon. The trees were destined to die once waterlogged, and would have created hazards for anglers and recreational boaters when the river returned. The work was done in collaboration with the Shasta Indian Nation, which has appointed cultural monitors to be on site any time ground disturbing activities take place. They understand that the reservoir drawdowns and earth moving could uncover sacred sites, including burials.
“It can be hard to be here,” says Michael Olson, council member for the Shasta Indian Nation who is serving as a cultural monitor. At the same time, the tribe has been in consultation with the state of California about the possibility of having some of their ancestral lands returned to them.
Serving as tribal cultural monitors for the Shasta Indian Nation are Willis Hindle
(left), who is related to Kitty Grasshopper, and Larry Leonard, who is Kitty Ward’s
Grandson. (Photo Credit: Klamath River Renewal Corporation)
When the license to operate the dams was officially transferred to the nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corporation in late 2022, PacifiCorp also handed off about 8,000 acres of land, including the acreage underneath the reservoirs. These “Parcel B” lands will be transferred to the states of Oregon and California or to a third-party designee once the dams are removed and the reservoir footprints are restored.
“What is going to make this okay to the extent that it can be? One of the mitigation measures in the [state’s environmental] document is return of land,” says Difuntorum. The climate in California is favorable, she adds, pointing to Governor Gavin Newsom’s directive to return “excess land” to California tribes.
Shasta leaders are focused on the parts of their homeland with the most cultural significance. Any return of land will have to be balanced with the dams’ Surrender Order, which mandates that any transferred lands be managed for “public interest purposes” such as wildlife habitat restoration and recreation.
“What’s compelling and important here is it was a state action that deprived this tribal community of its property,” says Daniels. “That really prompts me to reflect on what needs to happen in this space. How do you remedy a state action that was so devastating?”
Reclaiming language and place
The Ghost Dance wasn’t part of the Shasta’s traditional ceremonies, which centered around salmon, but they began practicing it in the 1870s, after Indians from further south brought it to them as a way to resist colonization.
Difuntorum describes the Ghost Dance as a “very earnest prayer” to return life to the way it was before the gold miners came. Though it may be impossible to turn back the clock to a time before colonization, dam removal offers an opportunity to right historic wrongs — and for healing.
“The health of the land and water is not a snap kind of thing; it’s about creating a cycle and being part of that,” says Sarmento.
Linguist James Sarmento is eager to share the Shasta language with other members
of his community. (Photo Credit: Juliet Grable/JPR)
Sarmento, who describes himself as a “big, library nerd,” says his interest in language ignited in 2007, when he discovered linguist Shirley Silver’s 1966 dissertation titled The Shasta Language.
Discovering the text was “super exciting,” says Sarmento. “I knew nothing about linguistics.”
Sarmento eventually met Silver, who had worked with Íkʔya·hámpik, also known as Sargent Sambo, who was the last fluent Shasta speaker in the world until his death in 1963. Now, Sarmento has become a vital link in a chain of individuals working to keep the flame of the Shasta language flickering, despite enormous challenges.
As Sarmento points out in the early pages of his own doctoral dissertation, called The Shasta Language: A One-Hundred Year Conversation, there are no fluent speakers alive today, and Shasta people are scattered “across California, Oregon, and beyond” — a consequence of limited economic opportunities and the absence of a land base.
Now that the dams are being removed, Sarmento is eager to help Shasta people use language to reclaim physical spaces within K’íka·c’é·ki—and to gather with his community.
“Being a part of that ceremonial space is incredibly powerful—having a sense of belonging,” says Sarmento, recalling an experience when he and his family were invited to a roundhouse near Sacramento. “Ceremony and these spaces are not just for the community, they’re for the world, so the world can renew itself.”
The Shasta plan to have a continuous presence in the area once the reservoir drawdowns begin in early 2024.
“We’re good with [the dams] coming out,” says Difuntorum. “We want fish but we also want some of our lands back. I look at my little grandsons and it’s like — they deserve to have culture — to have ceremony, to have tradition.”
At Annual Forum, United Nations Issues Call for Closing Financial Gaps for Indigenous People
By NAT Staff
(Editor’s Note: All Photo Credits Courtesy of UN DESA DISD/ Ines Belchior, Ronja Porho)
The largest global annual gathering of Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, finalized its twenty-third session at UN Headquarters in New York. The internationally attended event ran from April 15 through April 26.
The proceedings began with a ceremonial welcome by Chief Tadodaho Sid Hill of the Onondaga Nation. Over 2,000 participants convened at the Forum joined by representatives from the United Nations, including Dennis Francis, President of the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly; Paula Narvaez, President of the Economic and Social Council; and Li Junhua, Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
Opening the Forum, David Choquehuanca, Vice-President of Bolivia, highlighted the role of Indigenous Peoples in putting the planet first. “We must transition from an anthropocentric to a biocentric approach to ensure our youth hands over a healthier Mother Earth to the generations to come. This necessitates redirecting financial resources directly into the hands of Indigenous Peoples, the stewards of our planet’s biodiversity,” he said.
