06/12/2021 @ All Day – OJIBWE ENMEGAHBOWH (JOHN JOHNSON)-1ST NATIVE AMERICAN EPISCOPALIAN PRIEST IN THE UNITED STATES-DIED Born around 1820, Johnson, whose Ojibwe name meant “He That Prays Standing,” was the first Native American to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in the United States. Born near Peterborough, Canada, he was raised in an Ojibwe village affiliated with […]
06/13/2021 @ All Day – GUATEMALA RATIFIES UNITED NATIONS PACT ON TRIBAL PEOPLES In Geneva, Switzerland, Guatemala’s Minister of Labour formally received notice of International Labour Organization’s acceptance of Guatemala’s decision to ratify the ILO Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples guaranteeing the rights of the country’s majority Mayan population. The Convention obliges ratifying governments to respect the traditional values […]
06/14/2021 @ All Day – HAWAIIAN SWIMMER DUKE KAHANAMOKU SAVES EIGHT LIVES ON HIS SURF BOARD Kahanamoku and other surfers noticed the 40-foot yacht Thelma in trouble trying to enter Newport Harbor at Corona del Mar, California. Going through heavy breakers, she capsized. Of 17 aboard, 12 were rescued. Witnesses said Kahanamoku was first to reach the scene and he […]
06/15/2021 @ All Day – VAN T. BARFOOT, WORLD WAR II MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER, BORN Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Van T. Barfoot, whose grandmother was Choctaw, was born in Edinburg, Mississippi. While not enrolled in the tribe, Barfoot was eligible for membership. Barfoot earned the Medal of Honor for actions taken near Cerano, Italy, on May 23, 1944. […]
06/16/2021 @ All Day – CHIRICAHUA APACHE LEADER GERONIMO REPUTEDLY BORN ON THIS DATE Born in No-Doyohn Canyon, Mexico, Geronimo led 4 raiding parties by the age of 17. While away, Mexican soldiers killed his mother, wife (Alota) and 3 children. He hunted down and killed the soldiers and then fought the Mexican government for a decade. By 1848, the […]
06/17/2021 @ All Day – DR. SUSAN LA FLESCHE PICOTTE, FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN PHYSICIAN, BORN Dr. La Flesche Picotte was born on the Omaha Reservation in eastern Nebraska. Her father, Joseph La Flesche, named “Iron Eye,” was a principal leader of the Omaha tribe. He and her mother, Mary, stressed education to their children. Susan ultimately enrolled at Woman’s Medical […]
06/18/2021 @ All Day – NAVAJO LEAVE FORT SUMNER ON “LONG WALK HOME” On this date, the Navajo left the Bosque Redondo reservation in eastern New Mexico on a 300-mile trek called the “Long Walk Home.” The journey mirrored 53 separate marches that disparate Navajo bands endured between the spring of 1864 and 1866 that constituted the Navajo “Long Walk,” […]
06/19/2021 @ All Day – TLINGIT EDUCATION HEALTH ADVOCATE CHUU SHAH (ELAINE ABRAHAM) BORN Born in Yakutat, Alaska, Elaine’s first language was Tlingit. Likely the first Tlingit registered nurse, she helped create the Southeast Health Aide Program for providing health care in remote parts of Alaska. Leaving nursing, she earned multiple degrees and worked on a doctorate in her 70s. […]
06/20/2021 @ All Day – NATIVE HAWAIIAN ETHNOBOTANIST ISABELLA KAUAKEA YAU YUNG AIONA ABBOTT BORN Born in Hana, Maui, Isabella, whose Hawaiian name meant “White Rain of Hana,” received her PhD in botany from the Univ. of California, Berkeley in 1950. Moving to Pacific Grove, where her husband taught, she studied California coast algae. In 1960, Isabella compiled a book […]
06/21/2021 @ All Day – CANADA DECLARES NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY (ORIGINALLY NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DAY) National Indigenous Peoples Day, a day for recognizing and celebrating the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of its Aboriginal peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples), was first declared a national holiday in 1996 as National Aboriginal Day. The effort to create such […]