P
Nation Veterans Memorial Park. The memorial
is meant to honor all Navajo warriors who have
given their lives to protect the Navajo way of life,
including the soldiers who have died fighting in
American wars.
“[This day is] dedicated to
memorialize those who have
given the ultimate sacrifice in
the services of our country,
our land and the Diné [Navajo]
way of life, those who gave of
themselves in blood; those
who bravely fought and have
since deceased; those who
stood ready in times of peace
and those who are still holding
vigilance for peace and
democracy.”
—Navajo Nation president
Albert Hale, during the dedication
of the Navajo Nation Veterans
Memorial Park1996The Coeur d’Alene launch a $1 billion suit
against mining companies.
The Coeur d’Alene tribe files suit against sev-
eral mining companies for $1 billion to fund a
cleanup of the Coeur d’Alene river basin. There
the companies have dumped mining waste, con-
taminating the waters with extremely high levels
of lead. Although the extraordinary amount of
money demanded by the tribe is derided by some,
the U.S. Justice Department will soon join the
tribe and file a companion suit against the mining
firms for $600 million. (See also entry for FEBRU-
ARY 1998.)
The Fort Belknap Indians accept a
settlement from Pegasus Gold.
The Gros Ventre (Atsina) and Assiniboine Indians
of Montana’s Fort Belknap Reservation file a no-
tice of their intent to sue Pegasus Gold, the mining
company that operates the nearby Zortman mine.
The mine is located on land sold by the tribes in
1896 after the U.S. government threatened to
withhold food rations if they refused. Rather than
risk a trial, Pegasus offers a settlement to end the
suit, which alleges that the Zortman mine had
contaminated reservation drinking water. The
$37 million settlement includes $1 million for the
tribes and a $30 million bond to insure against fu-
ture damages.Buffy Sainte-Marie founds the Cradleboard
Teaching Project.
As part of her Nihewan Foundation, which
provides scholarships for law students, Cree singer-
activist Buffy Sainte-Marie (see also entry for
1964) creates the Cradleboard Teaching Project.
The enterprise offers lesson plans and curriculum
advice via the Internet (www.cradleboard.org) to
aid teachers in discussing Native American cul-
ture and history in their classrooms. The project
also uses e-mail and live computer chats to allow
Indian and non-Indian children to communicate
with one another and learn about each other’s way
of life.Vine Deloria’s Red Earth, White Lies is
published.
In Red Earth, White Lies, Dakota lawyer and jour-
nalist Vine Deloria Jr. examines the racism inherent
in much of the research conducted by non-Indi-
ans into the origins of Indian people. The book
questions the need for further archaeological exami-
nation of Indian remains and challenges the Bering
Strait theory, which holds that Indians’ ancestors
were Asians who migrated to North America dur-
ing the Ice Age (see entry for CA. 25,000 TO 12,000
B.C.). Drawing on ancient creation stories, Deloria
instead makes the case that Indians originated in
the Americas.