The theme of this year’s global gathering spotlights Indigenous Peoples’ rights to self-determination and voices of Indigenous youth. A key component in ensuring the right to self-determination is access to financing, to enable Indigenous Peoples to better assert their rights, pursue their economic, social and cultural development and fund their governance structures, as stipulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“The elimination of obstacles to financial flows is crucial to ensure direct access to Indigenous Peoples for the implementation of our actions and programmes, to have the ways and means to finance our self-government and to maintain our self-determination,” stressed Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
However, financing for Indigenous Peoples, particularly international climate and development assistance, falls significantly short of their needs. Although Indigenous Peoples are custodians of 80 per cent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, funding for their forest tenure rights and management from 2011 to 2020 was less than 1 per cent of international climate aid, with actual receipts likely as low as 0.13 per cent, as funds are often routed through intermediaries.
Lack of investments in Indigenous women and girls remain particularly acute. The Forum also pressed for special attention on promoting Indigenous women-led initiatives to strengthen their economic rights, further empowering Indigenous women and girls and dispelling harmful stereotypes that reinforce discrimination.
“The contributions of Indigenous women are invaluable to our societies. We must take action now to ensure they have equal access to finance and support, empowering them to lead and succeed,” urged Sonia Guajajara, Minister for Indigenous Peoples of Brazil.
Complications also arise in collecting and analysing data on donor allocations specifically directed to Indigenous Peoples, particularly when they are conflated with other groups. The lack of data available underscores the insufficiency in direct funding.
Addressing this issue necessitates the implementation of direct funding mechanisms for Indigenous Peoples and the elimination of bureaucratic obstacles to ensure Indigenous Peoples have the financial autonomy to lead their initiatives.
“We need scaled-up long-term, predictable and direct funding to Indigenous Peoples, including through public, private and Indigenous-led funding mechanisms that effectively engage Indigenous women and youth,” stressed Mr. Li.
Member States, global financial institutions, donors and other financers need to work in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples to develop and prioritize strategies to enhance catalytic, concessional and blended financing, alongside defining assessment criteria and benchmarks for supporting Indigenous Peoples’ initiatives. The Forum also encourages global financial institutions to acknowledge policy and legal milestones, particularly those concerning land and territorial tenure, social representation and economic development.
On the margins of the Forum, the President of the General Assembly will convene a high-level meeting at the General Assembly Hall to mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly, known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. This event provides an important platform to reiterate Member States’ commitment to uphold, promote and advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples without compromise.
Sessions were recorded and can be viewed live on UN Web TV, and interpretation in all six official UN languages will be available.
The Indigenous Filmmakers Lounge Returns to Sundance with Youth Programming
Filmmaker Kyle Bell and creative advisor Shaandiin Tome at the Indigenous Program’s Native Filmmakers Lab. (Photo Credit: Austin Madrid)
Gateway Entertainment’s Indigenous Filmmakers Lounge returned to the heart of the recent Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
The Indigenous Filmmakers Lounge amplifies the Sundance Institute’s rich legacy of support of Indigenous talent. The Lounge features live performances and engaging panels with noted Indigenous filmmakers, actors, industry representatives, and others supporting impactful narrative change as a means to create opportunities for Indigenous peoples to build sustainable careers in the entertainment industry.
The Lounge fosters conversations on authentic representation of Indigenous voices, stories and peoples within the filmed industry with panels that center social and cultural changemakers. Invited panelists will explore the change that needs to happen in order to redefine and create a new era of Indigenous representation both on screen, offscreen, and throughout the world. Featured panels include:
Changing Narratives: How Indigenous Television is Reclaiming the Story. Panelist will explore the changing landscape in television and streaming platforms, and how they have created new opportunities for Indigenous storytellers to share their narratives
The Heart of Production: Filmed Entertainment Careers. Indigenous professionals from across various production departments will talk about their journeys in pursuing a successful career in the filmed industry.
Phenomenal Women: Phenomenal Talent. Indigenous women who are acting, writing, directing, and producing film and television projects are at the heart of a rapidly changing entertainment industry. This panel will spotlight phenomenal Indigenous women who have revolutionized this new era of filmmaking.
New Native: The Work of Indigenous Actors Continues. This panel explores Indigenous actors and their work for authentic representation and narrative accuracy in the entertainment industry. This perseverance, by a cadre of Indigenous actors has led to new opportunities, such as roles created by and for Indigenous people in television; and streaming series and mainstream features that unseat colonized perspectives of Indigenous cultures and peoples.
