September 17
A Pentagon exhibit honors the Navajo
Code Talkers.
At the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., 35 Navajo
(Dineh) veterans are honored for their service as
Code Talkers during World War II. The Code
Talkers transmitted top secret messages using an
unbreakable code based on the Navajo language
(see entry for APRIL 1942). The Pentagon recog-
nizes their contribution to the war effort with an
exhibit featuring photographs of the Code Talkers,
a display of their equipment, and an explanation of
how the code was used.
October 12
Indians oppose the celebration of the
Columbus Quincentenary.
The celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of
the arrival of Columbus in the Americas (see entry
for OCTOBER 12, 1492) provokes opposition by
many Indians and Indian groups. A survey of indig-
enous peoples in North, South, and Central America
conducted by the Cornell University American In-
dian Program finds that about three-quarters of those
responding view the quincentenary as a tribute
to “500 years of Native People’s resistance to coloniza-
tion, or an anniversary of a holocaust.” The Assembly
of First Nations (see entry for 1982) of Canada de-
nounces the quincentenary, maintaining that “for
the First Nations to celebrate the near destruction of
our culture and identity would be insane.” In News-
week magazine, Cheyenne-Muskogee activist Suzan
Shown Harjo contributes an editorial titled, “I Won’t
Be Celebrating Columbus Day,” in which she calls
on Indians and non-Indians alike “to turn our atten-
tion to making the next 500 years different from the
past ones: to enter into a time of grace and healing.”
October 26
The Charlottestown Accord is defeated.
The Charlottestown Accord, which acknowledges
the right of Canadian Natives to self-government,
is brought before the electorate for a vote. The pro-
visions dealing with Natives are widely supported
by Native leaders. According to opinion polls, the
majority of non-Indian voters approve of them as
well. The accord as a whole, however, focuses on
allowing the province of Quebec greater autonomy.
Due to these provisions, which are not as strongly
supported by the populace, the accord is defeated.NovemberHopi and Navajo (Dineh) announce an
agreement over disputed lands.
After more than a century of discord, the Hopi
agree to allow about 450 Navajo (Dineh) families
living on their reservation to stay in their homes
(see entry for 1962). By the proposed agreement,
mediated in federal court, these Navajo will be per-
mitted to lease the land from the Hopi for 75 years.
In exchange, the Hopi will receive approximately
400,000 acres of land in the San Francisco Peaks
area. Also by its terms, the U.S. government prom-
ises to settle several outstanding lawsuits with the
Hopi for $15 million.
The agreement is opposed by many white land-
owners in Arizona. They fear that the new Hopi
land acquisitions will reduce their property values
and limit their access to hunting and fishing sites
on nearby public lands.1993Douglas Cardinal is hired to design the
Smithsonian’s Indian museum.
The Smithsonian Institution selects Canadian
Douglas Cardinal, an Indian of Blackfoot and Métis
ancestry, to be the lead architect of the National
Museum of the American Indian (see entry for NO-
VEMBER 28, 1989), slated to open on the Mall in
Washington, D.C., in 2002. Cardinal is best known
for his design of the Canadian Museum of Civili-
zation in Quebec and of the Institute of American
Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Cardinal’s architectural
firm has worked with many Native groups using a