GREAT NATIVE AMERICANS THAT HELPED DEFINE THE PAST
Added on: 14th Jun 2016
PUSHMATAHA
Very few Choctaws from the early 1800’s are better known than
Pushmataha. The man who negotiated several well-publicized
treaties with the United States and led Choctaws in support
of the Americans during the War of 1812 is mentioned in nearly
all the histories that include the Choctaws.
IRA HAYES
Ira Hayes was an Akimel O’odham (Pima) Indian, born in Sacaton,
Arizona, on January 12, 1923. On August 26, 1942, Ira Hayes
enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in Phoenix during World War II
and a few years later he made history by becoming the only
Native American to participate in the famous WW II flag raising
on February 25, 1945, on Mount Suribachi in Iwo Jima.
POCAHONTAS
Despite not knowing as much as we might think about Pocahontas’s
life, her story has fascinated people for more than four centuries
and still inspires people today. She became a Disney figure, and
her “interracial” love story will undoubtedly continue to
inspire people all over the world.
MARIA TALLCHIEF
Maria Tallchief was a revolutionary American ballerina who broke
barriers for Native American women. Tallchief grew up in
Los Angeles, California, where she studied ballet for many years.
Her career spanned the globe and led to a short marriage to
George Balanchine. She died on April 11, 2013, at the age of
eighty-eight, in Chicago, Illinois.
KEOKUK
Keokuk was a chief of the Sauk/Sac tribe in central North America
noted for his policy of cooperation with the American government,
which led to conflict with Black Hawk, who led part of their band
into the Black Hawk War. Keokuk County, Iowa, and the town of
the same name where he is buried are named after him.
JOHN HERRINGTON
In November 2002, John Herrington became the first tribally enrolled
Native American Indian astronaut to go to outer space during
NASA’s STS-113 flight.
JIM THORPE
There’s a great debate about who’s the greatest North American
sportsman in history: some will tell you Babe Ruth; others
Muhammad Ali; basketball fans will stick with Michael Jordan or
LeBron James, and hockey fans will say Wayne Gretzky.
Recently the name of the most decorated Olympian ever,
swimmer Michael Phelps, has been dropped in this debate
but most sports historians will agree that the most versatile
North American athlete ever was Jim Thorpe. Of Native American
and European ancestry Thorpe won Olympic gold medals for
the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, played American football
at the collegiate and professional level, and played professional
baseball and basketball too. In a poll of sports fans conducted
by ABC Sports, Thorpe was voted the Greatest Athlete of the
Twentieth Century out of fifteen sports, including
those we mentioned above.
PONTIAC
Chief Pontiac became known for his role in Pontiac’s
Rebellion, an American Indian struggle against the
British occupation of the Great Lakes area. He enlisted
support from other Indian tribes and staged attacks on
British forts but eventually agreed to sign a peace treaty
in July 1766. He was murdered by a Peoria Indian in 1769.
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