The Art of Running the Show: Becoming a Film and Television Producer. This panel of seasoned producers will discuss the art and business of creating and producing elevated, authentic content for film and television. The conversation will center Indigenous filmmakers who have made their mark on the industry through their work in such films as Wild Indian and Rez Ball and television series, such as Rutherford Falls and Reservation Dogs.
Ryan RedCorn (Buffalo Nickel Creative Writer/Director), Brad Munoa (Pechanga Writer/Director/Producer), and Erika Soto Lamb (Paramount Network Vice President) discuss initiatives to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities at the Inaugural Indigenous Filmmakers Lounge at the Sundance Film Festival. (Photo Credit: Eugene Tapahe/Tapahe Photography)
This year, The Lounge proudly launches a Youth Track that features a scriptwriting contest and youth workshops. The Lounge is partnering with Spyhop, a youth digital media arts program to provide a series of workshops that focuses on the creative process of filmmaking. These workshops are designed to build strong foundational knowledge for creating short film projects. With the support and experience of Spyhop and the mission of The Lounge’s Youth Track, students will be empowered to launch ideas into a visual media form.
The Youth Track also features the Gateway Entertainment Youth Scriptwriting Competition that was launched in October 2021. All teen participants attended two workshops that introduced them to the screenwriting process before submitting their final scripts. The winning script will be honored at the Youth Script Winner Award Ceremony during The Lounge and will have a public table read by professional actors.
The partnership between Gateway Entertainment and the Indigenous Filmmakers Lounge at Sundance is a natural fit for this youth track. “The most important aspect of the Indigenous Filmmakers Lounge from the beginning was to create windows of opportunities for the Indigenous youth,” says Pete Sands, founder of The Lounge.
Pete Sands (Photo Credit: David Carel)
Sands sees the partnership as an important means to support and mentor the next generation of storytellers, “This program is imperative because I want them to be able to break through the stereotypes and the cyclical violence most Indigenous youth get trapped by. So they can see the possibilities beyond what they imagined. It’s essential to keep our Indigenous youth inspired by helping fan the flames of their creative spark; making sure we are doing our part to keep that fire rising.”
Sharing the spotlight alongside the panels and workshops, is this year’s acclaimed Artist-in-Residence, Bunky Echo-Hawk (Yakima/Pawnee). Bunky will create original art pieces with live performances throughout the weekend. His art creates a voice for issues facing Indian Country and opportunities to raise funds to combat those unjust issues. The artwork he creates during The Lounge will be auctioned off on the final night.
The Lounge’s Artist-in-Residence, Bunky Echo-Hawk (Yakima/Pawnee).
(Photo Credit: Ryan Redcorn)
About Indigenous Filmmakers Lounge:
The purpose of the Indigenous Filmmakers Lounge (The Lounge) is to create and hold space for Indigenous filmmakers to network with other filmmakers and industry representatives during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. The Lounge provides various programs and events designed to mentor and foster relationships within the industry, such as panels with noted Indigenous filmmakers, tribal leaders, Gateway mentors, industry representatives, and others who support social impact entertainment. The Lounge is curated with contemporary Indigenous art, food, and various pop-up shops. The Lounge also showcases Indigenous artists (e.g., screenings, live music, readings, comedy, art, food, fashion) and industry efforts to support and develop Indigenous filmmakers.
About Gateway Entertainment:
Gateway Entertainment is a new non-profit initiative dedicated to creating opportunities for under-served communities in filmed entertainment with a particular focus on developing behind the camera careers in the industry. One of the communities they have been working with is Indigenous peoples, as it is the most underserved community in filmed entertainment.
Film-making is storytelling. By providing opportunities in filmed entertainment to continue the tradition of storytelling by Indigenous peoples Gateway is supporting broader efforts throughout Indian Country to reclaim the narrative. Their mission is to serve Indigenous storytelling and economic opportunity by creating opportunities for Native peoples to be gainfully employed in the motion picture and television industry.
Guest Author: 'Tis the Season: Our Heritage, Our Medicine
(Editor’s Note: This Heritage Month special will be published until January 10.)
Valerie Segrest is a Native nutrition educator and the Muckleshoot Traditional Foods and Medicines Program Manager. She is an enrolled member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
Despite what mainstream and misrepresented history claims, our ancestors lived long and well-nourished lives. This longevity is linked with our heritage. Specifically, the knowledge we carry of our ancestral foods and medicines. For generations the ancestors put forth tremendous effort to uphold our health by perfecting and passing on their recipes full of wisdom and nourishment that clearly animate for us a health system that is inextricably intertwined with the lands we come from. Our inheritance is truly our traditional food and medicine culture, which represents our deep connection to the natural resources all around us – it is a living legacy that has the power to heal us and encourage our vitality.
