12/11/2021 @ All Day – BRITISH COLUMBIA AGREES TO RENAME THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS “HAIDA GWAII” British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell announced the renaming at the signing of a reconciliation protocol. The traditional Haida name, which means “Islands of the People,” will now appear on all official provincial maps. “The change is a very important symbolic gesture,” said Guujaaw (Gary […]
12/12/2021 @ 12:00 am – COUER d’ALENE JAZZ SINGER MILDRED “ROCKIN’ CHAIR LADY” BAILEY DIED Born February 27, 1907, in Tekoa, WA, Mildred Rinker grew up on the Coeur d’Alene reservation and later in Spokane. A brief marriage gave her the name “Bailey.” Moving to Los Angeles, she started singing at nightclubs. Her light soprano voice, articulation, and phrasing was […]
12/13/2021 @ All Day – WILLIAM C. ROGERS—THE LAST ELECTED CHEROKEE NATION PRINCIPAL CHIEF-BORN Born in the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory, Rogers enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 and served in the First Regiment of Cherokee Volunteers. In 1877, he established the original town of Skiatook. In 1881, Rogers was elected as representative of the Cooweescoowee District of […]
12/14/2021 @ All Day – “KIOWA SIX” PAINTER JACK HOKEAH DIED One of a group of Kiowa artists (including Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Stephen Mopope, Monroe Tsatoke, and Lois Smoky) who became famous studying painting at the University of Oklahoma in the 1920s, Jack was born in western Oklahoma circa 1902. Raised by his grandmother, he attended mission school before […]
12/15/2021 @ All Day – P.L. 91-550 SIGNED RETURNING BLUE LAKE TO TAOS PUEBLO The Taos Pueblo Indians pressed for decades to regain control of the Blue Lake in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Blue Lake was their place of origin–where their ancestors rose up from the earth. Taken by Executive Order of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, it became […]
12/16/2021 @ All Day – MÉTIS WRITER JOANNE ARNOTT BORN Born “on the banks of the Assiniboine River,” in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Joanne studied at the University of Windsor, then moved to British Columbia in 1982. Much of her writing concerns family relations, such as Like an Indian: Struggling with Ogres. Her poetry books include: Wiles of Girlhood (1991)–LCP’s 1992 Gerald […]
12/17/2021 @ All Day – ORIGINAL AZTEC CALENDAR SLAB UNEARTHED IN MEXICO CITY The Aztec Calendar Stone, also called the “Sun Stone,” one of the most famous objects in world archaeology, was created during the last years of the Aztec kingdom under the rule of Moctezuma II [see June 29], before the conquest of 1519-21. The Stone is a massive […]
12/18/2021 @ All Day – ALASKAN NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT (ANCSA) SIGNED INTO LAW When signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon, the ANCSA, Public Law 92-203 (85 Stat. 688), codified at 43 USC 1601-24, constituted, at that time, the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims […]
12/19/2021 @ All Day – CHACO CULTURE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK (NHP) IS DESIGNATED Chaco Culture NHP, located in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, is in a remote canyon cut by the Chaco Wash. In 1949, the University of New Mexico (UNM) deeded adjoining lands to form an expanded Chaco Canyon National Monument. In return, UNM maintained scientific research […]
12/20/2021 @ All Day – MOHAWK ONONDEYOH (FREDERICK O. LOFT) FOUNDS LEAGUE OF INDIANS OF CANADA Prompted by the 1911 “Oliver Act,” which amended the Indian Act so as to threaten the integrity of reserve lands, members of the Six Nations founded the League and elected Frederick Loft, a Mohawk World War I veteran, its first president. The League, which […]