12/01/2021 @ All Day – MÉTIS LEADER GABRIEL DUMONT BORN Born at Red River (now Manitoba), Dumont, a skilled tracker and hunter, spoke 6 Native languages along with Michif-French. By the 1860s, he was chief of the Métis bison hunters. In 1873, he was elected as St. Laurent Council President; re-elected in 1874. With dwindling bison herds, the Métis needed […]
12/02/2021 @ All Day – LOREN D. LEMAN BORN–1ST PERSON OF ALASKAN NATIVE HERITAGE (ALUTIIQ) ELECTED STATEWIDE Raised in a commercial fishing family in Ninilchik, Alaska, his ancestry included a marriage in Kodiak in 1700s between a Russian shipbuilder and an Alutiiq woman from Afognak. In 1968, he enrolled into Oregon State University and later transferred to Stanford University, where […]
12/03/2021 @ All Day – NATIVE HAWAIIAN SONGWRITER KUIOKALANI ‘KUI’ LEE DIED Born on July 31, 1932, Shanghai, China, to Hawaiian entertainers, Kui returned to Hawaii at age 5 after his mother died. Lee performed on the mainland for 10 years as a choreographer and knife dancer where he met his wife, Nani, a hula dancer. Moving to Nawiliwili, Kaua’i, […]
12/04/2021 @ 12:00 am – HAIDA TOTEM CARVER SKIL KEW WAT (FREDA DIESING) DIED Born on June 2, 1925*, in Prince Rupert, British Columbia (B.C.), her Haida name meant “Little Magic Woman.” One of the first female carvers on the Northwest Coast, Freda began carving at age 42, studying at the Vancouver School of Art and Gitanmaax School of Northwest […]
12/05/2021 @ All Day – KUYOKON AUTHOR POLDINE CARLO BORN Born in Nulato, Alaska, Poldine was raised by her grandparents–two of the most powerful medicine people along the Yukon River. She and her husband, Bill Carlo, eventually moved to Fairbanks. At that time, Natives were not always welcome at businesses and in some organizations. From that experience, in the 1960s, […]
12/06/2021 @ All Day – CREE PLAYWRIGHT TOMSON HIGHWAY BORN Born in Brochet, Manitoba, Thomson studied music and English literature at the Universities of Manitoba and Western Ontario. His plays, The Rez Sisters (1986) and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989), won Dora Mavor Moore & Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Awards and were nominated for Governor General’s Awards. […]
12/07/2021 @ All Day – INUIT SHEILA WATT-CLOUTIER FILES FIRST INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE In her capacity as the elected Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), Watt-Cloutier, born in Kuujjuak, Nunavik, petitioned the Washington, DC-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) seeking protection from violations of the human rights of Inuit resulting from the US’ greenhouse gas […]
12/08/2021 @ All Day – GWICH’IN WRITER COLUMNIST EDITH JOSIE BORN Born in Eagle, Alaska, her family moved to Old Crow, Yukon, when she was 16. Edith left school after fifth grade, but learned to read and write from her brother. In 1957, she was appointed Justice of the Peace for Old Crow. She started writing for the Whitehorse Star […]
12/09/2021 @ All Day – CHICKASAW PUBLISHER NATIONAL DELEGATE ESTELLE CHISHOLM WARD DIED Born on June 18, 1875, in the Chickasaw Nation of Indian Territory, her grandfather was Jesse Chisholm of Chisholm Trail fame. Estelle attended Kidd College and Potter College. Becoming a member of the National Bureau of Women Speakers, Estelle also wrote newspapers articles and published Super Civilized […]
12/10/2021 @ All Day – SAC AND FOX ACTIVIST GRACE THORPE BORN Daughter of Jim Thorpe, Grace was born in Yale, Oklahoma. A descendent of Chief Black Hawk, she also had Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and Menominee heritage. In 1943, she joined the Womens’ Auxiliary Army Corps and served in New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan, earning a Bronze Star. In 1969, […]