As the seasons change people follow the foods, moving through the landscape and simultaneously embodying the dynamic energy of the phase upon us. In the Northwest, this time of year is called the “moon to put your paddles away.” Cold air activates our ancestral senses, signaling us to put away our summer energy and embrace self-reflection, quietness, prayerfulness and soul-nourishing activities. Winter is the period we need to slow down and feed ourselves not just physically but also spiritually. It is the time to cultivate our minds, collecting the work that served us and letting go of what no longer does – so that we can make room for new things to come that will help us to learn and grow. All of our energy is being called to examine the gravities of our presence.
It is the Tree People, like the Big Leaf Maples and the Sitka Willow, that reassure us of this teaching as they move their energy inwards and down toward the Earth, shrinking from the height of the futile sun. Their leaves change color and then gracefully fall to the ground, signaling the coming of winter. Without a spoken word, the trees urge us to follow their lead and take this opportunity to rest and tonify our bodies internally, so that we will be ready for the uprising of spring. We do this by eating our ancestral diet of warming foods that include roots and rich stocks made of animal bones. They are cooked slow and low so that the food has time to capture that warmth and then transpose that life energy inside of our bodies.
Getting in rhythm with the seasons is truly all about living in harmony with its spirit. This includes the instructions of both the prolific trees as well as the uncontrollable nature of seasons. In turn, these teachings have made us a prolific people. Since time immemorial our ancestors were diligent students of these great teachers. With great care they observed how nation upon nation of plants, animals, birds, fish and even fungi built a fully engaged communal citizenry. One in which every aspect of life is honored and valued. These observations commanded simple questions like “How can us pitiful humans be more like these powerful teachers? How can we embrace diversity, display humble generosity and be big medicine in the world?”
One of the most brilliant Native authors of our time, Robin shared the following reflection in her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants about the generous presence of two trees in her life: “Their gift to me is far greater than I have ability to reciprocate ... Perhaps all I can do is love them. All I know to do is to leave another gift for them and for the future, those next unknowns who will live here.”
This contribution could have shared insights and perspectives on the first Thanksgiving feast, or what Native American Heritage month has to do with the state of health in Indian Country, but we know these stories already, right? We live it everyday and everyday we have the opportunity to become cold and bittered by our collective history or we can choose to deliberately focus our attention on our heritage and the meaning of it all. We can do this for ourselves, for the values that we hold and how those values keep us living. Our heritage is our medicine and this month is an annual reminder of that, but don’t let it be just one month – surrender your life to the seasons and to the incredible teachers that are waiting for you right outside of your door. Remember that the culture we carry is inspiring and when honored leads you to the most powerful self-care imaginable. Be assured that each of us carries an internal light. Stoke the fire, build your light, and nourish the dynamic energy and steadfast spirit power you’ve been gifted so that you may overcome obstacles and press forward to accomplish the work we were put here to do in this life.
To all my relatives, Happy Native American Heritage Month!
Author Valerie Segrest serves her community as the Traditional Foods and Medicines Program Manager and is the Executive Director of Feed Seven Generations, a Native-led nonprofit. Valerie aims to inspire and enlighten others about the importance of a nutrient-dense diet through a simple, common-sense approach to eating. Watch her TED talk to learn more: http://www.tedxseattle.com/speakers/valerie-segrest/
Native America Today thanks First Nations Development Institute and Native Stories, where this article originally appeared. To learn how First Nations is making an impact, click here.
Wells Fargo Produces Red Feather Development Video
Years before Wells Fargo committed its fifty-million-dollar fund to support Native communities, the financial institution has been an active sponsor of Red Feather Development Group.
Headquartered in Flagstaff, AZ, the non-profit organization provides solar furnaces and other sustainable improvements, to help the Hopi and Navajo Nations build safer homes and resilient communities. When the shutdown of a large coal-fired power plant led to a heating crisis, Red Feather launched a healthy heating program to outfit homes with solar furnaces. The upgrades provided heat during daytime hours while also improving indoor air quality and health, serving as just one example of Red Feather’s “innovative approaches to utilizing sustainable technology,” said Victor Burrola, community development officer for Wells Fargo’s Social Impact and Sustainability Group.
The below video is where one can learn more about Red Feather and its alliance with Wells Fargo:
Videography Credits/Written by Janny Hu, Video by Dustin Wilson
About Red Feather:
Red Feather Development Group is a non-profit organization that empowers Native American communities to be self-sustaining to ensure safe and healthy homes for all who live on the Native American reservations. The organization has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where it won a "Use Your Life Award" from the Oprah's Angel Network, in Dwell, and in the Chicago Sun Times among other national publications.
Red Feather incorporates environmentally and culturally sustainable materials and practices into its education efforts. Work on the reservations is done in partnership with American Indian communities to address the severe housing crisis within their nations through educating on home weatherization, home maintenance techniques and facilitating volunteerism.
About Wells Fargo’s Historic Fifty Million Dollar Commitment to Indian Country:
In 2017, Wells Fargo committed $50 million to help address the economic, social, and environmental needs of American Indian/Alaska Native communities. The financial institution has awarded grants to national nonprofits, some which help create awareness of Native American culture, history, and contributions. Wells Fargo has been serving Indian Country for more than 50 years and provides financial services to more than 200 tribal entities across 27 states including community development projects.
