an organization that brings together more than 20
Indian groups to solve shared economic and social
problems.
April to October
Canadian Natives air their grievances at
Expo ’67.
With funding from the federal government,
the National Indian Council (see entry for DE-
CEMBER 1961) organizes the Canadian Indian
Pavilion at Expo ’67, the world’s fair held in
Montreal to celebrate the centennial of Cana-
dian Confederation. Natives at the fair use the
pavilion as a forum in which they recount the his-
tory of abuses they have suffered at the hands of
the government. The event helps bring interna-
tional attention to Native Canadians’ continuing
struggle for basic rights.
October 9
The Navajo Tribal Council lifts ban on
ceremonial peyote use.
In a victory for religious freedom, the Navajo Tribal
Council exempts members of the Native American
Church (see entry for OCTOBER 10, 1918) from
prosecution for eating the buttons of the peyote
cactus during religious ceremonies. Led by tradi-
tionalists who feared the spread of peyotism on the
Navajo (Dineh) reservation, the council had out-
lawed the possession, sale, or use of peyote within
the reservation borders in 1940. Those convicted of
peyote use could be sentenced to nine months of
labor, a fine of $100,000, or both.
November
Louis Ballad’s Four Moons ballet is
produced.
As part of a year-long 60th-anniversary celebration
of Oklahoma statehood, The Four Moons, a ballet by
Quapaw-Cherokee composer Louis Ballard, is per-
formed in Oklahoma City. The star performers are
four noted Oklahoma ballerinas of American Indian
descent—Rosella Hightower, Marjorie Tallchief,
Yvonne Chouteau, and Moscelyne Larkin.1968Tom Little Bear initiates a revitalization
movement among the Esselen.
At eight years old, Tom Little Bear, a member of
the small Esselen tribe of California, begins having
visions, which tell him that he has been chosen to
resurrect the group’s traditional life. With the help
of Esselen elders, Little Bear begins a campaign to
revitalize his tribe’s old ways.Akwesasne Notes begins publication.
The Mohawk on the Akwesasne Reservation in
New York begin publishing a newspaper, Akwesasne
Notes. Reprinting stories dealing with a wide variety
of Native American issues and protests, the paper
will become an important source of information for
Indians involved in the Red Power Movement dur-
ing the late 1960s and early 1970s. (See also entry
for JANUARY 9, 1988.)FebruaryThe National Indian Council splits into
two organizations.
Unable to find common ground, the three Native
groups represented by the National Indian Council
(see entry for DECEMBER 1961) agree to disband it and
create two new lobbying organizations in its place: the
National Indian Brotherhood for status Indians and
the Native Council of Canada for non-status Indians
and the Métis. (See also entry for 1982.)March 6President Lyndon B. Johnson announces
new Indian policy goals.
In a special message to Congress on “the problem
of the American Indian,” President Johnson sets
out three goals for his administration’s federal In-
dian policy. First, he cites the need to bring Indians’