08/11/2021 @ All Day – AMERICAN INDIAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT (AIRFA) ENACTED The AIRFA states that “On and after August 11, 1978, it shall be the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiians, […]
08/12/2021 @ All Day – NATIVE HAWAIIAN FOOTBALL PLAYER AND POLITICIAN JOHN HENRY WISE DIED Born July 19, 1869, on the Island of Hawai‘i, Wise, while at Oberlin College in 1891 on an evangelical mission, became the 1ST Native Hawaiian to play college football in America. His religious future changed in 1893 when Queen Lili‘uokalani was overthrown. Returning to Hawai’i, […]
08/13/2021 @ All Day – CUAUHTÉMOC CAPTURED—AZTECS SLAUGHTERED BY HERNÁN CORTÉS Born circa 1495, Cuauhtémoc, whose name meant “Descends Like an Eagle,” was cousin and son-in-law of Moctezuma II and the last Aztec emperor. He became emperor in 1520 on the death of Moctezuma’s successor, Cuitláhuac. When Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés marched on Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, Cuauhtémoc defended his […]
08/14/2021 @ All Day – AWA’UQ (REFUGE ROCK) MASSACRE—THE WOUNDED KNEE OF ALASKA In the mid-1700s, Russian fur traders sought a foothold in the Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Archipelago. Expeditions, however, met with Aleut and Alutiiq resistance. In 1784, trader Grigori Shelikhov sent boats with cannons and men to Refuge Rock where villagers sought safety atop the fortress-like rock attached […]
08/15/2021 @ All Day – LEGACY POLE ERECTED IN GWAII HAANAS NATIONAL PARK Over 400 people participated in raising the Gwaii Haanas Legacy Pole in Hlk’yah G̱awG̱a (Windy Bay) on Lyell Island in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, while another 400 watched the pole raising at the Haida Heritage Centre. The Legacy Pole is a 42-foot monumental pole honoring the 20th […]
08/16/2021 @ All Day – MOHAWK POET MAURICE F. KENNY BORN Born in Watertown, N.Y., his father was of Mohawk descent; his mother, part Seneca. Developing an interest in Iroquois culture at an early age, Kenny is best known for two works. His 1982 collection, Blackrobe: Isaac Jogues, centers on a Jesuit missionary and his 1646 death at the hands […]
08/17/2021 @ All Day – SALISH VIOLA WYSE-TRIBE’S FIRST WOMAN ELECTED CHIEF-DIED Born on August 29, 1947, in Campbell River, British Columbia (B.C.), Vi Wyse made history by becoming the first female chief of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. Her knowledge and experience gained from her work with Department of Indian Affairs for 20 years, and band administrator for Snuneymuxw First […]
08/18/2021 @ All Day – OJIBWE ENVIRONMENTALIST/WRITER/ACTIVIST WINONA LaDUKE BORN Born in Los Angeles, her father, an Ojibwe actor from White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, enrolled her in the tribe at an early age. Graduating from Harvard University in 1982, LaDuke became a high school principal at White Earth while working on her master’s thesis. In 1985, she helped found […]
08/19/2021 @ All Day – LAKOTA SPIRITUAL LEADER HEHAKA SAPA (BLACK ELK) DIED Born December 1, 1863, on the Little Powder River in Wyoming, he was the son of the elder Black Elk and White Cow Sees Woman. At age 12, he killed a soldier at the Little Big Horn in June 1876. In 1877, his family fled with Sitting […]
08/20/2021 @ All Day – KAMEHAMEHA V SIGNS 1864 CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM OF HAWAII Kamehameha V, ascending the throne in 1863, believed that the king should control the government of Hawai’i. Opposing portions of the 1852 Constitution, he refused to take an oath to it. Instead, he called for a constitutional convention. However, when the delegates were not able […]