My Journey at Standing Rock
By Cody Looking Horse
Cannonball River, North Dakota (NFIC)
My name is Cody Looking horse, I am Haudenosaunee and Lakota, Sioux and my mother is Dawn Martin-Hill and she is Mohawk Professor at McMaster University. My mom was the first native woman in Canada to get her PhD in cultural anthropology.
My father is Lakota, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe, living on Cheyenne River Reservation. I live with my mother on the Six Nations of the Grand River. I stay with my father in the summer at Sundance time (July - August) and over the holidays in December. I love being at my fathers ranch, horses roaming freely, it is a magical place, a sacred place, I feel warm and at home.
Every winter since I was 11 years old, I would leave school on December 14th traveling alone to join the Bigfoot Ride, a horseback journey from December 15th - December 26 retracing the footsteps of my relatives that were massacred at Wounded Knee.
Our journey is to mend the sacred hoop of the Nation. Also my father is the spiritual leader of the Dakota 38+2 ride, president Lincoln hung 38 Chiefs on Christmas day in 1862, the largest mass hanging in US history.
We ride to honour our ancestors. Every morning starts with a prayer and ends with prayer. It is hard, its cold, your sore from riding horse through the open plains, we sleep wherever we can, school gyms mostly, eat whatever the people can offer, and dance whenever we can.
They were in ceremony when the Cavalry gathered over 300 mostly unarmed women and children and massacred them. They laid frozen in the snow because a blizzard came through, their bodies on display wherever they were killed for three days. The image of my great-great grandfather in the snow haunts me. My Dad said a holy man had a vision, Black Elk, he was there at Wounded Knee as a child and escaped. Black Elk said, ‘the hoop of the nation was broken at wounded knee.’ The ride started in 1986 and the Bigfoot Ride was to ‘mend the sacred hoop of the nation.’ The youth did not want the ride to end in 1990 so my Dad helped them continue the journey to this day.
In the summer as I help with my father’s Sundance; you can learn a lot from visiting with the dancers, Elders and the supporters.
Last summer I found out there was a pipeline going through Standing Rock and youth had organized to protect the water, I felt drawn to join when Elders told me my grandmothers family were buried in the hills there. It was sacred land. My grandmother is Cecelia Looking Horse, Sitting Bull is her great great great grandfather and he is Hunk Papa and that is the nation of Standing Rock reservation, that is where Sitting Bull had his Sundance, on that sacred land.
Standing Rock is only two hours away from my dads Sundance at Green Grass. I begged my Dad to take me but he was busy with Sundance, so he arranged for his good friend, Julian to take me. We arrived and I didn’t know anybody there, yet that’s where my heart wanted to be, I spent the day there and made some friends and was so sad to leave. My spirit was moved to stay and protect the water and my ancestors graves. Returning home to Six Nations, Ontario to attend school, as the months went by my heart was still with Standing Rock and I thought about them all the time. I stayed in touch through Facebook as many Bigfoot and Dakota 38 + 2 youth riders were there protecting the water.
My mom arranged a ride to Standing Rock by a Mohawk Faith keeper named Kevin Deer. He was going there to bring our strongest medicine to support the water protectors who were getting maced, tasered, tear gassed and shot with rubber bullets while they prayed. I was so excited but I had just landed a job and wanted to graduate from high school. But I took a leap of faith and figured out how to work around school and go anyways. I learned so much from Kevin Deer on our ride to Standing Rock. He told me we had a Treaty with the Sioux Nation and he shared many stories - that is what I want to learn, not what they teach in school. I am so grateful. I walked away from an empty life of white mans education and working a job I didn’t like. We arrived November 12th and I am still here at Standing Rock to this day. I am writing this story from Standing Rock, this is my story.
When we arrived, it was a little bit uncomfortable because I didn’t know anybody anymore. I couldn’t find my relatives. There was a community there and they welcomed us and now they are all my family. My Dad had to travel so once Kevin left I was basically by myself. I saw father only a handful of times as he comes and goes to the camp, but he is a very busy man as the spiritual leader of the Oceti Sakowin camp. He helped set up the seven council fires of the Sioux Nation - that traditional government hadn’t been together since Wounded Knee.
I knew I had to make friends to survive, but have never been afraid to make friends and learning to be on my own, the Rides taught me how to meet new people, it teaches you people skills and leadership.
I have met the most amazing people at Oceti Sakowin and they cared for me right away because they knew my situation. I feel like they are my family now even though we just met a few weeks ago, I know they truly care for me and I am so fortunate and grateful to have made relatives with these people. Also very fortunate to have a place to stay, I am fortunate to know people that had hotel rooms to shower at the casino Prairie Knights which is 20 minutes away. Kind people allowed me in their hotel room. We would sleep on the floors or in a tipi with my uncles and family, so life was good. So many youth were there camping since July, and they are still there. It does not matter where you sleep as long as your there standing with my people.
