Chronology of American Indian History

on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in the
1970s. The suit, brought by FBI agent David
Price, held that the book defames Price’s character
and demanded $20 million in punitive damages.
It also blocked the publication of the book in a
paperback format and in foreign editions. Follow-
ing the 1988 dismissal of a similar suit brought
by South Dakota governor William Janklow, the
conclusion of the Price case allows the sale of Mat-
tiessen’s book for the first time since its original
publication.

July 21

The Supreme Court restricts the zoning of
reservation land.
In Brendale v. Confederated Tribes and Bands of the
Yakima Indian Nation, Yakama Indian Philip Bren-
dale and non-Indian Stanley Wilkinson take the
Yakama Nation to court to force it to lift its zon-
ing restrictions on their land on the Yakima (now
Yakama) Reservation in central Washington State.
Brendale and Wilkinson want to divide their land
into small house plots, which adheres to the zon-
ing laws of the county but violates those of the
Yakama Nation. Because Wilkinson’s land is in an
area of the reservation with a largely non-Indian
population, the Supreme Court finds in his favor.
Because it limits tribal control over reservation land
occupied by non-Indians, the decision is seen by
many Native American leaders as a blow to Indian
self-determination.

July 22

Two Navajo (Dineh) are killed at a
political rally.
Two Navajo (Dineh) are killed and nine others are
injured during a clash with police at the Navajo
Nation capital of Window Rock, Arizona. The vio-
lence occurs at a rally of supporters of former tribal
chairman Peter MacDonald. Five days earlier, Mac-
donald was placed on involuntary leave by the tribal
council, which is investigating charges that he had
taken bribes. MacDonald will be blamed for the

rally’s violence and eventually convicted of inciting

a riot. (See also entry for OCTOBER 1990.)

August 21

Harvard’s Peabody Museum returns the

Omaha’s Sacred Pole.

Pressured by Omaha tribal chairman Dorris Morris

and historian Dennis Hastings, the Peabody Mu-

seum at Harvard University gives the Sacred Pole,

an important Omaha artifact, back to the tribe. The

Sacred Pole was placed in the museum collection

by Omaha anthropologist Francis La Flesche in the

late 19th century.

Autumn

Native-L offers information about Indians

on the Internet.

After attending the Tribal Lands Conference, Gary

Trujillo of Smith College develops Native-L, an

Internet forum to discuss endangered land bases

of indigenous peoples around the world. As the

mailing list for Native-L grows, the range of infor-

mation and inquiries broadens to all issues relating

to indigenous peoples. With the explosion of the

Internet in the mid-1990s, Native-L will emerge

as the leading Internet “community” dealing with

the concerns of Indians. Native-L will eventually be

superseded by native-net.org, which will maintain

the old Native-L archives.

September 1

George P. Lee is excommunicated from the

Mormon Church.

Navajo (Dineh) George P. Lee, a devout Mormon

but an outspoken critic of the role assigned to

American Indians in his church, is excommuni-

cated for apostasy (abandonment of religious faith).

As a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, Lee

had been the highest-ranking American Indian in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

He became a Mormon when he was enrolled in

the Indian Student Placement Program (see entry