Chronology of American Indian History

P

story of his traditional Dakota Sioux upbringing
in My Indian Boyhood. The memoir is the first in a
series of stories and books Eastman will write for a
non-Indian readership with the aim of promoting
respect for Indian cultures.

“Almost every evening a myth,

or a true story of some deed

done in the past, was narrated

by one of the parents or grand-

parents, while the boy listened

with parted lips and glistening

eyes. On the following evening

he was usually required to re-

peat it. If he was not an apt

scholar, he struggled long with

his task; but, as a rule, the In-

dian boy was a good listener

and had a good memory, so

that the stories were tolerably

well mastered. The household

became his audience, by which

he was alternately criticized

and applauded.”

—Dakota Sioux author

Charles A. Eastman in

My Indian Boyhood (1902)

Creek satirist Alexander Posey begins
writing the Fus Fixico Letters.
A noted poet and editor of the Indian Journal,
Alexander Posey begins work on a collection of
letters, supposedly written by a fictional character
named Fus Fixico, about life in the Creek Na-
tion. Using caricatures of actual leaders and other
prominent Creeks, the Fus Fixico letters satirize
Creek politics and humorously explore contro-
versial issues such as Allotment and the pending
incorporation of Indian Territory into the state
of Oklahoma.

January 13

Indian men are ordered to cut their hair.

To accelerate assimilation, the commissioner of Indian

affairs orders Indian agents to prohibit Indian males

from wearing their hair long. Traditionally, long hair

was a source of pride among young Indian men. If any

Indians refuse to comply, the commissioner recom-

mends withholding annuities due to them by treaty.

February

Crazy Snake leader Chitto Harjo is

imprisoned.

Because of their refusal to disband the Crazy Snake

movement (see entry for JANUARY 27, 1901), Creek

radical leader Chitto Harjo and nine other Crazy

Snakes are arrested and sent to the federal peniten-

tiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Harjo will remain

imprisoned for nine months, during which time his

followers begin to abandon their militant stance and

seek political positions on the Creek tribal council.

May 27

The “Dead Indian Act” allows for the sale of

inherited allotments.

The General Allotment Act (see entry for FEB-

RUARY 8, 1887) forbade Indians from selling

allotments for 25 years. An amendment to this law,

the so-called Dead Indian Act, allows the commis-

sioner of Indian affairs to waive this restriction for

Indians who have inherited land from original allot-

tees. The act is passed in response to pressure from

whites who want to buy Indian lands and from

Indians, particularly those of mixed heritage, who

want to be able to sell their own property.

1903

The U.S. government publishes Hopi

kachina paintings.

Several hundred paintings and drawings of

kachinas—the spirit beings of the Hopi and other