Oglala stage no formal demonstrations, several ac-
tivists greet the president with signs demanding the
release of Leonard Peltier (see entry for APRIL 18,
1977) and the return of the Black Hills (see entry
for JUNE 30, 1980).
July
Tohono O’odham linguist Ofelia Zepeda
receives a “genius grant.”
University of Arizona professor Ofelia Zepeda
is given a MacArthur Foundation fellowship—
popularly known as a “genius grant”—for her
pioneering work in the preservation of Indian
languages. The foremost scholar of the Tohono
O’odham (formerly known as Papago) language,
she is the author of A Papago Grammar, which
since its publication in 1983 has served as a model
for other Indian language dictionaries. She is also
active in the American Indian Language Devel-
opment Institute, an organization dedicated to
training teachers and instructing Indian children
in Indian languages spoken by so few that they are
in danger of becoming extinct.
July 4
Lakota Sioux protest alcohol sales in
Whiteclay, Nebraska.
Nine people, including American Indian Move-
ment (AIM) activist Russell Means, are arrested
during a protest march in Whiteclay, Nebraska.
The town, located two miles from the border of
the Lakota Sioux’s Pine Ridge Reservation, has long
been criticized by tribe members for selling alco-
hol to reservation residents. By tribal law alcohol
is forbidden on the reservation, but Pine Ridge
nevertheless has an extraordinarily high rate of alco-
hol-related deaths. The protest was inspired in part
by the recent murders of two Lakota men, whose
bodies were found outside of Whiteclay. Although
unsolved, alcohol is believed to have played a role
in the crimes.
July 24
The Cherokee elect a new principal chief
amidst a financial scandal.
Following a tumultuous campaign, Chad Smith is
elected principal chief of the Cherokee. The ten-
ure of the defeated incumbent Joe Byrd has been
marred by charges of financial improprieties. The
Department of the Interior began investigating
Byrd’s financial records after the principal chief
fired tribal marshals executing a search warrant
for financial records from his office. During the
campaign, Byrd promised to provide “responsible
leadership,” while Smith asked voters to remove
Byrd from office “while there’s still time to save
our nation.”
July 27
Crayola abandons “Indian red” as a
crayon name.
After a national contest, Binney & Smith, Inc., the
maker of Crayola crayons, changes the crayon name
“Indian red” to the contest winner “chestnut.” The
name change is made in response to complaints
from teachers, who said students assumed the name
referred to the skin color of American Indians. In
fact, “Indian red” is a common designation for a
color of oil paint originally derived from a pigment
found near India.
September 1
The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
(APTN) begins broadcasting.
To give a voice to Natives in Canada, the Aborigi-
nal Peoples Television Network (APTN) begins
airing documentaries, educational programs, dra-
mas, and children’s series. Licensed as a mandatory
cable channel, the APTN reaches 8 million homes
throughout Canada. It offers programs on Canada’s
Native peoples and aboriginal cultures from around
the world in English, French, and numerous Native
languages.