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October 7
Sovereignty Run rally is held in
Washington, D.C.
On the steps of the Supreme Court building, runners
from hundreds of tribes gather for a rally. The event
is the culmination of the weeks-long Sovereignty
Run, during which the athletes participated in a
2,800 mile cross-country relay run. Among the run-
ners is Billy Mills, the Lakota Indian who won a gold
medal at the 1964 Olympics (see entry for OCTOBER
14, 1964). The run was organized as part of the Sov-
ereignty Initiative. Its goal is to bring attention to a
series of Supreme Court decisions that many Indians
feel are a threat to their tribal sovereignty.
October 10
V-Day launches an antiviolence program for
the American Indian communities.
Founded to stop violence against women and girls,
V-Day announces its Indian Country Project. Activ-
ist Suzanne Blue Star Boy is appointed the project’s
director. V-Day’s program is designed to raise money
and awareness about the issue of domestic violence
in Indian communities. It will spotlight the issue
throughout 2003, citing that Indian women suffer
a rate of sexual assault and rape that is 3.5 times
higher than that of any other racial group in the
United States.
October 16
Minnesota governor recognizes government-
to-government relationship between the
state and Indian tribes.
During the final days of his governorship, Jesse Ven-
tura issues an executive order, acknowledging the
sovereignty of the 11 federally recognized tribes in
Minnesota. The order requires the state to “recog-
nize the unique legal relationship between the State
of Minnesota and Minnesota Indian tribes... and
accord tribal governments the same recognition and
respect accorded to other governments.” Ventura’s
actions amounts to a reversal of his position toward
Indian groups, whose sovereignty he questioned
early in his tenure as governor.November 9The feature film Windtalkers opens.
Windtalkers, a film about the Navajo Code Talkers
in the Pacific theater during World War II (see entry
for APRIL 1942), opens in theaters nationwide. The
film tells the story of Ben Yahzee, a Navajo (Dineh)
who joins the Marines. Yahzee becomes a Code
Talker, one of an elite corps of Navajo Marines who
delivered messages in an unbreakable code based on
the Navajo language. Yahzee is played by up-and-
coming Ojibway actor Adam Beach. Although the
Code Talkers have been the subject of numerous
books and documentaries, Windtalkers is the first
big-budget film about their role in the war.November 23 to December 7John Herrington becomes the first American
Indian astronaut to travel into space.
Chickasaw astronaut John Herrington enters space
as a mission specialist aboard the Endeavor Space
Shuttle. The mission is the 16th to visit the Inter-
national Space Station. During his 14 days in space,
Herrington conducts three space walks, lasting
a total of nearly 20 hours. While on the mission,
Herrington honors his Indian heritage by carrying
six eagle feathers, two arrowheads, a braid of sweet
grass, and the flag of the Chickasaw Nation.“The future of spaceflight is
manned spaceflight. I would
love to go to the Moon or go
to Mars. If it happens in my
career, great. But, it’s going to
happen in someone’s career.”
—Chickasaw astronaut John Her-
rington, on future spaceflight