12/21/2021 @ All Day – GUATEMALAN MAYAN ARTIST CARLOS MERIDA DIED Born Carlos Santiago Ortega on December 2, 1891, near Guatemala City, Merida was of Maya-Quiche heritage. He studied painting at the Instituto de Artes y Artesanias before going to Paris where he met Picasso and others. In 1914, he returned to Guatemala and focused on folklore and indigenous themes. […]
12/22/2021 @ All Day – FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE HAWAIIAN SUPREME COURT WILLIAM S. RICHARDSON BORN Born in Honolulu, of Native Hawaiian ancestry, Richardson graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa before earning his law degree from the University of Cincinnati. In World War II, he was a US Army platoon leader with the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment, […]
12/23/2021 @ All Day – INUK PENCIL ARTIST TIMOOTEE “TIM” PITSIULAK DIED Born on March 10, 1967, in Kimmirut, Nunavut, Pitsiulak was nephew of artist Kenoujuak Ashevak [see October 3]. Tim grew up speaking Inuktitut as his primary language. Based in Cape Dorset, Pitsiulak was a jewelry-maker, sculpture, lithographer and photographer, but was best known for his drawings — big works […]
12/24/2021 @ All Day – CHOCTAW CHIEF PUSHMATAHA DIED Born about 1764, his Choctaw name meant “Warrior’s Seat is Finished.” From 1779 to 1814, Pushmataha waged war against the Creek, even siding with US and earning the title “Indian General” in the War of 1812. After Pushmataha became Chief of the Choctaw Nation, he entered several treaties with the US […]
12/25/2021 @ All Day – POTLACH ARRESTS OF KWAKWAKA’WAKW CHIEF DAN CRAMNER AND OTHERS IN ALERT BAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA Under an 1884 federal law, persons taking part in a potlatch could be jailed. Chief Dan Cranmer and others tested the law in the village of ‘Mimkwamlis (Village Island), near Alert Bay, British Columbia (B.C.)–possibly the biggest potlatch ever held on the […]
12/26/2021 @ All Day – CREEK MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PITCHER ALLIE “SUPER CHIEF” REYNOLDS DIED Born February 10, 1917, in Bethany, Oklahoma, his mother was a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Attending what is now Oklahoma State University on a track scholarship, Reynolds also played football and baseball. While drafted by the football New York Giants, he signed with […]
12/27/2021 @ All Day – ALASKAN INUPIAQ ACTOR ACH-NACH-CHIAK (RAY MALA) BORN Born in Candle, on Seward Peninsula, Ray was raised by his grandmother. At 14, he walked 100 miles to Nome to work. In the early 1920s, movie-makers came to Alaska. Hired as labor, Mala showed he could operate a camera effectively in the cold. By the late 1920s, […]
12/28/2021 @ All Day – HO-CHUNK (WINNEBEGO) SCHOLAR/REFORMER WO-NA-XI-LAY-HUNKA (HENRY ROE CLOUD) BORN Born on the Winnebago Reserve in Nebraska, his name meant “War Chief.” Why he took the name “Henry Cloud” is unknown. The 1st Native American to enter Yale, he earned Bachelor and Master degrees there. Studying divinity, he added a Bachelor (Auburn Theological Seminary, 1913,) and Doctorate […]
12/29/2021 @ All Day – WOUNDED KNEE MASSACRE SPOTTED ELK (BIG FOOT) BAND In 1889, the messianic Ghost Dance religion arrived on the Pine Ridge Reservation promising the return of the Messiah, disappearance of white invaders, return of the bison, and raising of the dead. To whites, the Ghost Dance was threatening. In November 1890, President Benjamin Harrison ordered troops […]
12/30/2021 @ All Day – REPUTED-MAYAN AJAW (PALENQUE) K’INICH AHKAL MO’ NAHB III ACCEDED Born in 678 during the reign of his grandfather, Palenque’s long-lived ruler Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I, often referred to as “Pakal the Great,” because he righted the kingdom oversaw a building program that culminated in the Temple of the Inscriptions. Ahkal Moʼ Nahb III initiated a construction program […]