the scope of the project and advocate a much larger
cleanup of their reservation. (See also entries for
1996 and FEBRUARY 1998.)
January 26
Innu adolescents attempt mass suicide.
Six youths, age 12 to 14, from the small Innu
village of Davis Inlet in Labrador, Canada, are
discovered in an abandoned shack, where they at-
tempted to commit suicide by sniffing gasoline.
The event focuses media attention on the epi-
demic proportions of suicide and substance abuse
among the grossly impoverished Davis Inlet Innu.
The social problems of the Innu are widely cred-
ited to the government’s relocation of the band
in 1967. The Innu were lured to their new home
with promises of work and adequate housing, but
few ever found jobs or houses with indoor plumb-
ing or running water.
February 12
The Pequot open the Foxwoods resort and
casino complex.
Inspired by the success of the bingo parlor they
opened in 1986, the small Pequot tribe builds
Foxwoods—a huge complex that includes a hotel,
shopping center, and two casinos—on their res-
ervation in Connecticut. Employing more than
9,000 people, Foxwoods will soon boost tribal rev-
enues by 1 billion dollars a year and become one
of the largest employers in the state. The money
will be used to provide income and services to
the Pequot and to invest in businesses, including
gambling operations, run by other tribes. (See
also entries for MARCH 1997 and for AUGUST 11,
1998.)
April
A children’s book featuring the “Chief
Seattle speech” comes under attack.
A front-page article in the New York Times ques-
tions the authenticity of the text of the best-selling
children’s book, Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message
from Chief Seattle. The book features a version of a
speech credited to Chief Seattle of the Suquamish
tribe. The speech, supposedly delivered during the
negotiation of the Treaty of Point Elliot (see entry
for DECEMBER 1854), extols the virtues of living in
harmony with nature and has long been embraced
by the environmental movement.
Although eyewitness accounts confirm that
Seattle spoke with great eloquence at the treaty
negotiations, the words attributed to him did
not appear in print until 30 years later, prompt-
ing speculation that they were actually written by
their non-Indian “translator,” Henry Smith. Well
into the 20th century, Smith’s version of the Seattle
speech will be adapted freely, often by environmen-
talists seeking support for their cause.July 7 to 10Native American writers participate in the
Returning the Gift festival.
Chaired by Abenaki writer Joseph Bruchac, the
Returning the Gift festival brings together 400
Indian fiction writers, poets, and playwrights for
a four-day conference at the University of Okla-
homa. The festival’s goal is to create a setting
where Native American writers—both published
and unpublished—can meet one another and
share ideas.
During the conference, two organizations
are formed: the Native Writers’ Circle and the
Wordcraft Circle. The Native Writers’ Circle, a
professional association, gives its first annual life-
time achievement award to Pulitzer Prize–winning
Kiowa novelist N. Scott Momaday (see entry for
MAY 5, 1969). The organization also establishes the
First Book Awards, which are to be given annually
in the fields of poetry, prose, creative nonfiction,
and drama to writers who have not yet published a
full-length book. The Wordcraft Circle is founded
to place young writers in contact with more estab-
lished authors and to help them get their work in
print.