Being here taught me a lot of life lessons and taught me to be self sufficient because I was not relying on anybody like my mom or dad. The youth are my friends that also had no family there. Youth had to figure out where we gonna sleep? Are we gonna be warm tonight? When is our next meal? It was up to ourselves to survive and nobody else. I was not used to being on my own but I learned quick because this was my decision to be here nobody else’s. Youth needed this and do not regret it and these are our lessons. Yes we miss our families, we thought about and missed our loved ones every day and we know exactly why we are here and what we are up against. The water is sacred to us, I have visited Little Buffalo, northern Alberta many times. I see what the government did to Chief Bernard Ominayak, one of the most traditional leaders I have ever met.
They used to hunt, drink from their stream when I was born now the oil, fracking, tar sands has contaminated their water, ruined the moose, gave animals gangrene, which they relied on for food for thousands of year and hardly hunt anymore. I do not want to see the same destruction to happen to my relatives land, we have lost so much already, we all have much bigger problems to worry about. Its a burden we bare as young people, worrying about losing clean air and water for our children, we should not be carrying this burden at such young ages but are up to the task.
Camp life
Youth keep very busy watching peoples kids while they had important things to do or just help at the kitchen ( that was one of the warmest jobs because of the heat from cooking) or put tipis up, get poles scraped or just do anything anyone asked of me.
It’s pretty awesome to hang with celebrities like Shailene Woodley and Max Carver from teen wolf, but that was just a bonus. Even though they are actors from Hollywood, their hearts are good, they feel strongly about oil companies destroying our water and burial grounds. The fact that they are here to help and protect the water made them just our friends not fan’s of celebrities. They use their fame in a good way, to raise awareness, funds and on the ground helping out just like us. Max and I started to network on projects right away and he has started to raise funding for Standing Rock right and he spent some time here and we went to ceremonies.
We also were supposed to go to the front-lines the night our people were brutalized by police, they had water canons hosing elders, women and medics in freezing weather, they shot tear gas, rubber bullets took, one of our youth lost an arm from a concussion grenade exploding on her, and Vanessa Dundon losing her vision in one eye; they will never have their arm back or vision; this is what everyone doesn’t seem to understand.
But as we were going to leave we were invited to a yuwipi ceremony and went there instead. I could have lost my arm, my vision or been hurt badly too.
One of the biggest needs for the people what they had been struggling to do was to take showers and wash their clothes and he came up with the idea of getting showers and laundry facilities for the people at camp. I was with him on his project 100% and I’m helping him along the way, talking to elders and finding out what is tribal land can the facilities could go and finding out what he needed to know and who to talk to and setting up the eco-village. We are working on how to make the camp all ecological and to not pollute the land and soil with the soaps people use to wash. I cant thank him enough for doing this for us, we all need to learn how to not use oil, chemicals and eat healthier, all our people.
When our unarmed people that get arrested and brutalized at the front lines and get sprayed with chemical warfare at night over the camp, its easy to look around and get upset with the things that are happening, and missing your family every day does not help, it was kind of hard to be upbeat doing the interviews and going to meetings, finishing projects and just helping anybody in general but there are bigger problems than just feeling lonely. I think the Chairmen telling these water protectors to go home once the easement was denied very hurtful, they sacrificed for us as we must for them.
I joined the Youth Council here at Standing Rock, they are the one’s who started all this, they struggle being here, but we help each other. At one of their meetings they honoured me by asking me to be a representative, because of who my dad is and when they told me about the selection it was really humbling.
The Youth Council are an amazing group of dedicated visionary individuals. I recruited more youth by posting on Facebook that my Six Nations they need to stand with me at Standing Rock and couldn’t believe they actually showed up days later! I was so happy to see my very good friend from back home Dawson George, and many others like Karissa John bringing me homework from our school.
The Mohawks have a big camp at Standing Rock since the fall, very proud of their strength. Youth told me they were already wanting to come and my FB post inspired them make the long journey here, so many came from all over Canada, worried about the eviction the army corps set for December 5th.
Mohawks set up blockades over CN railway moving oil, Seneca’s marched in the streets and so on, love my people’s support. So happy the youth traveled here too, leaving exams, holiday fun to stand here, to stand up against the US governments eviction of us on our own lands, saying we are trespassing was so very wrong and angered so many of us, we weren’t going anywhere.
The scheduled eviction only helped us because thousands of vets poured into camp by December 4th. My mom came to stand with us too. Over 2,000 veterans came because they saw the police brutality on unarmed people, it’s like Wounded Knee all over again, we didn’t know what the army, national guard would do with Morton County police - a militia that are working for and supporting big oil instead of real Americans. That upset veterans too.
