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Yesterday, we celebrated Native Americans in our first national holiday: National Heritage Day. National Heritage Day, which was signed into law recently by President Bush, has not been highlighted as it should have been. Shall we make up for this and pay tribute to Native American men and women -- the first Americans?
I will start by highlighting several. And I hope that you will add to this list, with a bit of history on your choices.
Jim Thorpe: Track and field athlete, football and baseball player. Born James Francis Thorpe (Native American name, Wa-tho-huck or Bright Path), on May 28, 1888. Died 1953. Thorpe was chosen to represent America at the Stockholm Olympics in the decathlon and the pentathlon. He won four of the five events and set an Olympic mark of 8,413 points that would stand for two decades. Thorpe later confessed that he had been paid by "Pop Warner" to play baseball, and his medals were stripped because he was no longer considered an amateur. The Medals were not restored until 1982.
Chief Sequoyah: 1776-1843. Probably born handicapped, he was named Sequoyah (Sikwo-yi, which is Cherokee for "pig's foot"). He developed a phonetic system, where each sound made in speech was represented by a symbol. It was called "Talking Leaves" and comprised of 85 letters that make up the Cherokee alphabet. Another symbol would be added later. Because of this contribution, the Cherokee Nation adopted Sequoyah's alphabet as their own and thousands of Cherokee became literate.
Ellen Moves Camp and Gladys Bissonnette, the "Grandmas of the American Indian Movement (AIM): Moves Camp and Bissonnette were the negotiators for the Native American protesters during the 71-day battle at Wounded Knee in 1973. Moves Camp passed away this April 2008. On the loss of Ellen Moves Camp, Native political prisoner Leonard Peltier said: "Those of us who really knew her will dearly miss her as she was a big inspiration to all of us. She loved and fought for her People and the Nation without ever once that I know of complaining or asking for something for her personal use."
Ira Hamilton Hayes, Pima Indian, born on January 12, 1923. Ira Hayes joined the Marine Corps in World War II. He was part of the American invasion of Iwo Jima, and helped to raise the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945 to signal the end of Japanese control.
Janet McCloud, Ingrid Washinawatok, Nilak Butler and Marsha Gomez, founding mothers of the Indigenous Women's Network, which was founded in 1985. From their website, indigenouswomen.org:
"The Indigenous Women's Network (IWN) was established as a grass roots initiative at a gathering of over 200 Indigenous women at Yelm, Washington in 1985. The Founding Mothers were and continue to be strong, committed Indigenous women activists who dedicate themselves to generating a global movement that achieves sustainable change for our communities. Under their visionary leadership, IWN has become known for inspiring, strategic, pro-active and affirming events that facilitates the inter-generational transfer of traditional knowledge to young, Indigenous women. Our training programs and publications reach and link Indigenous women around the world in a network of support that includes award winning artists, activists, authors, community leaders, educators, attorneys and traditional healers."
These are the people on my list. Please add your heroes.
