Chronology of American Indian History

P

“When I went to Germany I

never thought about war hon-

ors, or the four ‘coups’ which

an old-time Crow warrior had

to earn in battle. Those days

were gone. But afterwards,

when I came back and went

though this telling of the war

deeds ceremony, why, I told my

war deeds, and lo and behold

I completed the four require-

ments to become a chief.”

—Crow veteran Joseph Medicine

Crow on his experiences as a

soldier in World War II

December 27

Iroquois protest the draft.
Outside the main post office in Buffalo, New York,
protesters led by Tuscarora leader Clinton Rickard
speak out against the drafting of the Iroquois men
to serve in World War II. The group maintains
that Iroquois should not be subject to the draft
because they are citizens of their own sovereign na-
tion, not of the United States. Rickard does not
object to Iroquois serving in the military, but he
counsels those of drafting age to register as “alien
non-residents” rather than as citizens. (See also
entry for 1941.)

1941

Ex Parte Green affirms the United States’s
right to draft Indians.
Onondaga Warren Green brings a suit against the
United States, claiming that the Selective Service
Act cannot be applied to Indians because they are
citizens of sovereign Indian nations. After the U.S.

Court of Appeals finds against Green, the negative

publicity surrounding the suit will move several

prominent Iroquois to make an exaggerated show

of patriotism (see entry for JUNE 11, 1942). (See

also entry for DECEMBER 17, 1940.)

Hopi men resist the draft.

Five Hopi men from the village of Hotevilla are

prosecuted in federal court for refusing to register

for the draft. In their defense, they explain, “We

have a stone tablet [that]... says there will come

a time when there will be great trouble involving

many nations. The Hopi are to show their bows and

arrows to no one at that time.” They are sentenced

to a year and a day in jail.

March

An Indian art exhibit opens at the

Museum of Modern Art.

New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, in coop-

eration with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (see

entry for AUGUST 27, 1935), organizes an exhibi-

tion entitled “Indian Art in the United States.” The

influential exhibit presents Indian-made objects not

only as sources of anthropological data but also as

works of art. Enthusiastically received by the pub-

lic, the show also attempts to counter the myth

that indigenous art was uniformly corrupted after

Indians came in contact with non-Indians. In the

exhibit catalog, the curators maintain that “inven-

tion or adoption of new forms does not necessarily

mean repudiation of tradition but is often a source

of its enrichment.”

April

The Inter-American Institute is created.

To promote the study and preservation of indig-

enous cultures, representatives from countries

throughout North and South America gather in

Patzcuaro, Mexico, for the first Inter-American

Conference on Indian Life. Sponsored by the Pan

American Union, the conference leads to the for-

mation of the Inter-American Institute in Mexico