What happened next threw everyone off, the veterans asked for our elders to forgive them for the horrific acts of the US soldiers on the Sioux nation, the veterans said at one of the gatherings “we are sorry we murdered your people for your land, tried to colonize your culture, stole your minerals from your sacred lands’ etc. And everyone was moved to tears - so many spiritual things going on I can’t write about it all.
We heard news at camp from Chairmen Archibult the Army Corp of Engineers denied the easement needed to drill under water - we broke out in cheers, celebrating but everyone knew the denial wouldn’t stop the drilling because they didn’t listen to the law the first time, those tanks and guns need to turn around and arrest DAPL, they are breaking so many laws.
They dug up our ancestors burial grounds on purpose and when water protectors tried to stop them they got dogs to run up on them and 13 people were bitten badly. Why weren’t these violent people arrested, instead we were and anyone helping us was thrown in “dog cages.” Is this what civilization is? It hurts so deeply, it hurt my Dad and the Elders deeply, they brought those dogs to hurt my people, everything they are doing at the front lines is to hurt my people in some awful way.
How are they getting away with this ? I see so much coverage about it on the news and videos on social media now and why is it not already stopped? Why are they not arrested? We are just praying protecting water and sacred burial grounds and this is what we got to deal with, real terrorist.
Would they be allowed to go through white peoples cemeteries? They terrorize by destroying the environment with pipelines. Even the Pipeline was to go through Bismarck but their town is 90 percent white and they just said no, so it came through our lands.
They terrorize with racism, lying about us, lying on T.V. and the real issue here is racism, it is so openly real here just being native and going into gas stations and restaurants you get the dirtiest looks.
I woke up to grab the free breakfast in Bismarck and this white guy in the hotel me and my mom was staying at told all of us ‘people’ to go the f-k home, he was swearing at an Elderly and his children were sitting right there, looking so afraid, so sad, he is teaching them hate.
I can't even go to the laundromat without being told to “go back home” but little did they know this is my home, this is my land, it is where my ancestors walked and lived for thousands of generations. It’s not normal or right to be scared to go stores to get supplies in town and facing so much hate, dirty looks and getting confrontation for the colour of my skin, your beliefs, your identity.
But we are all in this together, I now know that Muslims, African Americans, and Asians have been dealing with this for years and I feel for them. I love everybody and I just wanna ask racists, why are you so hateful? What did we ever do to you?
I don’t know you, it’s not normal to have hate for someone that you don’t know. That just is not okay or a healthy way to live but I also pray for them because they don’t have a culture, roots or real connections to land, community, ceremony and what that love can feed for your soul, not hate, it turns it black, dead. I cant imagine life without ceremony, it would be empty. I think that is their problem, they forgot how to be real human beings.
The biggest problem my people and youth are dealing with today is depression and drugs, alcohol, but this here Standing Rock, it gives us purpose. No drugs, no alcohol, prayer, ceremony, love and accepting. Some youth have said, if I die defending water & ancestors, its a good death - better than suicide or overdose…” To our leaders, supporting Standing Rock is much more than stopping DAPL, it’s honouring the prophecies of the seventh generation, we are here, we need you to stand with us - not tell us to go home like these racist in town, to have our own reject us is hurtful. We are Crazy Horse’s vision, my dad said it was foretold by all colors would unite around us, Standing Rock stands on Sitting Bull’s holy ground.
Please don’t tell us to go away, support the Youth of Standing Rock. People need to know that we are NOT protestors, we are water protectors, #waterislife, #miniwaconi, #standwithstandingrock, #nodalp, #wearetheseventhgeneration, #wearehome.
Cody Looking horse is Haudenosaunee and Lakota, Sioux. He resides on the Six Nations of the Grand River. An accomplished Rider, he joined the Dakota 38 + 2 from December 15th - December 26, in 2008 to retrace the footsteps of ancestor’s to honour them. President Lincoln hung 38 Chiefs on Christmas day, the largest mass hanging in US history. He hasn’t been home for Christmas in 8 years, instead rides in frigid weather across the open plains with his Father. He is currently a representative of Standing Rock Youth Council.
Bottom two photos courtesy: Chief Bigfoot Band Memorial Ride Facebook Page
Report: Increasing Indigenous Inclusion in the Entertainment Industry
Written and compiled by Maya Rose Dittloff
A still from Almost an Island, directed by Jonathan Vanballenberg. (Photo Credit: Sarasota Magazine)
Indigenous representation in the United States is nothing short of abysmal. There exists one funding body (the Sundance Indigenous Program which selects about three emerging filmmakers a year for funding opportunities) and one school focused on developing Native talent for the entertainment industry (Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM).
What barriers face Indigenous communities in the United States? How can we work to address inequality for Native communities?
Factors and Barriers for Indigenous People in the United States
- Money
- Affects ability to:
- Attend film school.
