A Native American Timeline-- Part 8: Indian Citizenship Act, the Code Talkers, Indian Civil Rights Act

**  JUNE 2, 1924:  U.S. Congress passes Indian Citizenship Act, granting citizenship  to all Native Americans born in the territorial limits of the country.  Previously, citizenship had been limited depending upon what percentage of Indian ancestry the person had, whether they had served in the military, or, of they were women, were married to a U.S, citizen.

**  MARCH 4, 1929:  Charles Curtis serves as the first Native American U.S. vice president under  President Herbert Hoover.

**  MAY 1942:  Members of the Navajo Nation develop a code to transmit messages and radio messages to U.S.  armed forces during World War II.  Eventually, hundreds of  Code Talkers from multiple  Indian tribes serve with the U.S. Marines during he war.

**  APRIL 11, 1968:  The Indian Civil Rights Act is signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, granting Indians many of the benefits guaranteed under the Bill of Rights.

**  MARCH 15, 2021:  Representative  Deb Haaland of New Mexico is confirmed as the Secretary of the Interior, making her the first Native American to lead a cabinet department.

"Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household made me fierce," she tweeted on her confirmation for the post.  "I'll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all our protected land."

--Cooter

A Native American Timeline-- Part 7: Dawes Act, Wounded Knee and the Choctow Telephone Squad in WW I

**  FEBRUARY 8, 1887:  President Grover Cleveland  signs the Dawes Act, giving the U.S. president authority  to divide up land allotted to Indians in reservations to individuals.

**  DECEMBER 15, 1890:  Sitting Bull is killed  during a confrontation with Indian police in Grand River, South Dakota.

**  DECEMBER 29, 1890:    U.S. armed forces  surround Ghost Dancers Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, demanding the surrender of their weapons.  An estimated 150 Indians are killed in what became known as the Wounded Knee Massacre. along with 25 men of the cavalry.

**  JANUARY 29, 1907:  Charles  Curtis becomes the first  Indian U.S. Senator.

**  SEPTEMBER 1918:  Choctow soldiers use their native language to transmit secret messages for U.S. troops during  World War I's Meuse-Argonne Offensive on the Western Front.  The Choctow Telephone Squad provide Allied forces with a critical edge over the Germans.

I had heard of the  Navajo Code Talkers, but not these men.  Interesting.

--Cooter

Dead Page: Original Navajo Code Talker Dies

ALLEN DALE JUNE (NOVEMBER 28, 1921-SEPTEMBER 8, 2010)

This is especially sad because I have just been making entries about the Original 29 Navajo Code Talkers and mentioned him.

Mr. June hitchhiked to Fort Defiance and Fort Wingate to enlist and left the Marine Corps as a sergeant.

He had been in ill health back when the article "Original Navajo Code Talker tells story" by the Associated Press appeared in the Goldsboro (NC) News Argus on September 5th.

After the war, he received his bachelor's degree from the New Mexico Highlands University in 1952 and his master's at the University of Utah in 1975.

The obituary mentions that he received the Congressional Medal of Honor December 21, 2001, but that is in error. I believe he received the Gold Medal.

He died September 8th at age 89.

The Greatest Generation.

Original Navajo Code Talker Tells Story-- Part 5

Continued from October 5th.

After World War II, Chester Nez, volunteered for two more years during the Korean War and retired in 1974 after a 25-year career as a painter at the Albuquerque Veterans Hospital.

Allen Dale June, 88 has spent the last several weeks in and out of hospitals in Wyoming and Arizona and requires around-the-clock care. His third wife, Virginia, has been doing much of the work.

Lloyd Oliver, 87, speaks audibly, but his words are difficult to understand. His hearing is also impaired, but he doesn't like wearing a hearing aid.

Heroes, All.

Original Navajo Code Talker tells Story-- Part 3

It was here that Nez met the other two surviving original Code Talkers: Lloyd Oliver and Allen Dale June. "Using Navajo words for red soil, war chief, clan, braided hair, beads, ant and hummingbird, for example, they came up with a glossary of more than 200 terms, later expanded, and an alphabet."

They weren't sure if the code would work. The Japanese did everything they could to break it but never did. Nez no longer remembers the whole thing, but he does remember one instruction he gave at Guadalcanal, "Enemy machine gun on your right flank, destroy!" Each message read was immediately destroyed.

Once, while running a message, Nez said he and his partner were mistaken for Japanese soldiers and were threatened at gunpoint until an officer cleared up the confusion.

He also remembers a close call in Guam when a Japanese sniper bullet whizzed by his head and struck a palm tree.

More to Come. --Cooter