June 8-9, 2024: The Indian Citizenship Act: 21st Century Figures

[100 years ago this week, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act. That landmark legislation was the product of work from a number of influential and inspiring individuals, so this week I’ve AmericanStudied a handful of them, leading up to this weekend tribute to 21^st century figures continuing the fight!]

Five inspiring indigenous activists making sure la lucha continua:

1)      Madonna Thunder Hawk (born 1940): One could trace the last half-century of Native American history through just the organizations Thunder Hawk has helped lead: the American Indian Movement (AIM), Women of All Red Nations (WARN), and the Black Hills Alliance, among many others. In recent years she has been a leading voice in the fight to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, making clear that her activism is far from finished.

2)      Winona LaDuke (born 1959): LaDuke might be best known as the Vice Presidential running mate for Ralph Nader on his Green Party tickets in 1996 and (ugh) 2000 (that hyperlinked open letter to Nader and LaDuke says it all). But it would be beyond unfortunate to limit this lifelong environmental activist and author to those fraught political moments; her two co-founded and still extant organizations, the White Earth Land Recovery Project and Honor the Earth, are more than sufficient to illustrate her far wider and deeper influence.

3)      Deb Haaland (born 1960): The first Native American Cabinet Secretary is a groundbreaking role that speaks for itself, but it also only begins to scratch the surface of Haaland’s lifelong, and equally groundbreaking work and activism. Which started long before her political career, as illustrated by her both starting a salsa company, receiving a law degree, and being elected to the Laguna Development Corporation Board of Directors all while she was a single mother to a young daughter. What else do I need to say?

4)      Dallas Goldtooth (born 1983): 21^st century audiences have come to know and love Goldtooth through his roles in a number of recent TV shows, most especially Reservation Dogs but also Echo, Fallout, and many more; that acting work itself builds on Goldtooth’s founding of the 1491s, an influential Native American sketch comedy group. But he’s also a lifelong environmental activist who served as a water protector at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, reminding us that, just as Wednesday’s subject Nipo Strongheart did a century ago, pop culture performers can be dedicated activists as well.

5)      Matika Wilbur (born 1984): Speaking of art as activism, there’s photographer Matika Wilbur and her amazing Project 562, an effort to photograph at least one member of every one of the 562 federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations. The resulting book looks quite stunning in every sense, but it’s also just one layer to a project that is both artistic and activist in equal measure—and as inspiring as America gets.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Contemporary activists or efforts you’d highlight?