local, state, and national news and educational pro-
gramming in the Navajo (Dineh) language. Its call
letters stand for the Navajo words “Te’ochini Dinee
Bi-Radio,” meaning “Radio Voice of the People.”
Indian groups speak out against Indian
mascots.
Indian organizations, such as the American In-
dian Movement (AIM), launch a campaign against
sports teams that make use of offensive Indian
mascots. AIM leader Russell Means threatens to
sue the Atlanta Braves (whose Chief-Noc-a-Homa
emerges from a tipi and whoops every time the
team scores a run) and the Cleveland Indians
(whose mascot, Chief Wahoo, performs similar
on-field antics). AIM, the National Congress of
American Indians (see entry for NOVEMBER 1944),
and Americans for Indian Opportunity (see entry
for 1970) also send representatives to meet with
the owner of the Washington Redskins to persuade
him to change the team’s name. Aside from draw-
ing attention to the issue of Indian mascots, their
efforts are largely unsuccessful. (See also entry for
APRIL 2, 1999.)
The Heart of the Earth Survival School
is founded.
Responding to the alarming dropout rate of Indian
high school students, members of the American
Indian Movement found the Heart of the Earth
Survival School. The school teaches Indian students
about their culture and history from an Indian per-
spective. The institution will serve as a model for
other “survival schools” established by Indian activ-
ists throughout the United States.
The Smithsonian Institution establishes the
Native American Cultural Resources
Training Program.
In response to Indian demands for access to tribal
artifacts and records, the Smithsonian’s Depart-
ment of Anthropology creates the Native American
Cultural Resources Training Program. The program
allows Indians to come to Washington, D.C., for
up to six months to research their tribes using the
resources of the Smithsonian, National Archives,
and Library of Congress. During the next 10 years,
about 90 Indians from 55 tribes will participate in
the program, including a Tunica-Biloxi intern who
will find documents to help support the tribe’s ap-
plication for federal recognition.The paintings of Indian artists T. C. Cannon
and Fritz Scholder are showcased in a
Smithsonian exhibition.
The Smithsonian’s National Collection of Fine Art
in Washington, D.C., presents Two American Paint-
ers, an exhibition of the works of T. C. Cannon, a
Caddo-Kiowa Indian, and Fritz Scholder, a mem-
ber of the Luiseño tribe. Their clever and ironic
representations of Indians of the past and present
are well received by the international art world. In
part because of the success of the show, Cannon
and Scholder will emerge as the leading figures in
a revival of interest in contemporary Native Ameri-
can art.The American Indian Higher Education
Consortium holds its first meeting.
Representatives from seven tribally run colleges
and three postsecondary schools operated by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs meet to share information
and discuss ways to improve educational options
for Indian college students. The group, named the
American Indian Higher Education Consortium,
will help move tribal colleges into the forefront of
the movement to preserve Indian cultures and val-
ues. Concerned with increasing funding for tribal
colleges, the consortium will also be instrumental in
the passage of the Tribally Controlled Community
College Act (see entry for OCTOBER 17, 1978).The Grand Council of the Crees is formed.
The eight Cree communities of Canada, which have
always been politically autonomous, come together
to found the Grand Council of the Crees. The
council is created in response to the threat posed
to Cree lands along James Bay by the construction
of the James Bay Project, a hydroelectric plant (see
entry for APRIL 30, 1971). The organization will