- Form a like-minded cohort/network.
- Shoot a short film (minimum $10,000).
- Take unpaid internships.
- Affects ability to:
- Non-traditional status
- Native creators are more likely to pursue a career in entertainment later in life, and oftentimes have children of their own to support.
- Furthermore, because Indigenous communities are often community-oriented, many young creatives are dissuaded from pursuing a career in the arts because they deem the money is better spent on “useful” endeavors (i.e. necessities, and utilities such as water since many reservations don't have widespread access to clean water).
- Many Indigenous communities are rural, meaning oftentimes creatives don't have access to constant wifi or internet access.
- Lack of opportunities and programs that foster talent
- Many creatives drop out of the field early on, as there is little to no opportunity for mentorship, and the isolation drives many away from the field.
- Proximity to urban areas/film industry infrastructure
- The scourge of the "pretendian"
- Many actors cast in roles identified as “Native” are non-Native or have no legitimate claim to indigeneity. This is demoralizing for Native youth and emerging talent.
- Inadequate support for distribution
- Beyond the Sundance Indigenous Program, films about and by Indigenous filmmakers are often seen as too niche - and all too often are given a small to no release backed by little to no publicity and marketing.
- Time lost to casual and overt racism.
Native filmmakers Erin Lau and Shaandiin Tome workshopping short films at Sundance Institute Lab (Photo Credit: Sundance Film Lab)
Understanding the Issues in Indian Country
Oftentimes issues important to Native communities are forgotten, overshadowed, or outright ignored. It is a fact that Native youth have the highest percentage of suicide.
A brief summary of the facts/social justice issues:
- Native youth face the highest rates of suicide in the US.
- Native Americans are killed by the police more than any other racial or ethnic group.
- Upwards of three out of five Native American women have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
- The Department of Justice reports Native women face murder rates up to 10x the country average. Because Reservations and nations are sovereign these federal crimes fall through the cracks and the FBI never investigates or persecutes - meaning many never see justice.
- Land back movement
- The erasure of Black Natives
- Abolishing Blood Quantum (essentially a pedigree a la dogs that determines how much “Indian blood” you have).
- Native communities are wary of outsiders, the government, and all issues have been perpetuated by the generations lost and silenced due to boarding schools and broken treaties.
Beyond a Land Acknowledgment: Meaningful inclusion of Indigenous communities
What works? How can I help?
There is no one specific answer. Understanding the “I” in BIPOC means having an understanding of a different way of life, a different set of unique issues and barriers, and fighting the invisibility of Native Americans by the entertainment industry. Native people are calling for a seat at the table, narrative change, inclusion beyond consulting, and a substantive change to how this industry works. This means abolishing: unpaid internships, production that harms the environment, dismantling on-set entrenched hierarchies, and establishing specific funds and outreach to rural and urban communities.
Of course, the biggest way to help is with dollars. Most artists and creatives are forced to abandon this line of work - beyond exposure, representation and role models, there has to be a clear path on how you can sustain yourself and your family.
Find out the communities and tribal colleges around where you live. What about some across the country? Native Americans are not monolithic and with over 574 recognized tribes today, it is important to be updated, informed, and ready to act.
If you hear of efforts of inclusion for BIPOC peoples, ask "are there substantive steps to include Indigenous communities and perspectives?" Speak up if not.
The film, Warrior Women, was the opening night film for California’s American Indian and Indigenous Film Festival. From left to right: Producer Anna Marie Pitman, Madonna Thunder Hawk, Festival Director Joely Proudfit, Marcella Gilbert, and Director Elizabeth Castle (Photo Credit: Warrior Women Film Website)
About the Author
Maya Rose Dittloff (ǔkkayǔ”kwīyinnimǎakii/Many Pipes Woman) is Mandan, Hidatsa, and Amskapi Pikuni (Blackfeet) from the Starr School region of the Blackfeet Reservation. She was trained at UCLA in the School of Theater, Film and Television where she specialized in Directing and Screenwriting. As a TV writer, director, and producer she loves stories with a strong female point of view. Presently, Ms. Dittloff is under contract with AMC Networks as a staff writer.
She is an Ambassador to the American Indian College Fund, a scholar for American Indian Business Leaders, a Junior Board Member for Young Entertainment Activists, and member of Panavision + Made In Her Image Catalyst Cohort.
About Free the Work
FREE THE WORK is a non-profit organization committed to making equity actionable in media and to creating opportunities for a global workforce of underrepresented creators behind the lens in TV, film, and marketing.
The organization strives to be the most innovative, effective, and action-driven resource possible until industry-wide equality becomes a reality. They accomplish this goal through their FREE THE WORK pledge, global talent database, community, DEI guidance, impact & insights reporting, and educational tools that help creators to demystify the media industries. FREE THE WORK exists to empower a creative revolution, led by the world's underrepresented creators.
